How Do We Survive? (A 10th Grade Unit Using Elie Wiesel's Night as the Core Text)
Big Idea: Survival
Essential Questions:
- What is survival? How can it be physical, emotional or both physical and emotional?
- How do the choices we make affect our survival? How do the choices we make affect us as we mature?
- How can we help others survive when our own survival is in jeopardy?
- How responsible are we for our community's survival? Does proximity make us more responsible?
- Why are some people able to survive while others do not? What are the most important characteristics/qualities to have for someone to survive?
Common Core State Standards
CC.9-10.R.L.6
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
C.9-10.R.L.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CC.9-10.R.L.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CC.9-10.R.L.7
Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
C.9-10.R.L.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CC.9-10.R.L.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CC.9-10.R.L.7
Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
Reasoning and Objectives
I am designing this unit around the principal that survival, though one of the most primitive of motivations, is dependent upon many factors: internal and external motivation, societal influence and upbringing, and level of maturity and altruism. My goal is to have students read and analyze Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night, while reading and experiencing a wide variety of other works that have survival as a main theme. I want students to understand that the basic desire to survive is an experience common to people across cultures, eras, and with different situations. I hope to have students develop a deep understanding of how theme can be present in a variety of formats and how this theme can be illustrated through author's craft.
Objectives:
Objectives:
- Students will deepen their understanding of human nature by analyzing and comparing a wide variety of literature in various forms while identifying and defining common patterns of a specific theme.
- Students will develop and defend an opinion about that human condition by analyzing various works to use as evidence to support their ideas.
- Students will discuss with their peers common themes found in their chosen texts or other literary forms to compare with and analyze a core text that all students have read to come to conclusion about an aspect of human nature.
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Archetype in Literature Mini-Unit
Big Idea: Archetype in Literature Can Teach Us About the Commonality of Human Experience
Beowulf - the Hero
Archetype is the original form, thought or idea that is replicated in other images or ideas. This pattern occurs enough to be widely recognized by members of a society or even an entire culture. Carl Jung developed the idea of archetype as part of a shared human subconscious and argued that these archetypes can be seen in human belief structures, myths and literature. It is important to develop an understanding of archetype so that readers can see the patterns of archetypal characters in literature as a way to make connections within the human experience.
This mini-unit develops understanding of and explores various types of archetypal charcters throughout literature.
This mini-unit develops understanding of and explores various types of archetypal charcters throughout literature.
Common Core State Standards
RL.11-12.2. Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.11-12.6. Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
RL.11-12.7. Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text.
RL.11-12.6. Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
RL.11-12.7. Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text.
Essential Questions:
1. What are archetypes?
2. Are they universal?
3. Are they essential to understanding literature and the world?
2. Are they universal?
3. Are they essential to understanding literature and the world?
Objectives:
1. Students will read and analyze a variety of shorter works to recognize patterns of archetype in literature.
2. Students will explore a larger text to exercise and show their understanding of archetypal characters.
3. Students will use one of a variety of choices of technological tools to analyze and evaluate the use of archetype in literature.
2. Students will explore a larger text to exercise and show their understanding of archetypal characters.
3. Students will use one of a variety of choices of technological tools to analyze and evaluate the use of archetype in literature.
Resources:
Picture Books and Graphic Novels
1. King - Mr. Lincoln’s Way (Polacco, 2001) and Skippyjon Jones (Schachner, 2003)
2. Prophet - The Three Questions (Muth, 2002) and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush (dePaola, 1988)
3. Patriarch - Pride of Baghdad (Vaughan 2008) and Maus I and II (Spiegelman 1988, 1992)
Young Adult Novels
1. Birth/Death/Rebirth - Breathing Underwater (Flinn 2002) and Cut (McCormick 2002)
2. Journey - Whirligig (Fleischman 1998) and Habibi (Nye 1999)
3. Patriarch and Journey - The Graveyard Book (Gaiman 2010)
Non-Fiction
1. Journey - Black Boy (Wright 1945)
2. Birth/Death/Rebirth - The Burn Journals (Runyon 2005)
Poetry
The Hero's Journey and a wide variety of character archetypes - The Odyssey and Beowulf
1. King - Mr. Lincoln’s Way (Polacco, 2001) and Skippyjon Jones (Schachner, 2003)
2. Prophet - The Three Questions (Muth, 2002) and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush (dePaola, 1988)
3. Patriarch - Pride of Baghdad (Vaughan 2008) and Maus I and II (Spiegelman 1988, 1992)
Young Adult Novels
1. Birth/Death/Rebirth - Breathing Underwater (Flinn 2002) and Cut (McCormick 2002)
2. Journey - Whirligig (Fleischman 1998) and Habibi (Nye 1999)
3. Patriarch and Journey - The Graveyard Book (Gaiman 2010)
Non-Fiction
1. Journey - Black Boy (Wright 1945)
2. Birth/Death/Rebirth - The Burn Journals (Runyon 2005)
Poetry
The Hero's Journey and a wide variety of character archetypes - The Odyssey and Beowulf
Lesson Samples
Lesson One - Initiation
To develop an understanding of archetype, it is important to incorporate archetype-rich literary examples (myths, legends, stories, etc.) with familiar examples that have been internalized before the class. To accomplish this, teachers must have a good understanding of what students already know about heroes, villains and journeys. There are many anticiaptions guides or other questioning strategies that may be employed for this.
In this initial lesson, the teacher's role is to provide or elaborate understanding of archetype in literature. Dependent upon student ability and background information may choose to use short works to illustrate and guide understanding. Pairing picture books (see resource list) with media clips of specific archetypal characters is one method to build understanding: Tortoise in Muth's The Three Questions with Yoda of Star Wars fame is one such example. By reading this picture book and viewing Yoda's Socratic-style questioning of Luke Skywalker, the teacher may develop excellent discussion and connections with other well-known media that also contain the Old Wise Man archetype: Kung Fu Panda, the Karate Kid, the Harry Potter series, Arthurian Tales, and many, many more.
Assessment of this mini-lesson is relativley simple: questioning, exit passes, graphic organizers, etc. However, one easy but interactive assessment would incorporate children's picture books and discourse between students. After an understanding of archetype has been established, students would be grouped and then each group would be given a picture book to read (obviously, these picture books must be "vetted" for clear archetypal characters). After reading aloud, the group would then identify as many characters or plot lines that parallel a specific archetype or archetypal character. Groups could then report back to the larger group or could provide a written assessment as time allows.
In this initial lesson, the teacher's role is to provide or elaborate understanding of archetype in literature. Dependent upon student ability and background information may choose to use short works to illustrate and guide understanding. Pairing picture books (see resource list) with media clips of specific archetypal characters is one method to build understanding: Tortoise in Muth's The Three Questions with Yoda of Star Wars fame is one such example. By reading this picture book and viewing Yoda's Socratic-style questioning of Luke Skywalker, the teacher may develop excellent discussion and connections with other well-known media that also contain the Old Wise Man archetype: Kung Fu Panda, the Karate Kid, the Harry Potter series, Arthurian Tales, and many, many more.
Assessment of this mini-lesson is relativley simple: questioning, exit passes, graphic organizers, etc. However, one easy but interactive assessment would incorporate children's picture books and discourse between students. After an understanding of archetype has been established, students would be grouped and then each group would be given a picture book to read (obviously, these picture books must be "vetted" for clear archetypal characters). After reading aloud, the group would then identify as many characters or plot lines that parallel a specific archetype or archetypal character. Groups could then report back to the larger group or could provide a written assessment as time allows.
Lesson Two - Development
This "mini-lesson" isn't really mini. However, as I believe that study of archetype is vital to further evaluation of literature, a classically written work might provide the meat of this unit. These mini-lessons might be utilized as part of a larger unit using the epic poems, the Odyssey and/or Beowulf. Both are examples of literature that students should have at the very least a basic understanding of before undertaking a post-secondary education. Both works are full of archetypal characters and are excellent examples of the monomyth. Both are also available in many forms: visual and written and in a variety of reading levels. While I fully believe that given time and motivation, all students have the ability to access the original literature, it may be necessary for teachers to select an alternative version for their own purposes.
For the purpose of seeing that archetype transends culture and illustrates the common human experience, it is important that students are also exposed to literature from around the world. Myths, legends and folk tales that incorporate the same archetypes that are in either of the epic poems must be carefully selected for their abilityto support the idea that archetypes and the monomyth are not isolated events. There is a large amount of literature that a resourseful teacher can easily find that cover many cultures and time periods. Interdisciplinary discussion with sociology, psychology and history teachers might lead to some valuable sources.
The role of the teacher for this part of the archetypal study becomes less directive and more guiding. There are many different methods that a teacher might use to help her students access this literature, but one of the goals for this mini-lesson is to analyze archetype in a larger work. Using parts or the whole, students need to look beyond the plot itself to identify the patterns found within the writing. Dependent upon ability, the teacher will support or guide students as the use inference to develop their understanding of the archetypes within these works.
Due to the length of the literature, assessment of this not-so-mini-lesson is entirely based upon during reading activities: questioning and discussion, written responses, character studies, and are just a few. Since the goal of this mini-unit is to eventually have students independently identify and analyze archetype, it may not be necessary for final assessment of this work to be a large and intensive effort for students. It may be more important to wait and have students perform some final assessment after the last mini-lesson.
For the purpose of seeing that archetype transends culture and illustrates the common human experience, it is important that students are also exposed to literature from around the world. Myths, legends and folk tales that incorporate the same archetypes that are in either of the epic poems must be carefully selected for their abilityto support the idea that archetypes and the monomyth are not isolated events. There is a large amount of literature that a resourseful teacher can easily find that cover many cultures and time periods. Interdisciplinary discussion with sociology, psychology and history teachers might lead to some valuable sources.
The role of the teacher for this part of the archetypal study becomes less directive and more guiding. There are many different methods that a teacher might use to help her students access this literature, but one of the goals for this mini-lesson is to analyze archetype in a larger work. Using parts or the whole, students need to look beyond the plot itself to identify the patterns found within the writing. Dependent upon ability, the teacher will support or guide students as the use inference to develop their understanding of the archetypes within these works.
Due to the length of the literature, assessment of this not-so-mini-lesson is entirely based upon during reading activities: questioning and discussion, written responses, character studies, and are just a few. Since the goal of this mini-unit is to eventually have students independently identify and analyze archetype, it may not be necessary for final assessment of this work to be a large and intensive effort for students. It may be more important to wait and have students perform some final assessment after the last mini-lesson.
Lesson Three - Application
The purpose of the last mini-lesson is to allow students to independently use their knowledge and undersatnding of archetype and apply it to an unfamiliar text. At this point, students should have internalized the concept of archetype and many of the common archetypal characters. By employing what they have learned, students will see that the human experience has many common traits and that that fact could be an essential understanding of what it means to be human. This mini-lesson encourages students to begin to think outside the classroom and to make connections between themselves and between other texts as well as a larger world view. The teacher's role at this point should be simply supportive and encouraging. It is vital that teachers remain quiet so that students can use their own learning and the understanding of their classmates to develop confidence in higher order critical thinking.
Employing choice may be the key to motivating students to continue this unit. The teacher should work with colleagues, the media specialists, and other resources to gather a large collection of literature that contains the elements of archetype: films, YA novels, classical literature, contemporary literature, even musical collections (albums, specific composers entire works). Depending upon resources and abilities, teachers can have students work independently or in small groups to identify, analyze and evaluate, and finally share what they have discovered about archetype in their selected works.
The Socratic Seminar would be an excellent method to assess students understanding as they are working with the literature and this method can be used whether students are reading the same or different books. Written responses can also be used, but it would be interesting to encourage students to incorporate Web 2.0 tools in their final assessments. The options are diverse, but it would be useful to have students compare and correlate their independent findings with what they had learned using the Odyssey or Beowulf. Through this double assessmnet, students will show their understanding of the classical literature and their ability to apply this knowledge to an unknown work. Application of this understanding would be the final assessment and ideally should allow students to create projects that would best fit the diversity of the works they explored. Googlitrips to follow the Hero's Journey, Voki or Blabberized animated conversations between like-archetypal characters: the options are many. However, the ultimate goal of this final assessment is to encourage students to use a variety of skills to illustrate understanding of the archetypes and to analyze what these similarities say about the common human experience.
Employing choice may be the key to motivating students to continue this unit. The teacher should work with colleagues, the media specialists, and other resources to gather a large collection of literature that contains the elements of archetype: films, YA novels, classical literature, contemporary literature, even musical collections (albums, specific composers entire works). Depending upon resources and abilities, teachers can have students work independently or in small groups to identify, analyze and evaluate, and finally share what they have discovered about archetype in their selected works.
The Socratic Seminar would be an excellent method to assess students understanding as they are working with the literature and this method can be used whether students are reading the same or different books. Written responses can also be used, but it would be interesting to encourage students to incorporate Web 2.0 tools in their final assessments. The options are diverse, but it would be useful to have students compare and correlate their independent findings with what they had learned using the Odyssey or Beowulf. Through this double assessmnet, students will show their understanding of the classical literature and their ability to apply this knowledge to an unknown work. Application of this understanding would be the final assessment and ideally should allow students to create projects that would best fit the diversity of the works they explored. Googlitrips to follow the Hero's Journey, Voki or Blabberized animated conversations between like-archetypal characters: the options are many. However, the ultimate goal of this final assessment is to encourage students to use a variety of skills to illustrate understanding of the archetypes and to analyze what these similarities say about the common human experience.
Sources
http://faculty.rcoe.appstate.edu/koppenhaverd/s10/5710/notes/boynotes.pdf
http://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/305_PDF/305_FinalProj/UsingPicBooksToProvideArchtypesToYOungBoys_RT_Oct2007.pdf
Herz, S. K., & Gallo, D. R. (1996). From Hinton to Hamlet building bridges between young adult literature and the classics. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
http://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/305_PDF/305_FinalProj/UsingPicBooksToProvideArchtypesToYOungBoys_RT_Oct2007.pdf
Herz, S. K., & Gallo, D. R. (1996). From Hinton to Hamlet building bridges between young adult literature and the classics. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
OMG! Not mine, but I love it!!
Literary Exploration: the Monomyth or the Hero's Journey
Book Explosion: 20 Books to Know with Connecting Activities
Technology and Literacy in the Classroom: a research project
Click on the photo at left to see my project on technology in the classrrom.