Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Magical Realism in Latin American Literature

Lesson 10
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ELA

Unit 4

10th Grade

Lesson 10 of 22

Objective


Analyze how diction and narrative point of view reveals the central conflict within the story.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell 

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Target Task


Discussion & Writing Prompt

How does the shift in the narrative point of view between Stage 1 and Stage 2 reveal the central conflict that emerges in this part of the story? 

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Close Read Questions

Describe the tone of the Stage 1 epigraph. What is the connection between the epigraph and the first paragraph of the story?

What is the impact of the narrator's use of "we" in Stage 1? What does that indicate about the girls and their pack as a whole?

What impact does Stage 2 have on the girls as well as their relationship with each other? What diction suggests this? 

Vocabulary


Literary Terms

epigraph

a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme

Text-based

lycanthropic

adj.

(p. 225)

of or pertaining to the delusion in which one imagines oneself to be a wolf

culture shock

n.

(p. 225)

the disorientation or confusion a person may feel when experiencing a new culture.

ostracize

v.

(p. 227)

to exclude someone from society or a group

Homework


  • Book: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell  pp. 235 – 246

While reading, answer the following questions.

  • Summarize the Stage 3 epigraph. How are the girls supposed to feel?

  • How is Mirabella's inability to adapt affecting her?

  • Who are the purebread girls? How does Claudette feel about them?

  • Why is Jeanette crying? How does Claudette respond to her at this moment?

  • How does Mirabella treat Jeannette and Claudette at the beginning of Stage 4?

  • What does Mirabella do at the Debutante Ball? Why?

  • What happens to Mirabella after the Debutante Ball?

  • What is the significance of Claudette's family's reaction to her visit home?

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Standards


  • RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
  • RL.9-10.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
  • RL.9-10.6 — Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.6
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.2
RL.9-10.5
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.9.a
W.9-10.10

Next

Analyze how the girls' experience at St. Lucy's serves as an allegory for assimilation.

Lesson 11
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