SURVIVAL SKILLS If you had to survive (find food, clothing and shelter) in these circumstances, what would you do? Working with your group, discuss how you would survive in the four places listed below. Record your ideas/thoughts on the document below. Then answer the questions that are on the handout given to your group. Everyone will need their own copy. Be sure and discuss each place so that when we do our inside/outside circle discussion you are prepared to share your group's ideas.
1. desert 2, downtown in big city 3. the top of the mountain 4. your own neighborhood
THE MEssage!Theme is:
• the central, underlying, and controlling idea or insight of a work of literature. • the idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject—the writer’s view of the world or a revelation about human nature. Theme is NOT: • expressed in a single word • the events of the story-- what happened • the moral or lesson • the conflict Identifying the Theme in Five Steps To identify the theme, be sure that you’ve first identified the story’s plot, the way the story uses characterization, and the primary conflict in the story. Use these steps to determine the theme for a work: 1. Summarize the plot (events of story) by writing a one-sentence description for the exposition, the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. 2. Identify the subject of the work.(who is it about) 3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the subject. How did the protagonist (good guy) change? What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution of the conflict? 4. State how the plot (the events) presents the main insight or truth about the subject. 5. Write one or more generalized (broad), declarative sentences that state what was learned and how it was learned. Theme Litmus Test • Is the theme supported by evidence from the work itself? • Are all the author’s choices of plot, character, conflict, and tone controlled by this theme? As we read our various selections, fiction & poetry, we will be stopping to discuss the various themes we discover. We will keep track of them in our binders. While there are MANY themes that a story might share, the tab below links you to a list of some common themes. Types of Conflict The conflict in a story is its driving tension. This tension is used to further the plot, and its resolution, how it is solved leads to climactic moments.
Depending on how long the story is, there might be a single conflict or many conflicts, as well as major conflicts and minor conflicts. Usually, these conflicts are divided into three categories: 1. character versus character 2. character versus nature 3. character versus self. Sometimes, a fourth category, character versus society, is included. Think about the plot of some familiar stories, fairy tales, or movies. Can you identify the conflict in each one? What would the story be like if there were no conflict? Use the conflict map (link below) and examine the conflict in one of the short stories you've been assigned. Then answer the following questions: What is the conflict? Why does this conflict occur? What are some ways the conflict could be resolved? |
Unit Questions1. What are things that we need in order to survive?
2. What steps do people take to overcome adversity? 3. What are things we can do when we are in a crisis? 4. What character qualities must someone have in order to overcome obstacles? POETRYGOALS: Understanding how to read and understand poetry. Identifying text features and characteristics of poetry.
Five Tips: 1.Try to understand poetry. Poetry is different from other types of writing for several reasons. It talks about your heart and your feelings. Recognize that. It also uses language in an unusual way, and may use unusual words. 2.Read a poem aloud more than once. Listen to the sound of it, like music. 3.Decide if the poet is trying to write a sad, happy, mad, exciting, anxious, etc. poem? If it's a sad poem, let it sink into your heart. Try to feel the emotion that's being written about. 4. Expect that there will be more than you can see at first when you read a poem. Reading the poem over a couple times often helps you see more in the poem than you did the first time you read it. 5.Take time to think over a poem after you read it. Sometimes one poem requires more thought than another. 'Translate' the poem. Although it might not be in a different language, try changing the order of a line of the poem which helps a lot to understand it. POETRY TEXT FEATURES: Look at the look at the two links below. One is a poem and the other is a non-ficiton piece. Compare and contrast their fetaures (what they look like, their purpose,etc.) Create a table that compares and contrasts the text features of the poem and article. Be sure to give your table a title and headings.
POETRY SELECTIONS:
We will read the following two poems. As you read them be mindful to use the steps we discussed about how to understand poetry. Use the discussion questions provided to you to help guide your understanding.
Watch this video that uses Guest's poem, "See It Through". Does the commercial change the tone or does it stay the same? Why do you think so?.
By Rudyard Kipling
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