Close Reading Lessons

Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: An Innocent on Rinkside by William Faulkner

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Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: ” Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville

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Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: “Cheap, Gaudy Packet” by Mark Twain

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Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: “On Familiar Style” by William Hazlitt

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Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: “The Way to Rainy Mountain by Scott Momaday

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Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: “Mules and Men” by Zola Neale Hurston

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Objectives:Students will be able to analyze a complex reading passage by completing a set of MCQs.

Text: “Mules and Men” by Zola Neale Hurston

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Objective: Students will be able to construct reading strategies to comprehend literary work form the 19th century.

Resources: Water Pater’s On Renaissance 

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Objectives: Students will be able to construct reading strategies to comprehend literary work form the 18th century.

Resources: Johnson Essays

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a passage written in the 19th century by examining its diction and syntax as well as responding to MCQs.

3/7/2017

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze the passage ” Roarers, Whispers, and Moderators” by Samuel Johnson. by responding to a set of MCQs.

Do Now: Discuss three questions from the Mock AP Exam( PASSAGE 2) that you still are struggling with.

Mini Lesson:

Q9 Paraphrase a claims statement:

Extinction is not a price we are compelled to pay for economic progress.

It suggests that an assumption held by many people may be incorrect.

Verbs for purpose:

1. urge
2. argue
3. suggest
4. question
5. promote

Making an inference about the audience or reader-

• expert
• a generalist
• a student
• a colleague
• an enthusiast

Why Footnotes/Endnotes?

1. “In argument, the audience expects the writer to be a knowledgeable source of information. Using documentation demonstrates the extent of your knowledge, builds the reader’s trust in your opinions, and increases your ethical appeal. Accurate documentation of sources is the backbone of your logical and ethical appeal” (402).
2. Through the study of footnotes and endnotes students will learn that scholarship engages in thought that traverses the boundaries of time.
3. Through the study of footnotes and endnotes students begin to understand the prismatic nature of intellectual inquiry, narrow enough to allow illumination but open-ended enough to spread light onto other possibilities, intellectual or otherwise.
4. Through analysis of footnotes students will discover that substance, as well as style, is essential in the interpretation as well as the development of the nonfiction essay.

Example 1:

Footnote 2:

“Machine Tools at the Philadelphia Exhibition,” Engineering (26 May 1876), p. 427, cited by Kasson, see note 1 above. 48.

A. Which of the following is an accurate reading of footnote 2?

A. An article by John F. Kasson appears on page 427 of Engineering.

B. “Machine Tools at the Philadelphia Exhibition” was published in New York.

C. Th e article “Engineering” can be found on page 427 of “Machine Tools at the Philadelphia Exhibition.”

D. “Machine Tools at the Philadelphia Exhibition” is an article published in the May 26, 1876, issue of Engineering.

E. Engineering is an article cited by John

F. Kasson.

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Footnote 4:

Richard Guy Wilson, Dianne H. Pilgrim, Dickran Tashjian, The Machine Age in America 1918–1941 (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986), p. 85. 52.

The purpose of footnote 4 is to inform the reader that the quotation in line 49

A. has been attributed to three different designers

B. was first cited in 1918

C. was the inspiration for an exhibit at The Brooklyn Museum

D. is in an article in The Machine Age in America 1918–1941 written by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

E. appears in a book written by Wilson, Pilgrim, and Tashjian and published in 1986

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Richard Guy Wilson, Dianne H. Pilgrim, Dickran Tashjian, The Machine Age in America 1918–1941 (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986), p. 85. 52.

55. Taken as a whole, the footnotes suggest that

A. the author of the passage wants the text to present highly technical material

B. the author of the passage relies heavily on Kasson’s book 39

C. very little was written about the topic of machinery and ornamentation prior to 1976

D. engineering magazines are an essential source for technical writers

E. except in rare cases, it is best to use the latest published work when documenting an idea or concept

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Expected Understanding from the footnote analysis:

1. We can see from question #55 that documentation must be understood as a rhetorical action.
2. Footnotes and endnotes direct us into the ongoing academic discourse about a topic worthy of discussion.
3. the author of the passage did not solely invent his content but instead relied upon other sources of information. These sources can be used, perhaps, to support his own argument regarding the theories of changes in the aesthetics of machine design. The elements of invention coexist with, and are bolstered by, these evidentiary footnotes.
4. Even before a reader is directed to the footnote, the other voices are noted in the text of the passage itself when the author refers to “a writer in the British periodical Engineering” and also to “an exasperated critic for Scientific American.” The author has “demonstrated the extent of his knowledge,” both in the passage and in the corresponding footnotes. The result of these references reaffirms the author’s diligent scholarship, adding to the ethos as well as the logos of his argument.

Independent Practice

In a small group, discuss the assigned questions based on the passage of ” Roarers” by Samuel Johnson.( 5 questions for each group)

• calumny: n. the making of false and defamatory statements in order to damage someone’s reputation; slander.
• pernicious: adj. having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
• veracity
• malevolence
• dilatory
• promiscuous
• vociferation: n. noisy outcry; clamor.
• expedient
• extenuate: to represent (a fault, offense, etc.) as less serious:
  to extenuate a crime.
• epithet: any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality:
  “Richard the Lion-Hearted” is an epithet of Richard I.
• amiable
• credulous
• appellation: a name, title, or designation.
• ostentatious
• volubility: characterized by a ready and continuous flow of words; fluent; glib; talkative:
• petulant
• timorous: full of fear; fearful:

 

3/6/2017

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze the passage “Religious Medici” by Sir Thomas Brown by responding to a set of MCQs.

Do Now: Discuss three questions from the Mock AP Exam that you still are struggling with.

Mini Lesson: what are the differences among the various modes of writing?

• personal narrative
• empirical data
• nonjudgmental explanation
• descriptive analysis

How do the following verbs reflect such mode?

• explain
• describe
• make generalization
• explore
• detail

What are the verbs below reveal a specific purpose?

• conclude
• suggest
• argue
• offer
• explain

Independent Practice

Study Questions for the passage-

• What are the two words that name the metaphor in the first sentence? What two things are being compared?
• 2. Find the appositive phrase that renames “nature” in the first sentence.
• 3. What are the “one” (line 5) and the “other” (line 6)?
• 4. What is the pronoun antecedent of the word “this” in line 6?
• 5. What are these “mystical letters” (line 12)?
• 6. What is the author saying about the movement of the sun? According to astronomy, is the author correct?
• 7. Who is the “excellent artist” (lines 25-26)?
• 8. Explain what the author means by calling God a “geometrician.”
• 9. The sentence in lines 35-38 explains why God sometimes breaks His own rules, or laws. Why does He, according to the author?
• 10. The author is saying in lines 38-40 that which is greater, God or nature?
• 11. What does a hammer and a house have in common with God and nature?
• 12. What does a pen have in common with God and nature?
• 13. Why does “deformity” have a “kind of beauty”?
• 14. According to the author, what is worse than being “ugly or misshapen”?
• 15. When the author writes the words “in brief,” how important are the words that follow? How might “in brief” be reworded?

In each small group, students will come to a consensus what the group answers will be for each question-

Small group presentations.

Homework: Prepare for the  ” Roarers, Whispers, and Moderators” by Samuel Johnson.

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Day 11

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a prose passage by responding to a set of MCQs and debating for the right answer in a small group.

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Day 10

Objectives: Students will be able to present their understanding of an assigned author through research.

• How does the author’s work bear clear marks of the time and place s/he lived in?
• How would you describe the author’s persona/voice( beliefs, ethnicity, gender and class and social position, etc)?
• How does the author’s persona impact the purpose of their work?
• How would you describe the author’s style?

Prepare group presentations by writing the responses on a poster paper. Be creative.

Group Presentations

Homework: Complete the reading packet on Ellen Terry by Virginia Woolf( write a rationale for each answer). Hand in the packet tomorrow.

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Day 9

Objectives: Students will gain in-depth understanding of types of questions

 

Do Now: Group presentations their rationale for the MCQs based on Shirley Abbott’s passage.

Reflect: How do we analyze tone through diction?

• Look for patterns/anomaly and interesting details

Mini Lesson: About the authors and their styles

• How does the author’s work bear clear marks of the time and place s/he lived in?
• How would you describe the author’s persona/voice( beliefs, ethnicity, gender and class and social position, etc)?
• How does the author’s persona impact the purpose of their work?
• How would you describe the author’s style?
• Shirley Abbott
• John Dryden
• Williams Least Heat-Moon
• George Eliot A.) AMERICAN scholar   B) Victorian Web
• Virginia Woolf

Read and annotate Virginia Woolf’s piece. Fill out the MCQs sheet with rational for each answer.

Homework: Put together a presentation of the author. Use graphics to enhance the presentation.

Day 8

Objectives: Students will gain in-depth understanding of types of questions embedded in MCQ by examining a specific passage and discussing the MC in a small group.

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Day 7

Objectives: Students will gain in-depth understanding of types of questions embedded in MCQ by examining a specific passage and discussing the MC in a small group.

 

• Differentiation: Students select details from the scene  based on their individual reading experience and understanding of the text. They are also given various options to respond to the poem depending on their personal level of challenges or strengths. Students can raise their own questions to probe into the implied meaning of the poem.
• Grouping Rationale: Students will be grouped based on personal choice with consideration of individual learning needs, styles, talents and personality to maximize their productivity. In each group, all participants are contributors; but several of them will also be a timer/facilitator, recorder,presenter, spelling/ grammar checker.

Do Now: Find

Do Now: From you experience of doing the MC, what’s one of the most challenging questions? Identity the question and explain why you did wrong and what you have learned from the question that will help you avoid the same mistake when encountering the similar type of question. Share in a pair.

Mini Lesson: Review

1. The MC questions center on form and content.  You are expected to understand meaning, draw inferences, and understand how an author develops his or her ideas.
2. Types of Questions

• Factual: Words refer to, allusions, antecedents, pronoun references
• Technical: Sentence structure, style, grammatical purpose, dominant technique, imagery, point-of-view, organization of passage, narrative progress of passage, conflict, irony, function of…
• Analytical: rhetorical strategy, shift in development, rhetorical stance, style, metaphor, contrast, comparison, cause/effect, argument, description, narration, specific-general, general-specific, how something is characterized, imagery, passage is primarily concerned with, function of…
• Inferential: effect of diction, tone, inferences, effect of description, effect of last paragraph, effect on reader, narrator’s attitude, image suggests, effect of detail, author implies, author most concerned with, symbol
• Categories: Use this to Make Sample Questions

the main idea/theme/attitude

1. The author would most likely agree with which of the following?
2. The narrator’s/writer’s/speaker’s attitude can be described as
3. The author would most/least likely agree that
4. The writer has presented all of the following ideas except
5. We can infer that the author values the quality of
6. The attitude of the narrator helps the writer create a mood of
7. In context, lines “..” most likely refer to

the author’s meaning and purpose (Why did the writer…)

1. “…” can best be defined as
2. The purpose of lines “…” can best be interpreted as
3. The writer clarifies “…” by
4. The writer emphasizes “..” in order to
5. By saying “..” the author intends for us to understand that
6. By “..” the author most likely means
7. The purpose of the sentence/paragraph/passage can be summarized as
8. The passage can be interpreted as meaning all of the following except

the language of rhetoric (syntax, diction, figurative language, tone, etc.)

1. A shift in point of view is demonstrated by
2. The repetitive syntax of lines “…” serves to
3. “..” can best be said to represent
4. The second sentence is unified by the writer’s use of ….. rhetorical device?
5. The word “…” is the antecedent for
6. The style of the passage can best be characterized as
7. The author employs “…” sentence structure to establish
8. The tone of the passage changes when the writer

the speaker or narrator

the attitude (of the narrator or author)

word choice and selection of details (connotation)

sentence structure (syntax)

rhetorical reasoning

inferences

general conclusions

organization and structure (is there contrast, deduction, spatial description, etc.)

1. The shift from “…” to “….” Is seen by the author’s use of…
2. In presenting the author’s point, the passage utilizes all of the following except
3. The speaker has included “…” in her argument in order to…
4. The type of argument employed by the author is most similar to which of the following?
5. The can be said to move from “….” To “….”
6. The “…” paragraph can be said to be … in relation to …
7. The structure of this passage is primarily one of ….
8. rhetorical modes (narration, description, argumentation, etc.)
9. All of the following modes can be found within the passage except

The rhetorical mode that best describes this passage is

1. The author uses cause and effect in order to
2. Which of the following best describes the author’s method of presenting the information
3. The author combines retrospection with which other rhetorical mode within this passage?

documentation and citation

1. Which of the following is an accurate reading of footnote…
2. The purpose of footnote… is to inform the reader that the quotation in line
3. Taken as a whole, the footnotes suggest that…
4. From reading footnote…, the reader can infer that…

Student Independent Practice

In a group of 3 or 4, read and discuss the assigned passage from the practice test (A). Discuss the questions- content and format. Draw a conclusion on what you consider as the best way to comprehend the question as quickly as possible and respond to it correctly at the same time. Be prepares to share your insight with the class.

Exit Slip: What did I learn from today’s group sharing, which will help me do better in MCQ?

Homework: Hand in your reading packet of ” Growing up own South” by Abbottwith rationale for each MCQ.

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Day 6

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a prose passage by responding to a set of MCQs and debating for the right answer in a small group.

• Understatement
• rhetorical question

syntax

• Compound sentence

Mini Lesson with Guided Questions

Key Concepts

Reading Strategies

•  Determining Audience
• Determining Author’s Purpose
• Determining Main Idea
• Generalization
• Inference
• Paraphrase/ Summary

Literary Elements

• Detail/ Diction
• connotation/ denotation
• Point of View
• perspective
• Rhetorical Shift
• Tone
• Figures of Speech: Simile

Literary Techniques

• Hyperbole

Literary Forms:  Nonfiction

Guided Questions to understand the passage-

1st paragraph:

• 1. Briefly paraphrase this paragraph. What is it essentially about?
• 2. What is the period of time encompassed in this paragraph?
• 3. What is the point of view? How friendly does the narrator seem with the reader?

2nd paragraph:

• 4. What do you think the word “schizoid” (line 21) means? Be sure to read the first part of the sentence and the rest of the sentence.
• 5. What is it that is like “stones in an old-fashioned necklace” (line 25)?
• 6. What is the narrator’s attitude toward the Arlington? Underline words and phrases that offer clues to his attitude.
• 7. Circle the word that signals a shift from the “dives” like the White Front and the Kentucky Club to The Southern Club.
• 8. What is the period of time encompassed in lines 28 to 51?
• 9. What is the narrator’s approximate age in lines 28 to 51? 10. Where is a time shift in the passage?

3rd paragraph:

• 11. This paragraph is controlled by two contrasting ideas. What two words signal this contrast?
• 12. What is the narrator’s attitude toward “Middletown, Everyplace” (line 53)?
• 13. Where does the tone change in this paragraph? What is the tone the passage ends with?
• 14. Is the narrator’s attitude toward “Middletown, Everyplace” the same as his attitude in the last lines (lines 67-74)? How do you know?

Complete the MCQs Sheet

Independent practice

• Each group discusses assigned questions and provide a strong rationale for each answer
• Each group presents its final decisions and rationale for each final choice
• The class votes to agree or disagree with the final choice

Exit slip: Students hand in the packet and MCQ answer sheet with rationales.

Homework: Use SOAPStone analytical strategies to write a 2nd precis paragraph based on an editorial.

Day 5

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a prose passage by responding to a set of MCQs and debating for the right answer in a small group.

• Hyperbole
• Oxymoron
• PARADOX
• Pun

New Concept:

Syntax-

• Complex sentence
• Compound sentence

Vocabulary

• 1. invective—sharp, harsh, insulting words used to attack
• 2. esoteric—intended for or understood by only a small group
• 3. repugnance—offensiveness; distastefulness
• 4. raillery—good-natured teasing or ridicule
• 5. opprobrious—expressing contemptuous scorn
• 6. malefactor—a criminal; an evildoer
• 7. ineptitude—inappropriateness or unsuitableness

Mini Lesson with Guided Practice

• 1. Add these words to the first sentence to make it easier to understand: “How easy it is to call a person rogue and villain, and to do that wittily!” Now paraphrase the sentence in your own words.
• 2. Circle any words that signal a shift.
• 3. What are the “opprobrious terms” mentioned in line 4?
• 4. To what is the writer comparing the drawing of a full face?
• 5. What is “that noble trade” (line 8)?
• 6. What is the antecedent of “he” in line 9?
• 7. What is the difference between the witty man and the fool? (lines 12-14)
• 8. What is the antecedent of “he” in line 15?
• 9. What does the author mean by these words: “yet the malicious world will find it out for him” (lines 18-19)?

Hints:

• 1. The sentence paraphrased could read, “It’s pretty easy to call a man a rogue and villain, using those terms, and even to be called witty doing it.”
• 2. Words that signal shifts are “But” (line 2), “Neither” (line 11), “yet” (lines 18 and 19), “but” (line 25)
• 3. The opprobrious terms in line 4 are “fool,” “blockhead,” “knave.”
• 4. The writer compares the drawing of a full face to insulting a man without using obvious terms—insulting him subtly.
• 5. “That noble trade” (line 8) is “fineness of raillery” (line12). The word “this” preceding these words makes it clear that the author is referring to “that noble trade.”
• 6. The antecedent of “he” (line 9) is “master” (line 9).
• 7. The witty man appreciates the verbal skill of the one criticizing him, but the fool doesn’t understand what’s going on.
• 8. The antecedent of “he” in line 15 is “fool” (line 13).
• 9. Even if a fool doesn’t understand that he’s being criticized, somebody who does understand will tell him that he is being criticized.
• 10. The author is contrasting a person who can criticize someone else with wit and tact to someone using straightforward, even brutal, language.
• 11. The Jack Ketch example is an illustration of the point the author is making about wittily criticizing someone. One can either criticize someone with harsh language, calling the person names (someone who “slovenly” butchers a man), or someone can criticize wittily without using harsh language (like Jack Ketch).

Independent Practice

• Each group discusses assigned questions and provide a strong rationale for each answer
• Each group presents its final decisions and rationale for each final choice
• The class votes to agree or disagree with the final choice

Exit slip: Students hand in the packet and MCQ answer sheet with rationales.

Homework: Read the passage ” Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South” by Shirley Abbot. Answer the guided questions next to the passage and complete the MCQs.

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Day 4

 Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a prose passage by responding to a set of MCQs and debating for the right answer in a small group.

• Analogy
• Apostrophe
• Euphemisim

Grammar-Syntax

• antithetical structure
• balanced

Mini Lesson

Elements in a Satire

• Satire is a style of rhetoric that exposes vices and foolishness in people and society.
• Satire generally uses humor, irony, sarcasm, and other techniques to get an emotional reaction from the audience.
• Satire often aims to create political or social change

Read the passage and  complete MCQs.

Reading Strategies:

Reading Strategies –

Annotation/ Determining Audience/ Determining Author’s Purpose/ Determining Main Idea/ Generalization/ Inference/ Paraphrase/ Summary/

Literary Elements

Allegory /Analogy /Detail /

Diction

• Connotation
• Denotation

Point of View /Perspective/ Rhetorical Shift /Style /Theme /Tone

Literary Techniques

Argumentation

• Assertion
• Syllogism
• Hyperbole
• Understatement

Literary Forms: Nonfiction

Usage: pronoun- antecedent agreement

Concept:

• inverse
• esoteric
• repugnance
• raillery
• opprobrious
• malefactor
• ineptitude

Independent Practice

Debate for the right answers to the designated questions.

Debate in the class.

Hand in the MCQs to be graded.

Homework: Write the rationale for the answers you got wrong.

Day 3

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a prose passage by responding to a set of MCQs and debating for the right answer in a small group.

• polysyndeton
• ellipsis
• asydeton
• allusion
• analogy

• infinitive
• participial
• preposition

Mini Lesson with Guided Practice

1. Students respond to the passage ” Wind” by answering the MCQs individually.
2. Each small group is assigned 2-3 questions and they are responsible to come up with the correct answers on behalf of the class.
3. Each group presents its answers and the class decides together which answer is final.
4. The class gets one grade.

Homework: Review rhetorical devices and grammatical terms.

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• Antithesis
• Chiasmas
• Anadiplosis
• Anaphora
• Epistrophe

Teaching Points:

1. Appositive phrase: 
2. An absolute phrase combines a noun and a participle with any accompanying modifiers or objects.

Questions about George Eliot’s piece.

• Q2: intended audience
• Q10: Praises vs Criticism
• Q12

 Independent PRACTICE

 

Day 1

Objectives: Students will be able to analyze a passage closely by responding to a set of MCQs through group discussion and debate.

1. Go over the directions for AP Language MCQs debate
2. Read the passage and complete the 12 MCQs; Fill out he sheet page 7
3. In reading groups, discuss the assigned the MCQs and come to consensus about he final choice
4. Present the the class the final answer.
5. The class gets one grade based on each group’s participation and answer choices.