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Elements of Literary Nonfiction Texts

Lesson Plan

Elements of Literary Nonfiction Texts

Objectives

Students will examine the use of literary elements in literary nonfiction. Students will:

  • identify elements of fiction in literary nonfiction texts.
  • compare/contrast fiction and literary nonfiction.
  • evaluate the relationships between the major components of a text.
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Essential Questions

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?
  • How do readers know what to believe in what they read, hear, and view?

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).
  • Rising Action: The part of a story where the plot becomes increasingly complicated. Rising action leads up to the climax, or turning point.
  • Plot: The structure of a story. The sequence in which the author arranges events in a story. The structure often includes the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. The plot may have a protagonist who is opposed by an antagonist, creating what is called conflict.
  • Resolution: The portion of a story following the climax, in which the conflict is resolved.
  • Setting: The time and place in which a story unfolds.
  • Theme: A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.
  • Climax: The turning point in a narrative, the moment when the conflict is at its most intense. Typically, the structure of stories, novels, and plays is one of rising action, in which tension builds to the climax.
  • Conflict/Problem: A struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions.

Duration

90–135 minutes/2–3 class periods

Prerequisite Skills

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Materials

 

  • Teachers may substitute other texts to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
  • a response journal for each student
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Formative Assessment

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    • During the lesson, keep the focus on the use of literary elements in literary nonfiction. Group discussion of the responses to “A Dinner Party” and the questions and observations about “Across the Plains” help students compare/contrast the two types of text. These responses also provide you with a quick overview of students’ understanding.
    • Responses about the most important fictional component used in the nonfiction passage “Across the Plains” demonstrate students’ understanding of the literary elements in nonfiction and may indicate understanding of relationships between major components of a text.

Suggested Instructional Supports

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    W: Examine a nonfiction selection and have students continue making entries in their response journals. 
    H: Help students reactivate previous learning by having them share their thoughts about “A Dinner Party” (see Lesson 1). 
    E: Have students read an example of literary nonfiction text and identify the elements of fiction in the text.  
    R: Discuss the new text and have students rethink, discuss, and write their reactions to the literary nonfiction passage. 
    E: Students have the opportunity to have their own questions about the reading answered, to answer the questions of others, to respond to their reading with their own opinions (and reasons, examples, or experiences) in written form.  
    T: Provide students the opportunity to express their opinions and support them, as well as to use their classmates’ thinking and reactions to clarify their own thinking. 
    O: Begin with student responses to a fiction reading and then move to a literary nonfiction reading that incorporates some of the same narrative elements. 

Instructional Procedures

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    Focus Question: How are the elements of fiction used in literary nonfiction?

    Begin with a discussion about students’ responses to “A Dinner Party.” Say, “We need a volunteer to begin the discussion with something you liked or disliked about the story. Be certain to cite evidence to support your reasons. Listen to what your classmates say. If you want to agree or disagree, raise your hand to comment.”

    At the close of the discussion, be certain that someone has mentioned the author’s purpose. Say, “You’ve heard the opinions of your classmates and some of the connections they made to the story. Take a minute and add to your own response. Have you changed your opinion about the story, or have you thought of any other connections? If you have, write a sentence or two about it; if not, write a sentence telling that nothing has changed for you after the discussion.”

     

    Post a list of literary elements (characterization, setting, plot, theme) for students’ reference. Say, “Now we’re going to read a piece about a Scotsman’s first visit to the United States back in the late 1800s.  Even though this is a nonfiction account of a real person’s experience, it uses elements that we associate with fiction. Consider which literary element—setting, character, plot, or theme—you think is most important in this reading and why. Write about this in your response journal.”

     

    Ask students to share which literary element seems most important to them. Setting, theme, and characterization are likely to be the most common choices. Encourage students to explain their choice.

     

    Because this literary nonfiction selection is a description of an actual experience, some students might question whether plot should be a choice. However, certain elements of plot frequently appear in nonfiction. For example, the basic conflict could be Stevenson’s attempt to find a safe place to rest after his arrival in the United States, and the climax comes when he finally boards the train. Students need to be able to support their opinions with evidence from the reading.

     

    Say, “Now let’s talk about what makes literary nonfiction different from fiction. What elements distinguish it from a story or novel?” (true experience, based on facts, real events, real places, real people) Say, “When we read nonfiction, we know that the events really happened and that the places and people are real. However, literary nonfiction uses the elements of fiction to dramatize its message. It is subjective, not objective.” Ask students to imagine how “Across the Plains” would be written differently if it were a news article. What would be emphasized? (factual events and details) What would be left out? (Stevenson’s personal commentary and observations). Guide students to see that literary nonfiction can be a powerful vehicle for writers to address major themes that tell us something about humanity while relating real events and experiences.

     

    Repeatedly using a response process helps students begin to use literary vocabulary with some expertise. It becomes part of their “comprehension toolbox.” When prompting them to write, ask what things students particularly liked and disliked––and always ask them to cite evidence from the text to support their opinions. Also ask whether they identify with any of the situations in the excerpt and why. Connections to “Across the Plains” may include emigration, uncomfortable travel, or being in a strange place.

     

    Extension:

    • ·If students have difficulty identifying the impact of literary elements in “Across the Plains,” have them listen to a few of their classmates’ responses, think of one of their own personal experiences in which setting was an important component, and  write a paragraph that briefly describes the experience. Ask students also to write a sentence explaining why the setting is essential to the experience (e.g., trying out for a school play, competing at a sporting event, or walking home from school).
    • ·Students who have difficulty grasping the difference between fiction and literary nonfiction can write a paragraph about a personal experience. Ask them to identify the real events, people, and/or places as well as literary elements present in the paragraph.
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Final 05/03/2013
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