Ms. Russo

POWER & THE AMERICAN DREAM  Unit 1: POWER & THE AMERICAN DREAM (evaluating and navigating power structures in society) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ORDER vs. FREEDOM  Unit 2: ORDER vs. FREEDOM (examining societal structures and inherent contradictions as they impact the individual and the community) The Crucible by Arthur Miller CULTIVATING IDENTITY: THE JOURNEY TO SELF-DISCOVERY  Unit 3: CULTIVATING IDENTITY: THE JOURNEY TO SELF-DISCOVERY ( (looking at myself now-exploring the coming-of-age process so I have a stronger awareness of where I want to go in the future) AMERICA: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE  Unit 4: AMERICA: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE (with a stronger understanding of myself and of society, how can I be an agent of change?)

 What is the American Dream?  How is it achieved?  Who do you know that has achieved it?  What are your dreams for the future? Why?  What qualities and skills do you need to attain in order to realize your dreams?  What can influence your ability to achieve your dreams?

 How do the stories of others influence us?  How can literature allow us to explore the evolution of our society?  In what ways does literature become a vehicle through which we engage in critical thinking?

A REVIEW…  Direct Characterization  When a writer uses this method, we do not have to figure out what a character’s personality is like—the writer tells us directly.  Indirect Characterization  When a writer uses this method, we have to exercise our own judgment, putting clues together to infer what a character is like—just as we do in real life when we are getting to know someone.  Characters are often classified as static or dynamic.  A static character is one who does not change much in the course of a story.  A dynamic character, on the other hand, changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

 WHERE? …in the structure of the text  Narration What he does, etc.  Dialogue What he says, what others say to him or about him  HOW? …with his or her craft elements  Setting (including historical context) and Mood  Tone, Diction, and Style  Connotative and Figurative Language

What do we need to do to learn the historical context of a piece of literature?  RESEARCH …the time period; use the internet and other resources  ANNOTATE You have to sift through and find the important “stuff”  CONNECT …what you learn to characters in the story-their conflicts, their motivation, their choices, etc. …to enhance your understanding of the story and of American life in the present by comparing, contrasting, and stepping into their shoes.  APPLY …what you learned to the context of the story told using visualizing, questioning, inferencing and predicting strategies.

 MOTIVATION: The reasons for a character’s behavior.  In order for us to understand why characters act the way they do, their motivation has to be believable, at least in terms of the story. At times a writer directly reveals motivation; in subtler fiction we must use details from the story to infer motivation. It is helpful to understand the setting and historical context of a story to better understand conflict and motivation.  MOOD: The overall emotion created by a work of literature.  Mood can usually be described with one or two adjectives such as bittersweet, playful, or scary. All the elements of literature, including sound effects, rhythm, and word choice, contribute to a work’s mood.

 TONE: The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience.  In speaking we use voice inflections and even body language to show how we feel about what we are saying. Writers manipulate language in an attempt to achieve the same effect. Tone is dependent on diction and style, and we cannot say we have understood any work of literature until we have sensed the writer’s tone. Tone can usually be described in a single word: objective, solemn, playful, ironic, sarcastic, critical, reverent, irreverent, philosophical, cynical, and so on.

Tone is dependent on diction Tone is dependent on style  DICTION: A speaker’s or writer’s choice of words.  Diction can be formal, informal, colloquial, full of slang, poetic, ornate, plain, abstract, concrete, and so on. Diction depends on the writer’s subject, purpose, and audience. Some words, for example, are suited to informal conversations but are inappropriate in a formal speech. Diction has a powerful effect on the tone of a piece of writing.  STYLE : The distinctive way in which a writer uses language.  Style can be plain, ornate, metaphorical, spare, descriptive, and so on. Style is determined by such factors as sentence length and complexity, syntax, use of figurative language and imagery, and diction.

 CONNOTATION: The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.  The words determined, firm, rigid, stubborn, and pigheaded have similar dictionary definitions, or denotations, but widely varying connotations, or overtones of meaning. Determined and firm both suggest an admirable kind of resoluteness; rigid suggests an inability to bend and a kind of mindless refusal to change. Stubborn and pigheaded, on the other hand, have even more negative connotations. Stubborn has associations with a mule, and pigheaded with the pig, which, wrongly or not, is an animal often associated with mindless willfulness. Here are some other words that are more or less synonymous but which have vastly different connotations: fastidious and fussy; day-dreamer and escapist; scent, odor, smell, and stink. Words with strong connotations are often called loaded words or suggestive words.

DO NOW:  First identify what your strengths are.  Next identify what your weaknesses are.  Finally, identify your goals. They can be both skill oriented and behavioral.  Compare your strengths, weaknesses and goals to those of your classmates.  Reflect on what your classmates reveal to modify your goals.