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Investigating Jack London's White Fang: Nature and Culture Detectives

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Investigating Jack London's White Fang: Nature and Culture Detectives

Grade Levels

6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade

Course, Subject

Related Academic Standards
CC.1.2.5.G CC.1.2.5.G
Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
CC.1.2.6.A CC.1.2.6.A
Determine the central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CC.1.2.6.B CC.1.2.6.B
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and/or generalizations drawn from the text.
CC.1.2.6.C CC.1.2.6.C
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text.
CC.1.2.6.E CC.1.2.6.E
Analyze the author’s structure through the use of paragraphs, chapters, or sections.
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  • Big Ideas
    Comprehension requires and enhances critical thinking and is constructed through the intentional interaction between reader and text
    Effective speaking and listening are essential for productive communication.
    Effective use of vocabulary builds social and academic knowledge
    Information to gain or expand knowledge can be acquired through a variety of sources.
    Language is used to communicate and to deepen understanding.
    Purpose, topic and audience guide types of writing
    Spoken language can be represented in print.
    Historical context is needed to comprehend time and space.
    Historical interpretation involves an analysis of cause and result.
    Perspective helps to define the attributes of historical comprehension.
  • Concepts
    Acquiring and applying a robust vocabulary assists in constructing meaning
    Changes in word parts affect meaning.
    Essential content of text, including literary elements and devices, inform meaning
    Essential content, literary elements and devices inform meaning
    In the English language words can be understood by analyzing both the phonetic and the morphological parts.
    Informational sources have unique purposes.
    Organization of information facilitates meaning.
    Purpose, context and audience influence the content and delivery in speaking situations
    Research is an inquiry based process.
    Textual features and organization inform meaning
    Validity of information must be established.
    Various types of writing are distinguished by their characteristics
    Comprehension of the experiences of individuals, society, and how past human experience has adapted builds aptitude to apply to civic participation.
    Historical causation involves motives, reasons, and consequences that result in events and actions.
    Historical causation involves motives, reasons, and consequences that result in events and actions. Some consequences may be impacted by forces of the irrational or the accidental.
    Historical comprehension involves evidence-based discussion and explanation, an analysis of sources including multiple points of view, and an ability to read critically to recognize fact from conjecture and evidence from assertion.
    Historical literacy requires a focus on time and space, and an understanding of the historical context, as well as an awareness of point of view.
    Historical skills (organizing information chronologically, explaining historical issues, locating sources and investigate materials, synthesizing and evaluating evidence, and developing arguments and interpretations based on evidence) are used by an analytical thinker to create a historical construction.
    Methods of historical research, critical thinking, problem-solving, and presentation skills provide expertise for effective decision making.
  • Competencies
    Analyze and explain the use of graphics in text to clarify and enhance meaning
    Analyze organizational features of text (e.g. sequence, question/answer, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution) as related to content to clarify and enhance meaning
    Apply word analysis skills (e.g.: syllabication, root words, prefixes, suffixes, inflectional endings) to read and unlock meaning of words.
    Deliver effective oral presentations by o establishing a clear and concise focus or thesis o selecting and using appropriate structures, content and language to present ideas that support the thesis o utilizing appropriate technology or media to reinforce the message o employing effective delivery techniques: volume, pace eye contact, emphasis, gestures, enunciation o monitoring the response of the audience and adjusting delivery accordingly
    Differentiate between primary and secondary source material.
    Distinguish between essential and non-essential information within and among texts, describing the use of persuasive techniques, stereotypes and bias where present
    Evaluate the presentation of essential and non-essential information in texts.
    Identify conflict, theme and/or point of view within and among texts
    Identify and analyze relationships between characters, topics, events, sequence of events, setting, and/or plot within and among texts (i.e. literary elements)
    Identify and analyze the characteristics of various genre (e.g. poetry, drama, fiction) and explain the appropriateness of chosen form for author’s purpose
    Identify and analyze the characteristics of various genre (e.g. poetry, drama, fiction) to determine the appropriateness of chosen form for author’s purpose
    Identify and distinguish between components of fiction and non-fiction texts
    Identify and evaluate essential content between and among various text types
    Identify and explain the use of conflict, theme, and/or point of view within and among texts
    Identify and explain the use of literary elements within and among texts
    Identify characteristics of primary and secondary source materials.
    Identify the literal, figurative, and idiomatic meaning of vocabulary
    Indentify and explain the literal and figurative meaning of vocabulary
    Interpret and analyze the effect of literary devices within and among texts (e.g. personification, simile, alliteration, metaphor, symbolism, imagery, and hyperbole)
    Interpret the effect of literary devices within and among texts (e.g. personification, simile, alliteration, metaphor, symbolism, and imagery)
    Locate and select appropriate resource materials to achieve a research goal.
    Locate and select the appropriate source materials to achieve a research goal.
    Make distinctions about credibility, reliability, consistency, strengths and limitations of resources, including information gathered from web sites.
    Make distinctions about the credibility and reliability of resources, including information gathered from web sites.
    Organize and present information and data that support and illustrate inferences and conclusions drawn from research.
    Organize and present information drawn from research.
    Question, reflect on, and interpret essential content across texts
    Question, reflect on, and interpret essential content across texts and subject areas
    Select a topic and develop a thesis/research question.
    Summarize and synthesize information from a variety of mediums
    Summarize key information from a variety of mediums
    Summarize relevant information from source material to achieve a research goal.
    Synthesize relevant information from source materials to achieve a research goal.
    Use and cite evidence from texts to make assertions, inferences, generalizations, and to draw conclusions
    Use contextual cues to confirm the literal, figurative, and idiomatic meaning of vocabulary
    Use headings to locate information, identify content that would best fit a specific section of a text.Analyze graphics (e.g. charts, graphics, captions) in text to clarify and enhance meaning
    Use the knowledge of language, including word origins and morphology to unlock meaning of specialized vocabulary across disciplines
    Verify the relevance and reliability of information presented in texts
    Write informational pieces, specific to a purpose and audience, which have a well developed main idea, includes cause and effect relationships or problem and solution, and contain precise language and specific detail, relevant graphics, and primary and secondary sources (e.g. letters, reports, instruction, essays, articles, interviews).
    Contrast multiple perspectives of individuals and groups in interpreting other times, cultures, and place.
    Evaluate cause-and-result relationships bearing in mind multiple causations.
    Generate a historical research paper or presentation.

Description

In a letter dated December 5, 1904, to his publisher George Brett, Jack London explains that he wrote White Fang as a companion piece to The Call of the Wild, his famous story about the transformation of a domestic dog into an animal who answers the natural “call” of the wild. He writes, “I’m going to reverse the process. Instead of the devolution or de-civilization of a dog, I’m going to give the evolution, the civilization of a dog—development of domesticity, faithfulness, love, morality, and all the amenities and virtues.”[1] London’s portrayal, however, results in a complication of the fundamental terms “nature” and “culture” in White Fang. Middle school readers of this famous novel, therefore, have the perfect opportunity to become nature and culture detectives. In this lesson, students will explore images from the Klondike and read White Fang closely to learn how to define and differentiate these terms, ultimately presenting their findings as “nature and culture detectives.”

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Investigating Jack London's White Fang: Nature and Culture Detectives

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