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Analyzing Literary Elements

Lesson Plan

Analyzing Literary Elements

Objectives

This lesson reviews the elements of fiction and builds on students’ understanding of characterization, setting, plot, and point of view. Students will:

  • identify character traits.
  • analyze the author’s use of literary elements to develop characters (characterization).

Essential Questions

How do readers know what to believe in what they read, hear and view?
How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary text?
How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
What is this text really about?
  • How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary text?
  • What is this text really about?
  • How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?

Vocabulary

  • Characterization: The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various personalities.
  • Literary Elements: The essential techniques used in literature (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme).
  • Point of View:The way in which an author reveals characters, events, and ideas in telling a story; the vantage point from which the story is told.
    • first-person (told through the eyes of a participant in the story, using I)
    • third-person limited (told by a narrator not participating in the story, using he, she or they and limited to what one particular character knows)
    • third-person omniscient (told by a narrator not participating in the story, using third person he, she, or they, and able to show what all the characters know)

Duration

50–100 minutes /1–2 class periods

Prerequisite Skills

Prerequisite Skills haven't been entered into the lesson plan.

Materials

  • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Puffin Books, 2004.
  • The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Bantam Classics, 1983.
  • Teachers may substitute other books to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
  • pictures of people from magazines
  • list of character traits (examples: adventurous, charming, dishonest, greedy, helpful, mysterious, polite, selfish, talented, rude, optimistic, imaginative, enthusiastic, diplomatic, lazy, careless, antagonistic, skeptical, cruel, kind)

Related Unit and Lesson Plans

Related Materials & Resources

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Formative Assessment

  • View
    • As students work individually on their character from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, walk around the room and note students who are having difficulty identifying character traits. Remind students about the techniques for creating characters.
    • Use the following checklist to evaluate students’ understanding of how an author uses literary elements to develop characterization:
      • Student identifies three characters that could be important in creating conflict because of character traits the characters possess.
      • Student identifies a character trait for each of the three characters.
      • Student provides at least two pieces of evidence for each character trait.

Suggested Instructional Supports

  • View
    Scaffolding, Active Engagement, Explicit Instruction
    W: Help students identify how an author develops characters through the use of point of view, character traits, setting, and plot. 
    H: Provide opportunities for students to make personal connections to the topic before beginning the lesson. 
    E: Review the elements of fiction and have students create a character of their own.
    R: Help students analyze characterization in the first chapter of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.  
    E: Encourage students to share their ideas about the effects of characterization on the development of the plot, provide supporting evidence, and verify their understandings through discussions and feedback. 
    T: Provide flexible groupings depending on students’ instructional reading levels and incorporate extension activities for all levels by suggesting materials for further practice as well as more rigorous materials to extend thinking to a higher level.  
    O: The learning activities in this lesson provide for large-group instruction and discussion, small-group exploration, partner interaction, and individual application of the concepts.  

Instructional Procedures

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    Focus Question: How does analysis of a character lead to a deeper understanding of a fictional text?

    Tell students that they will be taking a close look at how fictional characters are developed and how to analyze them. Say, “You may not realize it, but you already know how writers develop their characters in books, in movies, and on TV shows. We’re going to take a look at what you already know. First, think about someone you know well and like. If you had to choose one character trait to describe that person, what would it be?” (Elicit answers from students without having them identify the person.)

    Say, “Now consider why you chose that character trait. What examples can you think of to show the reason for your choice?” Have a few students share their examples. “Just like a writer, you already know that people have distinguishing character traits that make them individuals. You know this because you have observed them and drawn conclusions from those observations.”

    Part 1

    Say, “Now you’re going to apply your skills and develop a character.” Give small groups a picture of a person and a list of character traits. (See Materials.) Have students assign the person a character trait and write what the person might do or say to reveal this particular trait. Remind students that, just as in real life, there is often a difference between what characters say and what they do. (For example, Walter confides a painful secret to a classmate, who says, “I’m here for you, Walter. You can trust me.” Then the classmate tells three other people Walter’s secret.)

    When students have finished, have each group share its work with the rest of the class.

    Say, “What you just did was develop a fictional character. Analyzing a character that another writer has developed is the reverse of this. You decide what the character is like from the evidence offered.” Emphasize that in real life, we analyze other people’s character every day. We do the same when we watch characters in a movie or on a TV show. We don’t need captions on the screen to tell us which characters are deceitful and which are brave. We can see it for ourselves when the characters interact with others.

    Say, “We learn about characters in short stories and novels entirely through the written text, but we learn about them in the same ways––through their words, their actions, and the reactions of other characters. All of these techniques together are called characterization, the process through which a writer develops a character.”

    Say, “You are about to meet a group of interesting characters in the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry [or other appropriate text]. Before we begin, think about the basic ingredients of any fictional story. First, we need characters.” Write “Story Ingredients” on the board/interactive whiteboard and list characters as the first ingredient. “What else must we have for a story?” (setting, plot, point of view) Write students’ responses.

    When setting is mentioned, have someone explain what it is. Write where/when after it in parentheses. If no one mentions point of view, ask why the narrator is important. Point out that the narrator controls how the story is told and what information is revealed to the reader. If no one mentions the different points of view, review the following:

    • first-person (told through the eyes of a participant in the story, using I)
    • third-person limited (told by a narrator not participating in the story, using he, she or they and limited to what one particular character knows)
    • third-person omniscient (told by a narrator not participating in the story, using third person he, she, or they, and able to show what all the characters know)

    After you make the list, explain that these story ingredients are referred to as literary elements and that they (circle all except characters) can help present the characters in a work of fiction such as a short story or novel. Point out that when all the ingredients are mixed together, the result is a story.

    Part 2

    To model how to analyze characterization, discuss the following questions. (Adapt to fit other appropriate texts.)

    • What are some character traits of T.J. Avery?
    • What is the setting?
    • Why is the setting important to characterization?
    • From which point of view is the story told?
    • What difference would it make if any other character told the story?

    Ask students to choose another character and to identify two character traits of that individual. Then have students write at least two examples from the book as evidence of each trait.

    When students have finished, have them share with others who chose the same character. If not all the characters are covered (the Logan children, Mama, Papa, Claude, Jeremy, Lillian Jean, Miss Crocker, Fred, and Griselda), ask students to find evidence for the remaining characters. Emphasize that Cassie is the first-person narrator and that her opinions of others are revealed in the story. Point out that this gives information not only about the other characters but also about Cassie herself.

    Tell students to think again about the techniques the author uses to develop characters (characterization). Ask students to write an example of an action revealing a particular character trait of any character. Remind students to identify the character trait revealed by the action.

    Say, “Think about the setting of the novel. Where and when does the story take place?” (Mississippi farm/rural area in the South; 1930s during the Depression) Ask students to list the reasons the setting is important to the story, such as the following:

    • The farm setting is important because of the family’s love of the land and their struggle to pay the mortgage.
    • Taking place in the South in the 1930s is important because segregation separates the races, and they are not treated equally.
    • The Depression setting is important because the lack of money causes Papa to look for work elsewhere.

    Say, “Now think about how these details of setting are used to reveal the character of the people in the novel.” List some examples, such as the following, on the board/interactive whiteboard:

    • Papa shows his courage and willingness to endure hardship when he spends months away from home, doing manual labor so that his family will have what it needs and be able to keep the farm.
    • Because of segregation, the school receives textbooks in poor condition, which causes Little Man to show his pride and his fastidiousness by rejecting his book, and Mama to show her independent, fearless spirit by recovering the books in an act of defiance.

    Say, “You have analyzed how literary elements are used to develop characters in the first chapter of the book. What you will do next uses that information. No story occurs without conflict, and conflict is closely connected to characters. It affects how they feel and what they do. Characterization appears throughout the novel. Look at the first chapter again and think about what you predict might happen later in the story because of the characters and their situations. Here is how you will analyze how characterization relates to conflict.” Write the following on the board/interactive whiteboard:

    • Choose three characters important in the conflict.
    • Explain your choices.
    • Give evidence from the story.

    Say, “Choose three characters you think will be important in creating conflict because of character traits they possess. Write the explanation for your choices. Include at least two pieces of evidence from the story for each character. Be sure that you clearly identify the character traits that could lead to trouble.”

    Collect students’ work to evaluate their understanding of characterization.

    Extension:

    • If students need additional practice with characterization, remind them that character is revealed through what characters say, what they do, and what the narrator or other characters say about them. Use a story such as “Cinderella” and ask students to list what the stepmother says and does and what is said about her. For example:
      • She makes Cinderella do all the work, sleep in the ashes, and wear rags.
      • She favors her own daughters and tells Cinderella she isn’t allowed to go to the ball.
      • She tries to get her own daughters to wedge their feet into the glass slipper.

    Ask students what they can conclude about the character of the stepmother. (She is mean, wicked, and cruel.)

    • If plot or point of view causes difficulty, provide additional practice with a well-known children’s story such as Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” Ask students to retell the story from the point of view of Mr. McGregor or Peter’s mother.
    • Students who are ready to go beyond the standard might experiment with changing a character trait to determine how the story would change. For example, ask students to analyze the effect of making the stepmother in Cinderella a caring, considerate person.

Related Instructional Videos

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Final 05/10/2013
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