In this unit, students explore the tension between individual excellence and societal pressure by pairing Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical short story “Harrison Bergeron” with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s classic essay “Self-Reliance.” Through close reading, annotations, Socratic discussion, and cross-text analysis, students examine how both authors confront conformity, enforced equality, and the human need for self-trust. Students learn to identify literary and rhetorical devices, synthesize ideas across genres, and apply these timeless questions to modern issues of authenticity, achievement, and social expectation.
4(E) Make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
4(F) Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.
4(H) Synthesize information from multiple texts to create new understanding.
4(I) Monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.
5(B) Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres.
5(C) Use text evidence and original commentary to support an interpretive response.
5(E) Interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating.
5(G) Discuss and write about the explicit or implicit meanings of text.
5(H) Respond orally or in writing with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
5(J) Defend or challenge the authors’ claims using relevant text evidence.
6(A) Analyze how themes are developed through characterization and plot, including comparing similar themes in a variety of literary texts.
6(B) Analyze how authors develop complex yet believable characters, including archetypes, through historical and cultural settings and events.
8(A) Analyze the author’s purpose, audience, and message within a text.
8(D) Analyze how the author’s use of language informs and shapes the perception of readers.
8(E) Analyze the use of literary devices such as irony, sarcasm, and motif to achieve specific purposes.
8(F) Analyze how the author’s diction and syntax contribute to the mood, voice, and tone of a text.
8(G) Analyze the purpose of rhetorical devices such as appeals, antithesis, parallelism, and shifts...
1(A) Engage in meaningful and respectful discourse by listening actively, responding appropriately, and adjusting communication to audiences and purposes.
1(D) Participate collaboratively, building on the ideas of others, contributing relevant information...
9(A) Plan a piece of writing appropriate for various purposes and audiences by generating ideas through a range of strategies such as brainstorming, journaling, reading, or discussing.
9(B) Develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing in timed and open-ended situations by:
(i) using an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, topic, and context;
(ii) developing an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with specific details and examples;
(iii) creating a well-controlled organizational structure with purposeful transitions and a clear thesis or claim.
9(C) Revise drafts to improve clarity, development, organization, style, diction, and sentence effectiveness…
9(D) Edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
(i) a variety of complete, controlled sentences and avoidance of unintentional splices, run-ons, and fragments;
(v) punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, and parentheses to set off phrases and clauses as appropriate; and
10(B) Compose informational texts, including analytical essays, that convey information clearly and accurately…
10(C) Compose argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft
Colored schedule open and on your desk
You will need a spiral or composition notebook for this class! Purchase one ASAP! I have some extra for $0.50 each.
If you do not have a notebook, use a sheet of paper for today and you can transfer it before Friday.
For each category below choose between the two and briefly explain why
Equality vs. Excellence
Grading Policies
Equality: Everyone gets the same passing grade or curving scores so no one feels left behind.
Excellence: Strict merit based grading that rewards the highest performers and allows failure as a learning opportunity.
Athletics Awards/Abilities
Equality: Participation trophies for every player and limiting playing time so everyone gets a chance.
Excellence: Competitive tryouts, starting lineups, and individual awards for standout talent and effort.
Advanced Classes
Equality: Capping enrollment or eliminating honors/AP classes so no student feels “unequal.”
Excellence: Open access based on ability and interest, allowing advanced students to accelerate and challenge themselves.
College Admissions / Scholarships
Equality: Heavy emphasis on demographic quotas or “equity” adjustments to ensure proportional representation.
Excellence: Primarily merit based decisions using grades, test scores, and achievements.
Pre-reading & Context Background
Vonnegut: WWII/Cold War, debates over communism vs. capitalism, civil rights movement, and early discussions of equality of opportunity vs. outcome.
Emerson: Transcendentalism reaction against rationalism/Unitarianism; emphasis on intuition, nature, individualism.
Vocabulary
Literary Devices (Fiction): satire, situational irony, dramatic irony, verbal irony, symbolism, hyperbole, characterization (protagonist, foil, dynamic/static, archetype), climax, foreshadowing, point of view, tone.
Rhetorical Devices (Essay/Nonfiction): rhetorical question, parallelism (anaphora), aphorism, metaphor, antithesis, direct address, tone (exhortative, persuasive), allusion.
Thematic / Conceptual: individualism vs. collectivism, self-reliance, conformity, non-conformist, enforced equality (equality of outcome vs. opportunity), dystopia, transcendentalism, societal pressure, human potential / genius, rebellion.
Models thinking aloud about one of the debate categories (e.g., “Equality vs. Excellence”), showing how a person might form a stance and support it with reasoning.
Evaluate personal stances on these categories:
Communism vs. Capitalism
Equal Opportunity vs. Equal Outcome
#1 - Bell Work Week 1
Evaluate personal stances on various societal categories through a structured debate/discussion.
Communism vs. Capitalism
Equal Opportunity vs. Equal Outcome
Equality vs. Excellence
Civil Rights Movement (as it relates to equality)
Choose one of the four debate topics from today:
Equality vs. Excellence
Communism vs. Capitalism
Civil Rights Movement
Equal Opportunity vs. Equal Outcome
On an index card or in your notebook, answer the following questions:
What is my current stanze on the topic?
What in your life shows (concrete example) you that you actually support this stance?
Why are you against the antithesis?
Colored schedule open and on your desk
Get you notebooks out of the bin.
For each category below choose between the two and briefly explain why
Conformity vs. Authenticity
Social Media Behavior
Conformity: Posting only what is popular, using filters, or copying trends so you get likes and avoid being “canceled.”
Authenticity: Sharing your real opinions, unfiltered photos, or unique interests even if it means fewer likes or pushback.
Fashion & Appearance
Conformity: Dressing exactly like the popular group or following current trends to fit in.
Authenticity: Wearing what actually expresses your personality, even if it stands out or isn’t “in.”
Peer Pressure & Friend Groups
Conformity: Going along with the group’s opinions, activities, or jokes even when you disagree, just to stay included.
Authenticity: Speaking up when something feels wrong or choosing friends who accept the real you.
Classroom Participation & Opinions
Conformity: Giving the “safe” or expected answer that matches what the teacher or majority wants to hear.
Authenticity: Sharing a genuine, different viewpoint even if it risks looking wrong or different.
Students know how to apply a structured 3-pass close-reading and annotation process to “Harrison Bergeron” in order to identify irony, symbolism (especially the handicaps), characterization, and emerging themes of enforced equality versus individuality.
Close Reading & Annotation of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut
Pass 1: First Read – Plot, Argument & Reactions
Read the section once without stopping too much.
Underline or highlight powerful, confusing, or important lines.
Write a quick 1-sentence summary of what happens or what the main idea is in the margin.
Note your first reaction or question (use ?).
Pass 2: Devices & Craft – How the Author Creates Meaning
Re-read and focus on literary and rhetorical devices.
Use the Annotation Key below to code the text.
Note the effect of the device (e.g., "This irony makes the equality seem ridiculous").
Pay attention to tone and how it shifts.
Pass 3: Theme, Inference & Cross-Text Synthesis
Identify and write emerging theme statements in the margins.
Make inferences (what is implied but not directly stated?).
Make connections to the other text (e.g., "This is like Emerson's 'conspiracy' quote because...").
Star or highlight the strongest evidence you might use in a response or quiz answer.
Analyze the next section of the text together. Read a new short section aloud.
Pass 1 - underline, summary sentence, reaction/question
Pass 2 - discussing the effect of each device as a class.
Pass 3 - create one emerging theme statement and one inference
#1 - Bell Work Week 1
#2 - Close Reading & Annotation of "Harrison Bergeron"
Students annotate independently or in partners for homework. Focus on the symbolism of handicaps, irony, characterization of Harrison / parents / all characters, and theme development.
Assignment: Close Reading & Annotation of “Harrison Bergeron”
Students complete the full 3-pass annotation process independently (or with a partner if assigned) on the remainder of the story
Focus areas for annotation:
Symbolism of the handicaps
Irony throughout the story
Characterization of Harrison, George, Hazel, and other key figures
Theme development (enforced equality vs. individuality)
Look at your annotations of the dance/climax scene.
Choose one piece of strong evidence (quote or detail) you marked with IR, SYM, TH, or EVI. In 2–3 sentences, explain:
What device or technique Vonnegut is using
How that moment develops the theme of enforced equality vs. individuality
Colored schedule open and on your desk
Get you notebooks out of the bin.
Ponder and Question
After thinking about the short story "Harrison Bergeron," Use the Leveled Question Chart to create two level 3 questions and two level 4 question. Read the directions on how to utilize the chart!
Think about the big ideas we discussed yesterday: author's craft, symbolism, irony, characterization, theme development, and thematic topics (equality, conformity, assimilation, power, control, etc. etc.)
Students know how to engage in and document a structured Socratic Seminar (Fishbowl) in order to deepen understanding of the themes of enforced equality, individuality, self-reliance, and societal pressure in “Harrison Bergeron”
Socratic Seminar - Fishbowl
Inner Group - Discuss questions asked by the teacher. All students are required to meaningful contribute to the conversation.
Outer Group - Listen and document by taking notes using one of the three options
Cornell - Divide the page into three sections:
Right column (main/larger area): Take notes during the discussion or lecture.
Left column (narrow): Write key questions, vocabulary, or main ideas.
Bottom section: Summary/reflection (written after class).
Two Column - Split the page into two columns:
Left: “What Others Said” or “Key Ideas from Text/Discussion”
Right: “My Thinking / Connections / Questions”
Concept Map - Start with the main topic or text title in the center.
Branch out with key ideas, quotes, themes, character connections, etc.
Use arrows, colors, symbols, and short phrases to show relationships.
Practice the Fishbowl process with a short practice round
One sample seminar question related to the text
Inner Circle discussion
Misconceptions
Strong vs. weak contributions
How to cite evidence
How to respond to peers
Outer-circle students practice taking notes in their chosen format
#1 - Bell Work Week 1
#3 - Class Discussion / Socratic Seminar - Fish Bowl with Notes (Cornell, Two Column, or Concept Map)
Make at least one meaningful, text-based contribution when in the inner circle.
Actively listening and recording key ideas, questions, connections, and evidence using one of the three note-taking formats (Cornell Notes, Two-Column Notes, or Concept Map) when in the outer circle.
Inner Circle Requirements
Make at least one meaningful, text-based contribution
Use evidence from “Harrison Bergeron”
Engage with peers’ ideas (agree, disagree, build, or question)
Outer Circle Requirements
Actively listen
Record key ideas, questions, connections, and evidence using one of the three note-taking formats:
Cornell Notes
Two-Column Notes
Concept Map
Using the notes you took today (Cornell, Two-Column, or Concept Map), complete the following:
Write one strong idea or quote from the seminar that deepened your understanding of individuality vs. conformity.
In 1–2 sentences, explain why that idea mattered or how it connects to one of the texts.
Commas with Items in a Series & Dates
Quick Tip: Use commas to separate three or more items and between the day and year in dates.
Instructions: Rewrite each sentence and add commas where needed in the following sentences.
The students read analyzed and discussed the poem “Invictus.”
On July 4 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
Shakespeare wrote plays sonnets and histories that are still studied today.
My favorite short stories include “The Raven” “The Lottery” and “The Most Dangerous Game.”
We Will analyze key passages from Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” through a structured three-pass close-reading process (comprehension → craft → theme/inference/cross-text synthesis) so we can explain how Emerson builds his argument for radical individualism and connect those ideas to the enforced equality in “Harrison Bergeron.”
I Will complete the full three-pass annotation process on the assigned sections of “Self-Reliance,” using the annotation key consistently, writing clear margin notes on effect of devices, tone, inferences, and cross-text connections, then produce a short constructed response or discussion contribution that uses my strongest annotated evidence.
Know
Emerson and Transcendentalism as a reaction against rationalism/Unitarianism, emphasizing intuition, nature, and individualism.
The three-pass close-reading process:
– Pass 1: first-read comprehension, powerful lines, one-sentence summary, initial reaction/question
– Pass 2: literary/rhetorical devices, effect of each device, and shifts in tone
– Pass 3: emerging theme statements, inferences, and cross-text connections to “Harrison Bergeron”
How Emerson’s ideas about self-reliance, nonconformity, and the danger of envy/comparison stand in tension with the forced equality and handicapping in “Harrison Bergeron.”
Show
Accurate, consistent annotations on the selected passages (RQ, PAR, APH, ANT, MET, TH, EVI, ?, etc.) with margin notes that address:
– effect of the device
– tone
– inferences
– cross-text connections to “Harrison Bergeron”
– strongest evidence starred or highlighted
A short constructed response or discussion contribution that uses the strongest annotated evidence to support a claim about Emerson’s argument or its relationship to “Harrison Bergeron.”
Close Reading & Annotation of "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Pass 1: First Read – Plot, Argument & Reactions
Read the section once without stopping too much.
Underline or highlight powerful, confusing, or important lines.
Write a quick 1-sentence summary of what happens or what the main idea is in the margin.
Note your first reaction or question (use ?).
Pass 2: Devices & Craft – How the Author Creates Meaning
Re-read and focus on literary and rhetorical devices.
Use the Annotation Key below to code the text.
Note the effect of the device (e.g., "This irony makes the equality seem ridiculous").
Pay attention to tone and how it shifts.
Pass 3: Theme, Inference & Cross-Text Synthesis
Identify and write emerging theme statements in the margins.
Make inferences (what is implied but not directly stated?).
Make connections to the other text (e.g., "This is like Emerson's 'conspiracy' quote because...").
Star or highlight the strongest evidence you might use in a response or quiz answer.
Analyze the next section of the text together. Read a new short section aloud.
Pass 1 - underline, summary sentence, reaction/question
Pass 2 - discussing the effect of each device as a class.
Pass 3 - create one emerging theme statement and one inference
#4 - Bell Work Week 2
#5 - Close Reading & Annotation of "Self-Reliance"
Effect of the device
Tone
Inferences
Cross-text connections to “Harrison Bergeron”
Star or highlight the strongest evidence
SCR (short constructed response)
If envy reveals that we do not truly know ourselves, what would it actually look like to know yourself so completely that comparison and envy those their power over you?
Organize your bell work.
Everyday write the date, subheading bell work, and title of the bell work.
Then create a subheading for notes.
Look at the center board for an example.
Commas in Compound and Complex Sentences
Quick Tip: Compound = comma before coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). Complex = comma after the dependent clause if it comes first (identify the subordinating conjunction).
Instructions: Rewrite each sentence and insert commas where needed. If the sentence is correct, write correct.
The hero faced many challenges but he never gave up.
Although the storm was fierce the ship continued its journey.
Julius Caesar was warned yet he still went to the Senate.
When we read complex texts we must pay close attention to punctuation.
We will analyze how Emerson develops the themes of self-trust, nonconformity, and society as a conspiracy against the individual through key literary devices (aphorisms, rhetorical questions, metaphors, parallelism, and an urgent, direct, empowering tone), then synthesize these ideas by comparing and contrasting them with the enforced equality, handicapping, and individual rebellion in “Harrison Bergeron.”
I will complete a Theme & Device Comparison Chart that includes accurate quotes or key moments from both texts, clear thematic statements, identification of literary devices with evidence, thoughtful cross-text connections, and relevant modern applications.
Know
Emerson’s core arguments in “Self-Reliance”: self-trust as the foundation of genius and integrity; nonconformity as a moral duty; society as an active “conspiracy” that pressures individuals to surrender their unique potential.
How Emerson advances these ideas through specific devices: concise, absolute aphorisms; pointed rhetorical questions; metaphors (especially “conspiracy”); parallelism for emphasis and rhythm; and an urgent, direct, empowering tone that calls the reader to action.
Parallel and contrasting ideas in “Harrison Bergeron”: government-mandated handicaps as a literal, extreme form of Emerson’s “conspiracy”; enforced equality that destroys excellence; Harrison’s rebellion as a violent, exaggerated attempt at the self-reliance Emerson demands.
How authors across genres use literary devices to explore the tension between individual self-expression and societal demands for conformity or equality.
Show
Accurately select and analyze at least two strong quotes or key moments (one from Emerson, one from Vonnegut or a clear cross-reference).
Write clear thematic statements that name self-trust, nonconformity, society-as-conspiracy, enforced equality, individuality, or related ideas.
Identify and explain key devices with specific textual evidence (aphorisms, rhetorical questions, metaphors, parallelism, tone, symbolism of handicaps, irony, characterization).
Make thoughtful, evidence-based cross-text connections that compare and contrast the two works.
Provide relevant modern applications that show the continued tension between authenticity and social pressure.
Complete the full Theme & Device Comparison Chart (Quote Text | Theme Statement | Key Devices/Evidence | Cross-Text Connection | Modern Application) and respond to deeper-thinking prompts about how devices strengthen arguments, how ideas appear or are twisted across texts, and where modern versions of the same tension appear.
Synthesis & Cross-Text Analysis
Graphic Organizer: Complete Theme & Device Comparison Chart
Columns: Quote Text | Theme Statement | Key Devices/Evidence | Cross-Text Connection | Modern Application
Think: self-trust, society as conspiracy, nonconformist, aphorisms, rhetorical questions, metaphors, parallelism, tone (urgent, direct, empowering) and how it affects the story, synthesis (compare and contrast) with "Harrison Bergeron" [ideas, conspiracy related to handicaps] or [Harrison embody self-reliance], and thematic statements.
Complete 1–2 rows of the Theme & Device Comparison Chart
Quote / Text
Emerson: “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.”
Theme Statement
Society actively pressures individuals to conform and suppresses their true potential and independence.
Key Devices / Evidence
Metaphor “conspiracy” – presents society as deliberately working against the individual.
Aphorism – short, memorable, absolute statement.
Tone – urgent, direct, and empowering; calls the reader to resist.
Cross-Text Connection
In Harrison Bergeron, the handicaps (weights, ear radios, masks) are a literal version of Emerson’s “conspiracy.” The government forces everyone to be average, destroying individual excellence just as Emerson warned society would try to do. Harrison’s rebellion is an extreme attempt at the self-reliance Emerson demands.
Modern Application
Social media “cancel culture” or pressure to post only what is popular can act like a modern conspiracy against authenticity, people hide their real opinions or talents to fit in and avoid criticism or controversy.
Deeper thinking
How does this device strengthen Emerson’s argument?
In what way does this idea appear (or get twisted) in Harrison Bergeron?
Where do we see a modern version of this tension?
Second key quote from “Self-Reliance” or a strong moment from “Harrison Bergeron.”
#4 - Bell Work Week 2
#6 - Theme & Device Comparison Chart (GO) [Example]
Minimum of four = two from each text
Complete a Theme & Device Comparison Chart that includes:
Accurate quote selection from both texts (or clear reference to key moments)
Clear thematic statements (self-trust, nonconformity, society as conspiracy, enforced equality, individuality, etc.)
Identification of key devices and evidence (aphorisms, rhetorical questions, metaphors, parallelism, tone, symbolism of handicaps, irony, characterization, etc.)
Thoughtful cross-text connections between “Self-Reliance” and “Harrison Bergeron”
Relevant modern applications
How do authors across genres use devices to explore individual self-expression vs. societal demands for conformity or equality?
Commas to Set Off Transitions and Introductory Elements
Quick Tip: Use a comma after introductory transitions (however, therefore, for example) and after introductory phrases/clauses (think complex sentence).
Instructions: Rewrite each sentence and add commas to set off introductory words, phrases, or transitions.
However the main character’s decision changed everything.
In the beginning of the story the setting seems peaceful.
Therefore we must support our claims with textual evidence.
After reading the article the class had a lively debate.
We will engage in a collaborative Socratic Seminar Hot Seat discussion to analyze and synthesize how Emerson and Vonnegut develop related themes of individualism, self-trust, and resistance to societal control. We will examine each author’s purpose, message, and craft, and practice using evidence from both texts to support, challenge, and connect ideas to society.
I will rotate into the Hot Seat and respond to synthesis-level questions from my peers using specific evidence from both “Self-Reliance” and “Harrison Bergeron.” I will offer original commentary that includes inferences, cross-text connections, and analysis of themes (self-reliance versus enforced equality), author’s purpose, and message. When not in the Hot Seat, I will ask thoughtful synthesis questions and take structured notes (Cornell, Two-Column, or Concept Map) while actively listening.
Students will know how Emerson and Vonnegut develop related themes of individualism, self-trust, and resistance to societal control; how each author’s purpose, message, and craft shape meaning; and how evidence from both texts can be synthesized, connected to society, and used to support or challenge ideas.
Students will show understanding during the Socratic Seminar Hot Seat by using text evidence and original commentary to discuss explicit and implicit meanings, make inferences and cross-text connections, synthesize ideas from both texts, analyze how themes of self-reliance versus enforced equality are developed, examine each author’s purpose and message, and defend or challenge claims while responding orally with appropriate academic register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
Collaborative Discussion Socratic Seminar Hot Seat Method
Students will rotate turns in the socratic seminar hot seat.
One at a time, other students will ask synthesis level questions to the student in the hot seat.
All students (minus the student in the hot set) will take notes (Cornell, Two-Column, or Concept Map)
A confident volunteer sits in the Hot Seat first.
1–2 strong synthesis questions for the volunteer
How does Harrison’s rebellion both fulfill and complicate Emerson’s idea of self-reliance?
In what ways does the handicapping system in Harrison Bergeron make Emerson’s claim that society is a ‘conspiracy’ more concrete and urgent?
Hot Seat responds using evidence from both texts while the class practices taking notes.
Coach:
Quality of the question
Strength of the evidence and commentary
Academic register and clarity
#4 - Bell Work Week 2
#7 - Class Discussions / Socratic Seminar Hot Seat
My understanding during the Socratic seminar by using text evidence and original commentary to discuss explicit and implicit meanings, make inferences and cross-text connections, synthesize ideas from both texts, analyze how themes of self-reliance versus enforced equality are developed, examine each author’s purpose and message, and defend or challenge claims while responding orally with appropriate academic register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
When in the Hot Seat
Respond to synthesis-level questions from peers
Use specific text evidence from both “Self-Reliance” and “Harrison Bergeron”
Offer original commentary that includes inferences, cross-text connections, and analysis of themes (self-reliance vs. enforced equality), author’s purpose, and message
Defend or challenge claims using academic vocabulary, tone, and voice
When not in the Hot Seat
Ask thoughtful, synthesis-level questions
Actively listen and take notes using one of the three formats:
Cornell Notes
Two-Column Notes
Concept Map
How did being in the hot seat (or watching a classmate in the hot seat) challenge or strengthen your understanding of the texts? What specific question or response during that moment pushed you to think more deeply about self-reliance, conformity, or the authors’ messages?
Commas to Set Off Words, Phrases, and Clauses
Quick Tip: Direct address, interjections (yes, no, well), and nonessential phrases/clauses need commas.
Instructions: Rewrite each sentence and add commas to correctly set off the underlined words, phrases, or clauses.
My friend please pass me the graphic organizer.
The teacher who inspires us the most is the one who challenges us.
Yes I finished my STAAR practice essay.
We need to revise our papers in other words add stronger commentary.
We will engage in a collaborative Socratic Seminar Hot Seat discussion to analyze and synthesize how Emerson and Vonnegut develop related themes of individualism, self-trust, and resistance to societal control. We will examine each author’s purpose, message, and craft, and practice using evidence from both texts to support, challenge, and connect ideas to society.
I will rotate into the Hot Seat and respond to synthesis-level questions from my peers using specific evidence from both “Self-Reliance” and “Harrison Bergeron.” I will offer original commentary that includes inferences, cross-text connections, and analysis of themes (self-reliance versus enforced equality), author’s purpose, and message. When not in the Hot Seat, I will ask thoughtful synthesis questions and take structured notes (Cornell, Two-Column, or Concept Map) while actively listening.
Students will know how Emerson and Vonnegut develop related themes of individualism, self-trust, and resistance to societal control; how each author’s purpose, message, and craft shape meaning; and how evidence from both texts can be synthesized, connected to society, and used to support or challenge ideas.
Students will show understanding during the Socratic Seminar Hot Seat by using text evidence and original commentary to discuss explicit and implicit meanings, make inferences and cross-text connections, synthesize ideas from both texts, analyze how themes of self-reliance versus enforced equality are developed, examine each author’s purpose and message, and defend or challenge claims while responding orally with appropriate academic register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
Collaborative Discussion Socratic Seminar Hot Seat Method
Students will rotate turns in the socratic seminar hot seat.
One at a time, other students will ask synthesis level questions to the student in the hot seat.
All students (minus the student in the hot set) will take notes (Cornell, Two-Column, or Concept Map)
A confident volunteer sits in the Hot Seat first.
1–2 strong synthesis questions for the volunteer
How does Harrison’s rebellion both fulfill and complicate Emerson’s idea of self-reliance?
In what ways does the handicapping system in Harrison Bergeron make Emerson’s claim that society is a ‘conspiracy’ more concrete and urgent?
Hot Seat responds using evidence from both texts while the class practices taking notes.
Coach:
Quality of the question
Strength of the evidence and commentary
Academic register and clarity
#4 - Bell Work Week 2
#7 - Class Discussions / Socratic Seminar Hot Seat
My understanding during the Socratic seminar by using text evidence and original commentary to discuss explicit and implicit meanings, make inferences and cross-text connections, synthesize ideas from both texts, analyze how themes of self-reliance versus enforced equality are developed, examine each author’s purpose and message, and defend or challenge claims while responding orally with appropriate academic register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
When in the Hot Seat
Respond to synthesis-level questions from peers
Use specific text evidence from both “Self-Reliance” and “Harrison Bergeron”
Offer original commentary that includes inferences, cross-text connections, and analysis of themes (self-reliance vs. enforced equality), author’s purpose, and message
Defend or challenge claims using academic vocabulary, tone, and voice
When not in the Hot Seat
Ask thoughtful, synthesis-level questions
Actively listen and take notes using one of the three formats:
Cornell Notes
Two-Column Notes
Concept Map
In 4–5 sentences, explain one new understanding you gained by synthesizing Self-Reliance and “Harrison Bergeron.” Support your idea with evidence from both texts and explain how the authors develop related or contrasting themes.
Commas in Nonrestrictive Phrases and Clauses
Quick Tip: Nonrestrictive (extra info) = commas. Restrictive (necessary to identify) = no commas.
Instructions: Rewrite each sentence and correct each sentence by deciding if the sentence contains restrictive (essential no commas) or nonrestrictive (extra information add commas).
The book that we are reading in class is Julius Caesar.
Mr. Matherne my English teacher wrote excellent recommendation letters.
Students who complete their bell work daily usually perform better on quizzes.
“Invictus” which means “unconquered” is a powerful poem about resilience.
We will learn the difference between summary, comparison, and synthesis so we can put ideas from Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” together to create a new understanding that neither text fully states alone. We will practice identifying a common idea, noticing tension or difference, and building a fresh claim supported by evidence from both texts.
I will use the synthesis sentence stems and graphic organizer to combine a key idea from each text with evidence, then write one clear new insight that emerges only when the two texts are read together. I will color-code my response (green = answer, yellow = evidence from Text A, blue = evidence from Text B, red = original commentary/new insight) and apply test-taking strategies during the analytical writing assessment.
Students will know how to synthesize ideas from “Self-Reliance” and “Harrison Bergeron,” make inferences supported by evidence, compare how themes of individualism and conformity are developed across the texts, and use text evidence with original commentary to support an interpretive response.
Students will show understanding by completing a multiple-choice assessment and writing an analytical synthesis response that compares themes, makes evidence-based inferences, and supports claims with specific textual evidence and original commentary from both texts.
Define
Summary
What it is: Retelling the main ideas of a text in your own words.
Focus: What the text says.
Key feature: Stays inside one text (or treats each text separately).
Example: In Self-Reliance, Emerson argues that people should trust themselves and avoid conforming to society’s expectations.
Comparison
What it is: Showing how two texts are similar and/or different.
Focus: Side-by-side analysis (alike vs. different).
Key feature: Points out connections, but does not yet create a new idea.
Example: Both Emerson and Vonnegut show that society pressures individuals, but Emerson focuses on quiet conformity while Vonnegut shows extreme, forced equality through handicaps.
Synthesis
What it is: Putting ideas from both texts together to create a new understanding that neither text fully states on its own.
Focus: “What new insight emerges when I read these texts together?”
Key feature: Goes beyond listing similarities/differences; it builds a fresh claim.
Example: When read together, Self-Reliance and ‘Harrison Bergeron’ suggest that any society, whether it pressures people quietly or forces equality through handicaps, ultimately threatens true individuality, revealing that the greatest danger is not the method of control, but the loss of self-trust itself.
So what?
What new idea do you now understand that you didn’t fully see when reading the texts separately?
Know the text!
Identify a common idea
Notice a difference or tension
Create a new claim that neither text fully states alone
Synthesis Sentence Stems
When read together, both texts suggest that…
While X focuses on ___, Y reveals ___, creating a deeper understanding that…
The tension between these two texts highlights…
Synthesizing these ideas shows that the real issue is not ___, but ___.
Neither text alone fully captures ___; together they reveal…
Organizer
Key idea from Text A + evidence
Key idea from Text B + evidence
New Understanding (the synthesis claim)
One New Insight
Write one sentence that creates a new understanding using both texts.
What do these two texts teach us together that neither teaches alone?
Color Code
Green = answer
Yellow = evidence from Text A
Blue = evidence from Text B
Red = original commentary / new insight
Test Taking Strategies
Prompt Analysis
Elimination of Answer Choices
Vocabulary
Cheating
Zero! NO RETAKES!
Parent & Coach/Director Meeting
#4 - Bell Work Week 2
#8 - Test: Analytical Writing (Synthesis) + Multiple Choice Question
My understanding by completing a multiple-choice assessment and writing an analytical synthesis response that compares themes, makes evidence-based inferences, and supports claims with specific textual evidence and original commentary from both texts.
What was your greatest struggle with the test and the two text?
In this mini unit, students will read and discuss two incredible text: Edgard Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and Pericles’ Funeral Oration (Thucydides). Paired, these works explore various thematic topics such as: Responses to Loss, Death, and Legacy; Personal Despair vs. Public Honor; Individual Grief vs. Collective Memory; The Power of Language in Processing Tragedy and Finding Meaning.
7(B) – Analyze the effects of metrics; rhyme schemes; types of rhymes such as end, internal, slant, and eye; and other conventions in poems.
8(F) – Analyze how the author’s diction and syntax contribute to the mood, voice, and tone of a text.
8(D) – Analyze how the author’s use of language informs and shapes the perception of readers.
8(E) – Analyze the use of literary devices (repetition/refrain, alliteration, internal rhyme, symbolism beginnings).
5(C) – Use text evidence and original commentary to support an interpretive response (ATC exit ticket).
7(B) – Effects of rhyme, refrain, and poetic conventions.
8(B) – Analyze use of text structure to achieve the author’s purpose.
8(E) – Literary devices (motif, symbolism of the raven on Pallas).
8(F) – Diction, syntax, mood, and tone (escalating questions and fixed reply).
5(C) – Text evidence + commentary (ATC paragraph on the refrain).
6(A) – Analyze how themes are developed… (grief as self-torment, memory as burden, limits of reason).
8(D), 8(F) – Language, diction, imagery, and structure developing theme.
5(B) – Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts.
5(C) – Use text evidence and original commentary (theme paragraph with ATC).
8(A) – Analyze the author’s purpose, audience, and message within a text.
7(A) – Read and analyze world literature across literary periods (classical Greek oratory).
8(B) – Text structure (opening movement from dead to living city).
Supporting: historical/cultural context influencing the text.
8(G) – Analyze the purpose of rhetorical devices such as appeals, antithesis, parallelism, and shifts.
8(A) – Purpose, audience, and message (claims about democracy, equality, merit, freedom).
8(D) – How language shapes perception of Athens.
Supporting argumentative/informational analysis of claims and evidence.
8(A) & 8(B) – Purpose, message, and structure (consolation and exhortation).
6(A) – Theme development (good death, imperishable renown, duty of the living).
5(B) – Comparing texts within and across genres (explicit contrast with “The Raven”).
5(C) – Text evidence + commentary (ATC response).
8(G) – Rhetorical devices (ethos, pathos, logos, parallelism, antithesis, shifts).
8(A) – Purpose, audience, and message.
8(D) – Language shaping perception and persuasion.
Supporting full rhetorical analysis.
5(B) – Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres.
6(A) – Analyze how themes are developed… including comparing similar themes.
8(A–G) – Purpose/craft analysis applied comparatively (private vs. public, memory as burden vs. glory, “Nevermore” vs. renown).
5(C) – Evidence and commentary for comparative thesis.
5(B) & 5(C) – Comparative understanding and evidence-based interpretive response.
Oral language / discussion skills (meaningful discourse, building on others’ ideas, using text evidence).
9(A–B) – Writing process (planning and developing a focused comparative analytical draft).
8 series (continued craft analysis through discussion).
5(B) – Comparing texts within and across genres.
5(C) – Text evidence and original commentary.
6(A) – Theme analysis and comparison.
7(B) – Poetic conventions in “The Raven.”
8(A–G) – Full author’s purpose and craft (literary devices + rhetorical devices).
9 / 10 – Composition of an analytical response using genre characteristics and craft (comparative essay or multi-paragraph ECR).
#9 - Bell Work Week 3
#10 - Close Read Annotations "The Raven"
#11 - Inside the Raven
#12 - MAP Testing
#14 - Bell Work Week 4
#15 - Close Read Annotations "Pericles Funeral Oration (Thucydides)"
#16 - Inside the Columns: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning, Purpose, Audience, Appeals, Devices
#17 - Prompt Analysis: Outline for Analytical Writing
No bell work. No journals.
Logout of your chromebook,
Click apps,
Click NWEA or Test Session Login
Enter session name: BOYMatherne2026
Passcode: ___________
Select your name and wait on the teacher to confirm the test.
The proctor will confirm the test and click the blue arrow to begin the test.
We will apply advanced close-reading, vocabulary-in-context, and text-analysis strategies to accurately demonstrate our current reading and language skills on the NWEA MAP Growth assessment.
I will carefully read each passage and question, use process-of-elimination and evidence-based reasoning, and answer every item to the best of my ability so that my MAP results accurately reflect my growth as an Honors English student.
Know
Analyze complex literary and informational texts for central ideas, author’s craft, tone, and structure
Determine the meaning of academic and domain-specific vocabulary using context clues and word parts
Distinguish between literal and inferential meaning
Evaluate evidence and draw logical conclusions under timed, adaptive conditions
Show
Selecting the strongest evidence-based answers on both literature and informational passages
Accurately interpreting vocabulary in sophisticated contexts
Maintaining focus and stamina throughout the adaptive MAP assessment
Producing a RIT score that reflects meaningful academic growth from my previous MAP administration
Test taking strategies.
Outlines
Prompt Analysis
Elimination
Test Taking Strategies
Prompt Analysis
Elimination of Answer Choices
Vocabulary
#12 - MAP Testing
Where did your score fall according to your required window?
No bell work. No journals.
Logout of your chromebook,
Click apps,
Click NWEA or Test Session Login
Enter session name: BOYMatherne2026
Passcode: ___________
Select your name and wait on the teacher to confirm the test.
The proctor will confirm the test and click the blue arrow to begin the test.
If you do not finish your MAP test, you have today after school and tomorrow morning to complete the MAP test!
When finished with MAP testing, read "The Raven" in such a way that you can answer the type of quesions we have been discussing in class! I would be prepared for a Quiz!
We will apply advanced close-reading, vocabulary-in-context, and text-analysis strategies to accurately demonstrate our current reading and language skills on the NWEA MAP Growth assessment.
I will carefully read each passage and question, use process-of-elimination and evidence-based reasoning, and answer every item to the best of my ability so that my MAP results accurately reflect my growth as an Honors English student.
Know
Analyze complex literary and informational texts for central ideas, author’s craft, tone, and structure
Determine the meaning of academic and domain-specific vocabulary using context clues and word parts
Distinguish between literal and inferential meaning
Evaluate evidence and draw logical conclusions under timed, adaptive conditions
Show
Selecting the strongest evidence-based answers on both literature and informational passages
Accurately interpreting vocabulary in sophisticated contexts
Maintaining focus and stamina throughout the adaptive MAP assessment
Producing a RIT score that reflects meaningful academic growth from my previous MAP administration
Test taking strategies.
Outlines
Prompt Analysis
Elimination
Test Taking Strategies
Prompt Analysis
Elimination of Answer Choices
Vocabulary
#12 - MAP Testing
Where did your score fall according to your required window?
Quick write – Choose one topic to write about: connections, experiences, etc. etc.
3–5 sentences
Inescapable / permanent grief
Memory as torment rather than comfort
The limits of reason and wisdom in the face of loss
Self-inflicted psychological torment / obsession
Isolation and the failure of consolation
The power (and failure) of language to process or escape grief
Despair versus any hope of forgetting or reunion
Share 2–3 responses.
We will analyze how Poe uses sound devices and structure to create a gothic atmosphere of grief and obsession in the opening of “The Raven.”
I will identify and explain at least three sound devices (alliteration, internal rhyme, refrain) and describe the overall mood of the opening stanzas using textual evidence.
Know
Key terms: refrain, alliteration, internal rhyme, mood, gothic
Historical context of Poe and the 1845 publication
How sound devices create a closed, obsessive feeling even before the raven appears
Show
Annotated stanzas 1-9
Completed Inside the Raven
Exit ticket: one sound device + its effect on mood (ATC format)
Brief bio context (Poe’s losses) without over-biographizing the poem
Model annotation of Stanza 1: circle “dreary/weary,” underline internal rhyme and alliteration, note the late-night setting and “forgotten lore”
Think-aloud: Poe is building a soundscape that feels closed-in and obsessive
Class reads Stanzas 2–4 aloud
Together identify additional internal rhymes, the emerging refrain idea, and the introduction of Lenore
Complete the first two rows of the stanza analysis chart as a class
#9 - Bell Work Week 3
Only three days (Wednesday-Friday)
#10 - Close Read Annotations "The Raven" stanzas 1-9
Literary Devices: Repetition, Symbolism, Mood, Shifts, Allusions, and Alliteration
Thematic Topics: Grief, Death & Loss, Reason & Wisdom, Emotional Journey, Devotion, Rationality vs Irrationality, Memory as Torment vs Comfort, Isolation & Failure of Consolation, and Rational Questioning vs Emotional Collapse
#11 - Inside the Raven
Part One: one each - Repetition, Symbolism, Mood, Shifts, Allusions, and Alliteration
Literary device → Textual evidence → Meaning / Significance
Example: Symbolism = "The Raven" → death, grief, inescapable despair, color is black and is a simple character speaking only one word.
Part Two: one each - Grief, Death & Loss, Reason & Wisdom, Emotional Journey, Devotion, Rationality vs Irrationality, Memory as Torment vs Comfort, Isolation & Failure of Consolation, and Rational Questioning vs Emotional Collapse
Thematic topic → Thematic Statement → Meaning / Significance
Example: Emotional Journey = curiosity "while I pondered, weak and weary" the word pondering suggest that something is occupying his thoughts → hope "Presently my soul grew stronger, hesitating then no longer" the speaker is building his confidence to where he can perform an everyday task like open the door → anger "'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil! prophet still, if bird or devil!'" the punctuation used suggest he is angry which is one of the seven stages of grief → despair "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / shall be lifted - nevermore!" darkness/grief/depression will consume the remainder of his life
Quick Write (ATC): Explain one sound device Poe uses in the opening nine stanzas and how it contributes to the mood of the poem.
Quick write – Choose one topic (difference from previous day) to write about: connections, experiences, etc. etc.
3–5 sentences
Inescapable / permanent grief
Memory as torment rather than comfort
The limits of reason and wisdom in the face of loss
Self-inflicted psychological torment / obsession
Isolation and the failure of consolation
The power (and failure) of language to process or escape grief
Despair versus any hope of forgetting or reunion
Share 2–3 responses.
We will trace how the fixed refrain “Nevermore” and key symbols (especially the bust of Pallas) develop the speaker’s self-torment and the theme of inescapable grief.
I will map the speaker’s questions against the raven’s single answer and explain the psychological effect of the unchanging refrain using textual evidence.
Know
Refrain as both structural and thematic device
Motif and symbolism (raven on Pallas = reason overtaken by grief)
The progression of the speaker’s questions: curiosity → hope of forgetting → hope of reunion → despair
Show
Annotated stanzas 10-18
Completed Inside the Raven
SCR: What does the raven perched on Pallas ultimately symbolize about the speaker’s mind?
Model the first two speaker questions and the raven’s reply
Show how meaning is generated by the speaker, not the bird
Highlight the bust of Pallas as symbolic of reason being overtaken
Whole-class tracking of the remaining questions through the middle stanzas
Chart the escalating stakes together
Begin transferring key devices and evidence into the blank raven outline
#9 - Bell Work Week 3
Only three days (Wednesday-Friday)
#10 - Close Read Annotations "The Raven" stanzas 10-18
Literary Devices: Repetition, Symbolism, Mood, Shifts, Allusions, and Alliteration
Thematic Topics: Grief, Death & Loss, Reason & Wisdom, Emotional Journey, Devotion, Rationality vs Irrationality, Memory as Torment vs Comfort, Isolation & Failure of Consolation, and Rational Questioning vs Emotional Collapse
#11 - Inside the Raven
Part One: one each - Repetition, Symbolism, Mood, Shifts, Allusions, and Alliteration
Literary device → Textual evidence → Meaning / Significance
Example: Symbolism = "The Raven" → death, grief, inescapable despair, color is black and is a simple character speaking only one word.
Part Two: one each - Grief, Death & Loss, Reason & Wisdom, Emotional Journey, Devotion, Rationality vs Irrationality, Memory as Torment vs Comfort, Isolation & Failure of Consolation, and Rational Questioning vs Emotional Collapse
Thematic topic → Thematic Statement → Meaning / Significance
Example: Emotional Journey = curiosity "while I pondered, weak and weary" the word pondering suggest that something is occupying his thoughts → hope "Presently my soul grew stronger, hesitating then no longer" the speaker is building his confidence to where he can perform an everyday task like open the door → anger "'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil! prophet still, if bird or devil!'" the punctuation used suggest he is angry which is one of the seven stages of grief → despair "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / shall be lifted - nevermore!" darkness/grief/depression will consume the remainder of his life
One sentence: What does the raven perched on Pallas ultimately symbolize about the speaker’s mind?
Quick write – Choose one topic (difference from previous day) to write about: connections, experiences, etc. etc.
3–5 sentences
Inescapable / permanent grief
Memory as torment rather than comfort
The limits of reason and wisdom in the face of loss
Self-inflicted psychological torment / obsession
Isolation and the failure of consolation
The power (and failure) of language to process or escape grief
Despair versus any hope of forgetting or reunion
Share 2–3 responses.
We will determine a central theme of “The Raven” and synthesize literary devices, their meanings, and theme statements inside the raven outline, each supported by textual evidence.
I will write a precise theme statement and fill the interior of the raven with literary devices, their meanings, and at least one theme statement all supported by specific textual evidence.
Know
How to craft a precise theme statement (not a topic)
Possible themes: grief as self-inflicted torment; memory as burden rather than comfort; the limits of reason in the face of loss
How diction, imagery, structure, and refrain work together to develop theme
Show
Completed Inside the Raven
Literary devices + brief meaning/effect
Theme statement(s)
Supporting textual evidence for each
Theme paragraph (ATC) with three pieces of evidence
Peer feedback notes
Model crafting a precise theme statement:
“In ‘The Raven,’ Poe suggests that intense grief can become a form of self-torment when the mourner repeatedly seeks confirmation of permanent loss.”
Demonstrate how to place a device + evidence + meaning inside the raven outline
Small groups generate alternative theme statements and select strongest evidence
Students finish transferring devices, meanings, theme statements, and evidence into the raven outline
Peer review of one another’s outlines using a simple checklist (device + evidence + meaning/theme connection)
#9 - Bell Work Week 3
Only three days (Wednesday-Friday)
#10 - Close Read Annotations "The Raven" stanzas ALL
Literary Devices: Repetition, Symbolism, Mood, Shifts, Allusions, and Alliteration
Thematic Topics: Grief, Death & Loss, Reason & Wisdom, Emotional Journey, Devotion, Rationality vs Irrationality, Memory as Torment vs Comfort, Isolation & Failure of Consolation, and Rational Questioning vs Emotional Collapse
#11 - Inside the Raven
Part One: one each - Repetition, Symbolism, Mood, Shifts, Allusions, and Alliteration
Literary device → Textual evidence → Meaning / Significance
Example: Symbolism = "The Raven" → death, grief, inescapable despair, color is black and is a simple character speaking only one word.
Part Two: one each - Grief, Death & Loss, Reason & Wisdom, Emotional Journey, Devotion, Rationality vs Irrationality, Memory as Torment vs Comfort, Isolation & Failure of Consolation, and Rational Questioning vs Emotional Collapse
Thematic topic → Thematic Statement → Meaning / Significance
Example: Emotional Journey = curiosity "while I pondered, weak and weary" the word pondering suggest that something is occupying his thoughts → hope "Presently my soul grew stronger, hesitating then no longer" the speaker is building his confidence to where he can perform an everyday task like open the door → anger "'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil! prophet still, if bird or devil!'" the punctuation used suggest he is angry which is one of the seven stages of grief → despair "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / shall be lifted - nevermore!" darkness/grief/depression will consume the remainder of his life
Rate your confidence with the poem’s craft and theme on a 1–5 scale and name one question you still have.
We will build background knowledge on Athenian democracy, the Peloponnesian War, and the funeral oration (epitaphios logos), then analyze how Pericles turns private loss into public inspiration.
I will identify the historical occasion, speaker, audience, and purpose of the speech and explain Pericles’ claim that the dead have gained “imperishable renown.”
Know
Occasion: public funeral, winter 431/430 BCE, after the first year of the Peloponnesian War
Speaker: Pericles; writer: Thucydides
Genre: funeral oration that honors the dead and the city
Key ideas: whole earth as tomb; happiness = freedom = courage; love of honor never grows old; duty of the living
Contrast with private grief in “The Raven”
Show
Context notes + purpose/audience/message organizer
Annotated opening and closing sections
6–8 sentence ATC: How does Pericles try to give meaning to these deaths, and what does he ask of the living?
Mini-lecture + visual timeline: Athens, Sparta, early war years, public funerals for the war dead.
Model reading of the opening paragraphs: Pericles’ reluctance to speak vs. the need to honor the dead and the city.
Model the “whole earth for their tomb” passage and the exhortation to the living.
Contrast explicitly with the speaker of “The Raven” who is trapped by memory.
What to look for during readings:
Structure of the argument
Reluctance to speak (builds credibility)
Ancestors and the city (the dead belong to a larger story)
The Athenian constitution and way of life (what is worth dying for)
Praise of the fallen (they proved the city’s values)
Charge to the living (parents, sons, widows, citizens)
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
Antithesis
Parallelism / anaphora
Shift
Diction
Central rhetorical move
Together annotate the opening for purpose, audience (citizens + strangers), and the shift from the dead to the living city.
Paired reading of the consolation to parents and the charge to sons/brothers; discuss tone shifts.
In one sentence each: Who is speaking? To whom? For what primary purpose?
One key difference between how the speaker of “The Raven” and Pericles treat the memory of the dead.
We will analyze Pericles’ definition of democracy and the values he claims distinguish Athens, and we will analyze his rhetorical appeals and devices.
I will identify at least three claims about Athenian government and society with textual evidence and complete a rhetorical analysis organizer (purpose, audience, appeals, two devices + effects).
Know
Claims: equality before the law; advancement by merit; freedom in private life; openness; love of beauty and wisdom without softness
Appeals: ethos, pathos, logos
Devices: parallelism, antithesis, rhetorical questions, structural shifts
Show
Annotated democracy / way of life section
Claim & evidence chart (3–4 claims)
Completed rhetorical organizer + short evaluation paragraph
Model close reading of the famous democracy paragraph (“Our constitution does not copy… it is called a democracy…”).
Highlight parallelism and antithesis as rhetorical tools.
Model filling the rhetorical triangle and identifying one clear appeal and one device with its effect on the audience.
Class discussion: How does Pericles balance equality with recognition of excellence? Is this still a relevant ideal?
Small groups locate additional appeals and devices; report out.
Choose one claim about Athens. Quote the text and explain in your own words why Pericles presents it as a source of strength.
Which appeal do you think is strongest in the oration? Why? (ATC, 3–4 sentences)
We will compare how “The Raven” and Pericles’ Funeral Oration construct meaning around death, memory, and the response of the living.
I will complete a comparison matrix and draft a working thesis for a cross-textual analytical paragraph or essay.
Know
Points of comparison:
Private vs. public response to death
Memory as burden vs. memory as glory
Self-torment vs. civic inspiration
Language of finality (“Nevermore”) vs. language of immortality (renown; whole earth as tomb)
Show
Completed comparison matrix
Clear comparative thesis statement
Model one row of the comparison matrix (“View of Memory”) with evidence from both texts.
Pairs complete 2–3 additional rows; share strongest insights.
Submit your thesis. Teacher provides quick feedback for Day 9–10 writing.
We will deepen understanding through structured academic discussion and begin drafting the summative analytical response.
I will participate in Socratic seminar with text evidence from both works and outline or draft the comparative response.
Know
Seminar norms
How to build on others’ ideas
Structure of a comparative analytical response: claim, evidence from both texts, commentary (ATC)
Show
Seminar participation notes
Draft outline or first body paragraph
Review seminar norms and model one high-quality contribution that uses evidence from both texts.
Opening question: Which response to death, private obsession or public honor, offers more lasting meaning for the living, and why?
Follow-up probes on language, audience, and modern relevance.
One insight from the seminar that strengthened or changed your thesis.
We will demonstrate mastery of both texts and the ability to compare them analytically.
I will complete the summative assessment (selected-response + comparative analytical writing) and reflect on one idea I will carry forward.
Know
All prior content: poetic craft in “The Raven,” rhetorical analysis of Pericles, thematic comparison, precise textual evidence.
Show
Completed selected-response section (15–20 items)
Completed ECR / multi-paragraph comparative response
Optional reflection sentence
Brief review of directions, time, and scoring expectations
Display the prompt options and the ATC reminder (Answer + Textual Evidence from both texts + Commentary)
Model how to choose a prompt and sketch a 30-second plan (thesis + two evidence moves)
2-minute silent reread of the chosen prompt
Quick check for understanding: What must every body paragraph contain?
Students begin independently; teacher circulates
Collect assessments
One-sentence exit (if time): one idea about grief, honor, or language you will carry forward
This eight-day English II unit places three demanding works in conversation: Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death,” selected readings from the Book of Job (chs. 1–3, 7, 14, 19, 28, 38–42), and Henley’s “Invictus.” The organizing questions are literary, not confessional: How do speakers face loss, pain, and mortality? What counts as resilience when suffering is not solved? What remains of the human spirit when explanation runs out?
(4) Comprehension — Use metacognitive skills to develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts (poetry, narrative, wisdom literature).
(5) Response — Respond by writing, discussing, and reflecting while using text evidence.
(6) Literary elements — Analyze how themes are developed through characterization, plot, and setting; compare similar themes across texts and cultures/traditions.
(7) Genres — poetry — Analyze poetic structures, metrics, rhyme schemes (end, slant), and conventions across lyric forms.
(8) Author’s purpose & craft — Analyze purpose, audience, and message; how language shapes perception; literary devices (personification, metaphor, motif, rhetorical question, irony of restoration).
(9) Composition — Use the writing process to compose clear, evidence-based literary analysis (SCR and ECR/essay).
(1) Oral language — Listen, build on others’ ideas, and present claims in seminar and recitation.
Day 1 — Dickinson
(4) Comprehension
(5) Response
(7)(A)(B) Poetry form, metrics, rhyme, conventions
(8)(A)(D) Author’s purpose, language, and craft
Day 2 — Job 1–3
(4) Comprehension
(5) Response
(6)(A)(B) Theme and characterization across texts
(8)(A) Purpose, message, and language
Day 3 — Job 7 & 14
(4)(F)(G) Inferences and connections
(5)(C) Write responses; (6)(A) Theme
(8)(D)(E) Language and literary devices
Day 4 — Job 19 & 28
(5)(D) Discuss/reflect; (6)(A) Theme across texts; (8)(A)(D) Purpose and language; (9)(B) Develop drafts with evidence
Day 5 — Job 38–41
(4)(I) Monitor comprehension
(6)(D) Setting and theme
(7) Poetry (if treating the whirlwind speeches as poetry)
(8)(A)(B) Purpose and structure
Day 6 — Job 42 + Dickinson
(5) Response
(6)(A) Compare similar themes across texts
(8) Author’s purpose and craft
(9)(B)(C) Develop and revise
Day 7 — Invictus
(6)(A) Themes across texts
(7)(A)(B) Poetic structure, rhyme, meter
(8)(A)(D)(E) Purpose, language, devices
Day 8 — Synthesis
(1) Oral language (if sharing)
(6)(A) Theme across texts
(8) Author’s purpose and craft
(9)(A–D) Writing process and composition
(10) Inquiry/citing as needed
#20 - Prosperity Broken — Job 1–3
#21 - The Honest Struggle — Job 7 & 14
#23 - Faith Amid Despair & the Poem of Wisdom — Job 19 & 28
We will read Dickinson’s poem closely and map how personification (Death and Immortality), structure (use of common meter quatrains with slant rhyme and dashes), and imagery (childhood, maturity, sunset, and grave toward eternity) turn death from terror into a long, civil journey.
I will annotate the poem, identify at least three craft choices, and write a short claim about how the speaker faces mortality.
Teacher reads the poem aloud twice, thinks aloud on stanza 1 (personification of Death and Immortality; the dash as a pause), and models one annotation plus, one prompt analysis OR one ATC sentence on the board: claim + quote + craft commentary.
Class annotates stanza 2 together: “civility,” labor and leisure put away, the slow drive. Teacher records student language; partners then try stanza 3 with teacher circulating and coaching evidence choice.
Dickinson makes death feel ______ because ______.
Reread the poem. Write one question for each of the following topics: death, time, and the speaker’s last line.
Computers
Log on to DMAC
Test Name: English II CBA 1
Test ID: 231_ _ _ _
We Will use systematic strategies to answer multiple-choice items on unfamiliar reading passages, revision passages, and editing passages.
I Will eliminate wrong answers by matching the question stem to evidence in the text (reading), to the writer’s purpose and organization (revising), and to standard English conventions (editing).
Prompt Analysis of EVERY question.
Justification of EVERY answer choice.
N/A
Complete the CBA
If you do not finish within the class period today, you are required to come in the following times to complete the test.
Wednesday, September 9th after school (3:50 pm - 5:00 pm)
Thursday, September 10 before school (7:00 am - 7:55 am)
Thursday, September 1o after school (3:50 pm - 5:00 pm)
After these times, a zero will be entered into Skyward.
After you finish the CBA:
Put away your computer.
Complete Monday's closure activity for assignment #19 - Craft Stations.
Prompt Analysis - How does Dickinson use craft to develop the speaker's response to death: with fear, acceptance, curiosity, or something else? Answer + two quotations + commentary that names a craft move.
On a separate sheet of paper (name, date, and period), complete the 6-Step Prompt Attack
LIST the task verb. What must you do intellectually? (analyze / compare / explain / evaluate)
LIST the topic. What idea is in play? (death, memory, honor, language, the living…)
LIST the required texts or elements. Both texts? Devices? (metaphor, irony, characterization, etc.)
REWRITE the prompt as a question you can answer in one sentence.
LIST the must-haves. If you omit one, the essay is off-prompt. (ATT, text evidence, commentary, elaboration, embedded, etc.)
ANSWER the question = working thesis. Then choose evidence that actually proves that answer.
Read Job chapters 1-3
We will track how the prologue sets up a test of integrity and how Job’s first speech after silence turns prosperity into lament (a passionate expression of deep sadness, grief, or strong regret). I know the difference between the narrator’s view of Job (blameless, upright) and Satan’s challenge; I know Job first worships (“The Lord gave…”) and later curses the day of his birth—two faces of the same suffering spirit.
I will complete a cause-and-effect map of Job’s losses and write a comparison note between Job’s opening posture and Dickinson’s speaker. I show understanding by completing a loss-and-response chart and a 6-sentence comparison of Job 1:20–21 with Dickinson’s carriage ride.
Teacher maps Job 1 on the board (heavenly council vs. earth) and models a think-aloud on 1:20–21: tearing the robe as grief, worship as first response. Writes one comparison sentence linking Job’s “taken away” to Dickinson’s putting labor and leisure away.
Class completes the next row of the loss-and-response chart together (children, health, wife’s speech). Then pairs draft the Job 3 lament row while the teacher prompts: What has changed in Job’s voice from 1:21 to 3:1?
#20 - Prosperity Broken — Job 1–3
One Word Whip Around: the word that names Job’s spirit at the END of chapter 3.
Highlight one line that sounds like a modern teenager and one line that sounds ancient.
We will track how the prologue sets up a test of integrity and how Job’s first speech after silence turns prosperity into lament (a passionate expression of deep sadness, grief, or strong regret). I know the difference between the narrator’s view of Job (blameless, upright) and Satan’s challenge; I know Job first worships (“The Lord gave…”) and later curses the day of his birth—two faces of the same suffering spirit.
I will complete a cause-and-effect map of Job’s losses and write a comparison note between Job’s opening posture and Dickinson’s speaker. I show understanding by completing a loss-and-response chart and a 6-sentence comparison of Job 1:20–21 with Dickinson’s carriage ride.
Teacher maps Job 1 on the board (heavenly council vs. earth) and models a think-aloud on 1:20–21: tearing the robe as grief, worship as first response. Writes one comparison sentence linking Job’s “taken away” to Dickinson’s putting labor and leisure away.
Class completes the next row of the loss-and-response chart together (children, health, wife’s speech). Then pairs draft the Job 3 lament row while the teacher prompts: What has changed in Job’s voice from 1:21 to 3:1?
#20 - Prosperity Broken — Job 1–3
One Word Whip Around: the word that names Job’s spirit at the END of chapter 3.
Finish #20 Prosperity Broken - Job 1-3 (prompt analysis)
Read Job 7 and Job 14
Highlight one line that sounds like a modern teenager and one line that sounds ancient.
Reading Quiz: Job chapters 1-3, 7, and 14
We will analyze how Job uses metaphor (hired laborer, weaver’s shuttle, cut tree) to tell the truth about suffering without pretending it is easy. I know that honest lament is not the opposite of faith or resilience; in this literature, telling the truth about pain is part of remaining human.
I will paraphrase two metaphors, explain what each reveals about the human spirit, and connect one image to Dickinson’s “centuries” that feel shorter than a day. I show understanding by completing a metaphor analysis organizer and a short constructed response (STAAR-style SCR) on how Job 14 treats hope.
Teacher models the metaphor organizer with Job 7:6 (weaver’s shuttle): vehicle, tenor, effect on tone. Then writes the first two sentences of an SCR on brevity of life, labeling Answer / Evidence / Commentary in the margin.
Class works Job 14:7–12 (the tree that may sprout) in the same organizer. Together they finish the SCR’s evidence sentence and generate two possible commentary moves (contrast tree vs. man; question “shall he live again?”).
#21 - The Honest Struggle — Job 7 & 14
Write the verse from today you would keep in a pocket. No explanation required. Volunteer readers only.
Read Job 19 and 28. Star the sentence(s) that feels like a turning point.
We will examine how a speaker can name despair and still make a claim that outlasts the grave, then test that claim against Job’s poem on wisdom. I know that Job 19 moves from social abandonment to a legal/theological hope; Job 28 argues that technical skill is not wisdom. Resilience here is integrity plus a vision larger than pain.
I will unpack Job 19:25–27 and Job 28:28, then draft a claim about what “resilience” means when it is not cheerfulness. I show understanding by annotating both passages and writing a claim-evidence-warrant paragraph that defines resilience using Job 19 or 28 and one earlier text.
Teacher reads Job 19:13–19 then 19:25–27 and thinks aloud on the turn from isolation to “my Redeemer lives.” Models unpacking Redeemer as a literary figure (vindicator who stands on the dust) without requiring a doctrinal reading.
Class maps Job 28:12–28 together: what miners can find vs. what cannot be bought. Partners then draft one sentence that uses 19:25 or 28:28 to define resilience as something other than cheerfulness; teacher writes strong verbs on the board.
#23 - Faith Amid Despair & the Poem of Wisdom — Job 19 & 28
Revise one sentence of your definition on the way out. Turn in both versions.
Read Job 38-42.
Write: If you were Job, what would you want God to say? What would you fear God might say?
We will analyze how the shift from Job’s questions to the whirlwind’s questions changes the scale of the problem without canceling the suffering. I know that the speeches do not give a tidy cause for Job’s pain; they relocate the human speaker inside a created order he did not make and cannot manage. That relocation is the “shift in perspective.”
I will track at least five rhetorical questions from ch. 38, explain their effect on Job as character, and connect the change in scale to Dickinson’s last look toward eternity. I show understanding by completing a question-catalog and a short analysis of how unanswered questions can still change a character.
Teacher reads Job 38:1–7 and models cataloging one rhetorical question: What it assumes Job cannot do, what it implies about scale, what it does to Job’s lawsuit. Does not “solve” the speech; shows how to analyze it.
Class catalogs two more questions from 38:16–18 as a group. Pairs then take one image (snow, constellations, Leviathan preview) and complete the before/after perspective graphic with teacher prompts.
#24 - The Shift in Perspective
Sentence stem: “The whirlwind does not explain Job’s pain; it ______.”
Read the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley 5 times. Annotate every image of night, blows, blood, gate, and captaincy. Bring the annotated poem tomorrow.
We will analyze how Henley’s form (four tight quatrains, strong iambs, anaphora) builds a voice of defiant resilience, then compare that voice with Job’s lament and Dickinson’s courtesy. I know Invictus claims self-mastery (“captain of my soul”) in the face of chance, circumstance, death’s shade, and judgment’s scroll. I know this is a different theology of the self than Job’s, and a different tone than Dickinson’s.
I will scan or clap the meter of one stanza, name the controlling metaphors, and complete a three-voice comparison chart. I show understanding by a completed three-text comparison chart and a paragraph taking a position: Is Invictus the same kind of resilience as Job 19, or a rival definition?
Teacher reads Invictus, claps the iambs of stanza 1, and models filling the first column of the three-voice chart (Henley: source of strength = unconquerable soul / self-command). Thinks aloud on “whatever gods may be” vs. Job’s Redeemer.
Class completes Dickinson’s column together. Pairs finish Job’s column and draft a position sentence: same resilience or rival definition. Teacher circulates for precise verbs.
#25 - Synthesis — Resilience, Suffering, and the Human Spirit
The human spirit, in these texts, is ______.
Read: Eulogy for President Reagan & General Douglas MacArthur's Farewell Speech Given to the Corps of Cadets at West Point May 12, 1962
This ten-day Honors English II mini-unit pairs Ambrose Bierce’s “A Horseman in the Sky” with an excerpt from General Douglas MacArthur’s 1962 “Duty, Honor, Country” address so students can test what duty costs when a private conscience meets a public code. Students read and annotate both texts with margin codes, layered close reading, Cornell notes, and SOAPStone; they then build original commentary with named elaboration strategies rather than paraphrase. Speaking work culminates in a Socratic seminar on whether MacArthur’s refrain can absorb Carter Druse’s two-word report “My father.” Writing work culminates in a claim-driven synthesis essay that must hold the two texts in friction, not in a tidy handshake.
1A, 1D — meaningful, respectful discourse; collaborative discussion with ground rules.
2B — denotative, connotative, and figurative meaning in context.
4A, 4B, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I — purpose for reading; questioning; connections; inference with evidence; key ideas; synthesis across texts; monitoring comprehension.
5B, 5C, 5E, 5G, 5H, 5I, 5J — comparison within and across genres; text evidence and original commentary; annotating and notetaking; explicit and implicit meaning; register, vocabulary, tone, and voice; adjust a response when evidence warrants; defend or challenge claims.
6A, 6B, 6C, 6D — theme through character and plot; complex characters and setting; isolated scenes; historical and cultural setting.
7A, 7D, 7E — American literature; informational structure; argumentative structure (claim, appeals, evidence, audience).
8A, 8B, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G — purpose, audience, and message; text structure; language shaping perception; irony and motif; diction, syntax, and tone; rhetorical devices (appeals, antithesis, parallelism, shifts).
9A–E; 10B, 10C — writing process; informational and argumentative composition with commentary.
1C — formal oral presentation with a clear thesis and evidence (Day 10).
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
On Google Classroom!
Write 5–7 sentences answering the topic below.
Prompt: A person you love asks you to do what you believe is right, even if that choice will cost your family. What does “duty” mean in that sentence? Give one real or imagined example.
I will know (1) the Civil War setting, Ambrose Bierce’s biography as a veteran-writer, and the plot situation of “A Horseman in the Sky.” (2) a margin-code annotation system I can apply on a first read.
We will show (1) annotate the opening of the story using assigned codes. (2)state, in one precise sentence, the moral problem Carter Druse is about to face.
Bierce: Union veteran of Shiloh and Chickamauga; later called “Bitter Bierce.” He writes war without romance.
1861 western Virginia: families split; the story’s geography is a “military rat-trap.”
Father’s farewell (preview only): “Whatever may occur, do what you conceive to be your duty.”
Pairing preview: In ten days we will set this story beside General Douglas MacArthur’s 1962 “Duty, Honor, Country” address, two texts arguing about the same three words from opposite centuries.
Model margin codes on the first two paragraphs:
! = striking image or diction, ? = confusion or a question I want to ask the text, D = duty / honor / loyalty language, C = characterization of Carter or the father, I = irony or a gap between appearance and reality, → = cause-and-effect or a choice point
Read Section I aloud (teacher + two student readers). Pause twice.
At each pause, pairs apply one code and say the word they marked. Teacher scribes a class bank of “duty words” and “danger words” on the board.
Check for understanding: Why does Bierce call the sleeping soldier a “criminal” before we know his name?
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
#27 - Entering the Cliff: Context, First Read, Margin Codes
Answer after reading section I. Annotate with the six codes. Complete the First-Read Tracker
Setting facts I can prove (not infer):
Two details that characterize Carter before the cliff:
Prediction: By the end, “duty” will require Carter to… OR What will “duty” require of Carter by the end?
Be able to discuss. QUICK Prompt Analysis for both (nothing formal).
Strategic Thinking: In Section I, Bierce never names the sleeping soldier and instead calls him “the criminal” and “their unfaithful sentinel.” Using specific details from the opening description of the valley, the road, and the hidden regiments, explain how these labels work together with the setting to create dramatic irony. What does the reader know that the army below does not, and why does Bierce withhold the soldier’s identity until Section II?
Extended Thinking: Section I presents the valley as both a “savage scene” of natural beauty and a “military rat-trap.” Trace how Bierce’s choices of diction, point of view, and geographic detail in this section simultaneously glorify the landscape and expose the fragility of the Union plan. Then evaluate the effect: does the section primarily invite admiration for the terrain, anxiety for the hidden troops, judgment of the sleeping sentry, or some combination? Support your claim with evidence from across the entire first section and explain how those opening choices prepare the moral conflict that follows.
Finish reading “A Horseman in the Sky” (all four sections). Continue margin codes. On a sticky note, write the last five words of the story and one question those words raise. Bring the annotated text tomorrow.
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
On Google Classroom
Without looking at the story, sketch from memory the “equestrian statue” Druse sees.
Label three details Bierce actually gives (costume color, carbine, sky, horse’s movement).
Then write one sentence: What is dangerous about seeing an enemy as art?
I will know (1) how Bierce uses visual art diction, delayed identification, and structural irony. (2) the difference between a first-read code and a second-read “layer.”
We will show (1) complete a three-layer annotation of the cliff scene. (2) write a 4–6 sentence analytical claim about why Druse shoots when he does
Teach layered annotation on the statue paragraph:
Layer 1 (What): underline concrete images
gray costume, carbine, temple and beard, cliff edge, sky
Layer 2 (How): bracket figurative or artistic language
equestrian statue, Grecian god, marble, cameo, colossal pedestal
Layer 3 (Why): write a 8–12 word margin comment that answers
beauty delays the finger, the enemy is first a monument
Model one sentence of commentary: Bierce delays the father’s identity so the reader, like Carter, must first accept the logic of killing an enemy then survive the cost of that logic.
In your table groups, reread from “His first feeling was a keen artistic delight” through the shot. Each student owns one layer. Groups then answer on a shared whiteboard:
Where does Carter’s body fail him, and where does “duty” restabilize him?
Does he shoot the man or the horse? Why does that choice matter ethically and narratively?
What does the Union officer in the valley see that Carter cannot?
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
#28 - The Shot: Close Reading, Irony, and Layered Annotation
Independent close-read paragraph (no plot summary):
Prompt: How does Bierce use the horseman’s beauty and the delayed recognition of the father to complicate the idea of duty?
Use two short quotations and at least one layered observation.
Sentence stem bank on the board:
Bierce first presents… OR The diction of ______ frames the enemy as… OR Only after ______ does the reader learn… OR The structural delay forces…
Stand-up pair share: one partner reads a quotation; the other must complete “This matters because…” in ten seconds. Then switch.
Dialectical journal: four different entries with minimum one entry from the father’s farewell and one from the final identification (“My father.”).
Column #1: Quotation + section
Column #2: Notice (what the language is doing)
Column #3: So what? (link to duty, family, or irony)
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
On Google Classroom!
Copy the father’s sentence exactly. Under it, write two paraphrases: (1) a version a Confederate neighbor would hear; (2) a version a Union sergeant would hear. Circle the word that changes the meaning most.
"Well, go, sir, and whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty."
I will know (1) three academic note-taking styles and when each serves literary analysis. (2) how Bierce’s narrator judges and withholds judgment of Carter Druse.
We will show (1) convert yesterday’s annotations into Cornell notes and a concept map. (2) defend, in speaking, whether Carter fulfills or betrays his father’s command.
Mini-lesson: matching the note system to the thinking job.
Cornell notes: left column = questions / key terms; right = evidence; bottom = 2-sentence synthesis. Best for preparing to write.
Concept map: center node DUTY; branches Family, Regiment, Virginia, Conscience, Art/Beauty, Death. Best for seeing tension.
Teacher models the bottom “synthesis” box of Cornell using the ending: Carter reports the kill in two words; the sergeant cannot look at him. Silence becomes Bierce’s commentary.
Class builds one giant concept map on the board. Students walk up and add a node only if they can attach a quotation of eight words or fewer. Unsourced claims will not be accepted.
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
#29 - Note Systems: Cornell, Mapping, and the Ethics of the Shot
Complete a full Cornell page on “The Ethics of the Shot.” Essential question in the header: Did Carter Druse do his duty?
Cue / Questions (left) Notes / Evidence (right) Synthesis (bottom, 2–3 sentences, claim-first)
Left-column questions must include at least two of: What does the father mean by “conceive”? Who is the audience of Carter’s final report? What does the falling horseman do to the idea of a glorious death?
Bottom synthesis: 2–3 sentences. No “I think.” Lead with a claim.
Four corners: Strongly agree / Agree / Disagree / Strongly disagree with “Carter is the only character who keeps the father’s command.” Students move to their respective corner. The group will create a concise short contructed response. The speaker of the group will share.
Read the assigned MacArthur text
List 30 different observations
First-pass annotation with a new color: star every repetition of Duty, Honor, Country; box appeals to the dead; underline commands to the living. Write a 4-sentence gist at the top of the page.
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
On Google Classroom!
Using the "A Horseman in the Sky" text, each person at your table will select a different topic below and go through the process of developing the idea. Quotes must be ≤ 8 words supporting the topic.
(example) Duty
Quote = "...do what you conceive to be your duty."
Notice = "conceive" puts duty inside the son's judgement, not the father's command. Calling him a traitor.
So what? = The father writes the rule that will ultimately lead to his demise. Honor here is a blank the son must fill. He later fulfills this honor with an "ethical" shot.
Layer 1 (what), 2 (how), or 3 (why) = Layer 3 - the story's moral engine is one verb = conceive
Family
Quote =
Notice =
So what? =
Layer 1 (what), 2 (how), or 3 (why) =
Regiment
Virginia
Conscience
Art/Beauty
Death
I will know (1) MacArthur’s purpose, occasion, and refrain, and the difference between narrative irony and ceremonial rhetoric. (2) how repetition, antithesis, and apostrophe build a definition of duty.
We will show (1) complete a SOAPStone + appeals chart on the excerpt. (2) place three MacArthur sentences beside three Bierce sentences on a comparison strip.
Rhetorical annotation demo on the opening refrain:
“Duty, Honor, Country: those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.”
Occasion: West Point, 1962; an aging general’s last visit; a moral code more than a man.
Refrain as definition: the three words are not slogans; they are a verb = they “dictate,” “build,” “mold,” “teach.”
Antithesis pattern: proud in failure / humble in success; stand in the storm / compassion on those who fall.
The dead as audience: “a million ghosts… in blue and gray” = MacArthur includes both Civil War colors. That detail is the hinge to Bierce.
Mark logos (argument about national survival), ethos (battlefield witness), pathos (bugles, white crosses, “The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps”).
Pairs complete SOAPStone +Appeals = (Speaker, Occasion, Audience [living & dead], Purpose [beyond “inspire cadets”], Subject, Tone, +Appeals = Ethos, Pathos, Logos on two chunks:
(1) “what they teach”
(2) the American soldier / “no substitute for victory.”
Then trade papers and add one “pushback” question in the margin: Where would Carter Druse interrupt this speech?
#26 - Bell Work Week 7
#30 - The Long Gray Line: Rhetorical Reading of MacArthur
Comparison strip
Left: three Bierce thematic statements about (1) duty, the (2) shot, or the (3) father.
Center hinge sentence: The difference is not that one man loves duty and the other does not; the difference is ______.
Right: three MacArthur thematic statements about the same topics (duty, shot, and father) and whether it answers, echos, or contradicts the thematic statements for bierce.
Whip-around: each student reads only the hinge sentence. Teacher records repeated words. Those words become tomorrow’s commentary targets.
None!
None
I will know
We will show
N/A
N/A
#31 - DMAC Test English II CBA 2
Complete DMAC Test
Test Code: 23 _ _ _ _ _
Using the Level Questions Chart, create draft three level 3 questions and three level 4 question in preparation for a Socratic Seminar. [Consider the following topics: (1) Duty as commandment vs. duty as creed, (2) The cost of honor, (3) Family versus country, (4) The soldier as ideal and as casualty, (5) Rhetoric that makes killing possible, (6) Seeing the enemy, (7) Victory and its substitutes, (8) The horseman and the long gray line, (9) Courage under two definitions, (10) Duty, Honor, Country]
Interpretive (about how the text makes meaning)
one level 3 question = Ambrose Bierce, “A Horseman in the Sky”
one level 4 question = General Douglas MacArthur, “Duty, Honor, Country” (1962 excerpt)
Evaluative (a judgment the text can survive)
one level 3 question = General Douglas MacArthur, “Duty, Honor, Country” (1962 excerpt)
one level 4 question = Ambrose Bierce, “A Horseman in the Sky”
Synthesis (both texts must be necessary)
one level 3 question = Ambrose Bierce, “A Horseman in the Sky” & General Douglas MacArthur, “Duty, Honor, Country” (1962 excerpt)
one level 4 question = Ambrose Bierce, “A Horseman in the Sky” & General Douglas MacArthur, “Duty, Honor, Country” (1962 excerpt)
#32 - Bell Work Week 8 (Journals)
An informational text needs one controlling idea that names the topic and the writer’s exact focus. Readers should be able to point to that sentence and know what the whole piece will explain.
Weak: “Bees are interesting.” Strong: “Honeybees keep farms productive by pollinating the crops that fill grocery shelves.”
Rewrite this weak thesis so it names a topic and a specific focus: “Oceans are important.”
I will know (1) the architecture of a short honors literary analysis: claim, context, evidence, commentary, turn, close. (2) how peer language can raise precision without rewriting someone else’s argument.
We will show (1) produce an outline plus a revised opening and one fully elaborated body paragraph. (2) give and receive one “precision note” that names a word, not a vibe.
Show the essay spine on the board:
Working thesis [Situation + friction + claim is a three-part thesis (or intro) formula.] (must contain a though / yet / but): _____
Situation
Names the shared ground: texts, speaker/character, or idea both works put on the table
Not plot summary
Friction
Names the tension, contradiction, or cost the two texts create when read together“
Not they are different”
Claim
States the new judgment that friction makes necessary
Not a theme word (“duty is important”)
Topic sentence 1 (Bierce): _____
Quotation bank (6 words or less)
Quotation bank (6 words or less)
Quotation bank (6 words or less)
Topic sentence 2 (MacArthur): _____
Quotation bank (6 words or less)
Quotation bank (6 words or less)
Quotation bank (6 words or less)
Turn sentence (where the definitions cannot both be fully kept): _____
The sentence that changes direction in an essay. Usually going from one text to another OR from one idea to another.
Binding closing image: _____
A binding closing image is the last concrete picture you leave the reader with.
It is not a summary and not a new argument. It is one image from one text or both that ties the thesis shut.
In a two-text ECR, the image should make the reader hold both selections at once.
Silent gallery: papers rotate twice. Readers may write only in the margin using the Precision Bank: name the move / zoom the word / cut the summary / sharpen the turn. No praise-only comments. Author remains silent until both rotations end.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
#33 - Workshop Day — From Commentary to Claim-Driven Essay Spine
Both selections deal with a soldier’s duty. Write an essay explaining what the two texts together suggest about the cost of doing one’s duty.
Be sure to —
state a clear thesis
use evidence from both selections
explain how the evidence supports your thesis
Build the spine packet: thesis, three topic sentences, quotation bank (6 bullets max), and one complete body paragraph rewritten after feedback.
Quick prompt analysis
Working thesis: _____
Topic sentence 1 (Bierce): _____
Bierce (1)
Bierce (2)
Bierce (3)
Topic sentence 2 (MacArthur): _____
MacArthur (1)
MacArthur (2)
MacArthur (3)
Turn sentence: _____
Binding closing image: _____
At least one topic sentence must include a though or yet. Flat comparison (“Both authors discuss duty”) will be returned ungraded.
Google Classroom: Type the questions created on Friday.
Finish the spine packet. Prepare Socratic seminar materials: annotated texts, three questions, one “passage I will defend,” and the Seminar Tracker. Seminar is Day 8; Day 7 is rehearsal and question-tuning.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
Every major point should rest on a fact, statistic, concrete example, or clear explanation that actually proves the controlling idea—not a restatement of it.
Thesis: Recycling cuts landfill waste. Support: “After one city added curbside recycling, household trash sent to the landfill dropped by 40 percent.”
Write one specific fact or example that would support this thesis: “Regular sleep improves student performance.”
I will know (1) the difference among interpretive, evaluative, and connective questions. (2) seminar norms that keep talk text-bound and honors-level.
We will show (1) refine three seminar questions and rehearse a 45-second evidence turn. (2) practice naming a classmate’s idea before adding or dissenting.
Teach the Evidence Turn (the only legal way to hold the floor longer than 20 seconds):
Name the idea you are entering (“Building on Maya’s point about silence…”).
Read no more than two lines of text.
Do one elaboration move (name / zoom / consequence / tension).
Name the move. Say the writer’s choice in one verb: delaying, elevating, repeating, silencing, baptizing, withholding.
Example: Bierce does not argue that duty hurts. He delays the father’s name until two words at the end.
Zoom the word. Treat one charged word as a thesis.
Example: Conceive keeps duty inside the son. Dictate writes the self from outside. Those two verbs are the whole pairing.
Consequence. If we accept this claim, then X becomes true about war, family, or the nation.
Example: If “there is no substitute for victory,” then Carter’s secret on the cliff is a national success — and a household emptied.
Tension, not translation. Put the two texts in friction. Do not translate one into the other (“both authors value duty”).
Example: MacArthur can house “blue and gray.” He still cannot house “My father” without remainder.
Socratic Seminar Student Expert rehearsal one practice question only:
Does MacArthur’s inclusion of ghosts “in blue and gray” redeem or ignore what Bierce shows on the cliff?
Build the spine packet: thesis, three topic sentences, quotation bank (6 bullets max), and one complete body paragraph rewritten after feedback.
Working thesis (must contain a though / yet / but): _____
Topic sentence 1 (Bierce’s cost): _____
Topic sentence 2 (MacArthur’s cost): _____
Turn sentence (where the definitions cannot both be fully kept): _____
Binding closing image (legally binding after Day 6): _____
Quotation bank six bullets, no more. Three from each text.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
#34 - Seminar Rehearsal — Questions, Evidence, and Accountable Talk
Build the spine packet: thesis, three topic sentences, quotation bank (6 bullets max), and one complete body paragraph rewritten after feedback.
Working thesis (must contain a though / yet / but): _____
Topic sentence 1 (Bierce’s cost): _____
Topic sentence 2 (MacArthur’s cost): _____
Turn sentence (where the definitions cannot both be fully kept): _____
Binding closing image (legally binding after Day 6): _____
Quotation bank — six bullets, no more. Three from each text.
Class selects, by silent vote, the four opening questions for tomorrow’s seminar. Teacher types them large overnight.
Sleep on the questions. Reread only the two passages you are most likely to need. No new writing except six words on an index card: the claim you refuse to abandon tomorrow.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
Close by returning to the controlling idea and leaving the reader with a clear takeaway, decision, or next step. Do not fade out or add a brand-new topic.
“Because pollinators protect the food supply, communities should plant native flowers and limit pesticide use.”
Write a two-sentence conclusion for an article whose thesis is “Students should carry reusable water bottles.” (think Binding Closing Image)
I will know (1) how to create an Essay Spine and develop ideas by using various strategies and (2) teach my peers the steps to prepare for essay writing.
We will show (1) participate in a small group Student Expert Socratic Seminar using text, named moves, and accountable talk. (2) complete a reflection that changes or sharpens one prior thesis sentence.
Explain norms for the Student Expert Socratic Seminar. Timer visible. Limited teacher interventions.
To what extent does MacArthur’s public creed of “Duty, Honor, Country” justify the private act Carter Druse performs—and what does Bierce force the reader to see that MacArthur’s speech never names?
The father tells Carter to “do what you conceive to be your duty.” MacArthur says the three words “dictate what you ought to be.” Synthesize: is duty something a soldier invents, or something that invents the soldier?
If MacArthur is right that duty is a “rallying point to build courage,” why does Bierce show courage arriving only after Druse nearly faints? What new definition of duty emerges from putting the two moments together?
Evaluate this claim using both texts: Duty is moral only when the person who commands it will also pay its price. Who pays, and who is protected from paying?
Create a single sentence that could stand as a motto for both texts. Then defend why that sentence is more honest than “Duty, Honor, Country” alone.
MacArthur treats honor as what makes a soldier “an officer and a gentleman.” Bierce treats honor as the reason a son can answer “My father.” Synthesize: is honor a character trait or a transaction?
Argue whether Druse’s final two-word answer is the highest expression of MacArthur’s honor—or its refutation.
#35 - Socratic Seminar Student Expert — Duty Against Itself
Teach the Spine Essay
Quick prompt analysis: _____
Working thesis: _____
Topic sentence 1 (Bierce): _____
Bierce (1) "_____"
Bierce (2) "_____"
Bierce (3) "_____"
One elaboration strategy (1) Name Move, (2) Zoom In/Out, (3) Consequence, or (4) Tension
Topic sentence 2 (MacArthur): _____
MacArthur (1) "_____"
MacArthur (2) "_____"
MacArthur (3) "_____"
One elaboration strategy (1) Name Move, (2) Zoom In/Out, (3) Consequence, or (4) Tension
Turn sentence: _____
Binding closing image: _____
Silent reflection, collected:
A claim I heard that changed my thesis:
The line I now cannot stop seeing:
My revised thesis in one sentence (if needed):
One move I will steal for the essay:
Review: (1) Prompt Analysis, (2) Spine Packet, and (3) Elaboration Strategies.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
Say the idea once, in the fewest exact words that still inform. Cut empty phrases such as due to the fact that, in order to, and it is important to note that.
Wordy: “Due to the fact that the storm was approaching, it was necessary for people to leave.” Concise: “Because the storm was approaching, people had to leave.”
Rewrite in fewer words without losing meaning: “In order to be able to finish the project on time, the team was required to work together in a cooperative manner.”
I will know (1) how to revise a draft at the level of verbs, turns, and final image — not merely at the level of mechanics. (2) MLA integration of short quotations from fiction and oratory.
We will show (1) complete a targeted revision of the synthesis essay. (2) submit a draft that meets the honors checklist.
Three-pass revision protocol (teacher models on a volunteer or anonymous paragraph):
Pass A — Claim: Does every paragraph serve the thesis, or is one a tour of the plot?
Pass B — Pressure: Where do the two texts disagree? If they only agree, the honors task is unfinished.
Pass C — Sound: Read one paragraph aloud. Cut the sentence you inhaled through.
Quick MLA: short story titles in quotation marks; speech identified by speaker and year on first reference; quotations of four lines or fewer stay in the paragraph.
Partner Pass B only. Partner draws a line in the margin at the first moment the two texts truly collide. If no line can be drawn, the author must write a turn sentence on the spot before continuing.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
#36 - Synthesis Essay — Drafting to Precision
Writers complete the planning process:
Essay spine
Two of the four elaboration strategies.
Victory without a substitute: MacArthur insists there is “no substitute for victory.” Bierce’s shot saves the hidden regiments and empties the cliff. Write an analysis explaining how the two works, together, redefine what counts as winning. Address both the public mission and the private remainder.
Submit draft (physical or digital per campus policy). On the back or in a comment: “The risk I took in this essay was ______.”
Polish mechanics only (15 minutes cap). Prepare a 60-second oral excerpt: read your thesis and your closing image. Tomorrow is performance, listening, and unit reflection — not a new paper.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
Match the structure to the purpose: chronological order for a process, cause/effect for why something happens, compare/contrast for two options, problem/solution for a fix, or order of importance for ranked reasons.
An article on how a law passed uses chronological order. An article on why the law matters uses cause and effect.
Name the best organizational pattern for “Why the School Day Should Start Later,” then list three section headings you would use.
I will know (1) how an argument changes when it must be heard rather than only read. (2) one transferable method (annotation style, elaboration move, or seminar habit) I will keep beyond this unit.
We will show (1) deliver a 60-second oral claim and respond to one peer with a text-bound comment. (2) complete the unit reflection and self-assess against the honors rubric.
Set the room: two concentric circles or a standing perimeter. Each speaker has 60 seconds. After every third speaker, two listeners offer a 15-second “I heard your claim as… and the line that supports it is…” Teacher models the listen-back once.
ORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS
3 — Controlling idea/thesis is clear and fully developed. Focus is consistent; the response is unified and easy to follow. Organization is effective: purposeful introduction and conclusion; structure supports the thesis; ideas are logically connected. Evidence is specific, well chosen, and relevant, clearly explained, and drawn from BOTH texts. Expression of ideas is clear and effective; word choice is specific and purposeful. Thorough understanding of the writing purpose.
2 — Controlling idea/thesis is present and partially developed. It may not be fully clear. Organization is limited but includes some structure (intro and/or conclusion may be weak). Evidence is relevant but only partially explained, or one text is used more than the other. Expression is basic. Partial understanding of the writing purpose.
1 — Controlling idea/thesis is evident but not developed. Organization is weak or missing. Evidence is insufficient, vague, or from only one text when both were required. Expression is limited and may impede meaning. Limited understanding of the writing purpose.
0 — Controlling idea/thesis is not evident, or the response is too brief to evaluate, off topic, or copied. No meaningful text evidence.
CONVENTIONS
2 — Consistent command of grade-level sentence construction, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling. Errors, if any, do not affect clarity.
1 — Inconsistent command. Errors are present but the reader can still follow the ideas.
0 — Little or no command. Frequent errors in sentence boundaries, grammar, or spelling interfere with meaning.
#32 - Bell Work Week 8
#36 - Synthesis Essay — Drafting to Precision
Writers complete the planning process:
Essay spine
Two of the four elaboration strategies.
Victory without a substitute: MacArthur insists there is “no substitute for victory.” Bierce’s shot saves the hidden regiments and empties the cliff. Write an analysis explaining how the two works, together, redefine what counts as winning. Address both the public mission and the private remainder.
Teacher reads aloud the father’s sentence and MacArthur’s refrain, nothing else. Thirty seconds of silence. Students write one word on the board on the way out — the word the unit leaves in the mouth. Leave the words there overnight if the room allows.
None required after submission.