Curriculum / ELA / 10th Grade / Unit 1: Altruism and Interconnectedness in Short Texts / Lesson 2
ELA
Unit 1
10th Grade
Lesson 2 of 11
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Determine the audience's needs, values, and beliefs in John Lewis’s farewell essay and examine the rhetorical strategies that compel his audience to action.
Essay: “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation” by John Lewis
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
How does John Lewis use rhetorical strategies to compel his audience to action?
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
Key thinking students do about today's reading.
What is the rhetorical situation? In other words, what lines in the text reveal the rhetorical situation including the exigence, purpose, audience, and context?
Who is the intended audience in this essay? How do you know?
What was John Lewis’s purpose for writing this essay in the last few days of his life?
Trace the analogies in paragraph three. Who does John Lewis draw comparisons between? What do these comparisons reveal about the impact that Emmett Till’s death had on him as a young man? About the progress we have made since the death of Emmett Till?
What does Representative John Lewis mean when he says, “Emmet Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland, and Breonna Taylor”?
In paragraph 4, John Lewis states, “Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare.” Identify the key diction choices in this sentence and explain the connotations they carry. What is the impact of these diction choices on John Lewis’s message to his audience?
In paragraph 6, John Lewis describes “good trouble.” What is it? Why does he urge people to get into “good trouble”?
John Lewis commands his audience to “continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.” According to Lewis, what is the significance of building unions and being interconnected?
Is John Lewis’s final essay effective? In other words, does he successfully compel his audience of activists to engage in “good trouble?"
Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text
sanction
v.
give official permission or approval for (an action)
exploitation
n.
the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work
existential
adj.
relating to existence
Reading and/or task to be completed at home in preparation for the next lesson.
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LO 1.2B — Explain how the rhetorical features of an argument contribute to its effect and meaning.
RI.9-10.6 — Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
LO 1.2A — Analyze the development of an argument, evaluating its central claim(s), the soundness of the reasoning, and the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
LO 2.3A — Assert a precise central claim that establishes the relationship between a work's features and overall meaning.
LO 5.1A — Extend the conversation around an idea, topic, or text by formulating questions and recognizing the claims and perspectives of others.
LO 5.1B — Cite relevant evidence and evaluate the evidence presented by others.
RI.9-10.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RI.9-10.2 — Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
SL.9-10.1 — Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9—10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
W.9-10.2.a — Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
Lesson 1
Lesson 3
Introduction
Synthesize ideas from excerpts from Justice and SuperFreakonomics to formulate an argument about altruism.
LO 1.1A LO 1.4B RL.9-10.1
Close Reading
LO 1.2B RI.9-10.6
Identify and analyze the rhetorical situation and key diction choices in “A Call for Unity.” Craft an argument about the extent to which the public statement is ethical.
LO 1.2B LO 2.3A RI.9-10.6 W.9-10.2.a
Analyze how King’s rhetorical strategies address his audience’s needs, values, and beliefs.
Socratic Seminar
Analyze how King achieves his authorial purpose by identifying and interpreting his rhetorical strategies.
Assessment: Free Response
Analyzes the rhetorical choices that Lewis or King makes to convey his message about the importance of unifying in response to injustice.
LO 2.2B LO 2.3A LO 2.3C LO 2.3D RI.9-10.1 RI.9-10.2 RI.9-10.6 W.9-10.2
Analyze Sammy’s characterization and narrative perspective to unpack central ideas in “A&P.”
LO 1.3B RL.9-10.3
Analyze the speaker’s perspective and poetic form to convey central ideas about interconnectedness in “The World is Too Much with Us.”
LO 1.3A RL.9-10.3
Analyze how the author uses the juxtaposition between "The Pledge of Allegiance" and the Thanksgiving address to convey central ideas about gratitude and interconnectedness in the excerpt from Braiding Sweetgrass.
Assessment: Socratic Seminar
Formulate and share unique arguments about meaning across Unit 1 texts. Support arguments with strong and thorough textual evidence in a summative Socratic Seminar.
LO 5.1A LO 5.1B RI.9-10.1 RI.9-10.2 RI.9-10.6 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 SL.9-10.1 SL.9-10.2
Assessment: Performance Task – 4 days
Complete the performance task to show mastery of unit content and standards.
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