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Klara and the Sun: Heart, Hope and Humanity in the Age of AI
Students explore what it means to be human by analyzing themes about loneliness, love, faith, and mortality in Klara and the Sun.
ELA
Unit 2
12th Grade
Unit Summary
The core text Klara and the Sun fits within the year-long focus "On Being Human," as Ishiguro explores elements of the human condition such as loneliness, love, faith, hope, and mortality through the perspective of Klara, an "Artificial Friend." As a highly observant robot, Klara provides deep insight into the complexity of human emotions and relationships. She also illustrates the power of faith in giving people hope during dire times. Through the novel's futuristic setting, Ishiguro has readers grapple with the benefits and harms of technological advancement on relationships, education, and the environment. Klara and the Sun, therefore, invites students to make connections to real-life, contemporary issues related to technology, such as AI, educational disparities, cloning, and electronic waste.
Prior to reading the novel, students activate prior knowledge about AI, as well as watch a CBS Reports video to build background knowledge about the dangers and benefits of AI through different speakers' perspectives. They also read excerpts from Frankenstein to analyze how Mary Shelley's novel remains a cautionary tale for scientists and tech innovators. While reading Klara and the Sun, students analyze how Ishiguro uses narration, diction, characterization, and structure to develop themes about the human condition. Additionally, they engage with supplemental nonfiction articles about issues relevant to the novel, and they generate their own questions that the novel and supplemental texts spark for them. Ultimately, for the final performance task, students perform research on one of their self-generated questions and write an explanatory research essay.
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Texts and Materials
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Core Texts
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Book: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Supporting Texts
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Video: “The ChatGPT Revolution” (CBS Reports)
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Excerpt: “Excerpts from Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley
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Article: “Could AI help cure 'downward spiral' of human loneliness?” by Ian Sample (The Guardian)
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Article: “How COVID taught America about inequity in education” by Clea Simon (The Harvard Gazette)
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Podcast: “If By Chance We Meet Again” by Ira Glass (This American Life)
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Poem: “(First Trimester)” by Craig Santos Perez (Poetry Foundation)
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Poem: “From 'understory'” by Craig Santos Perez (Poetry Foundation)
- Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Resources for Lessons and Projects
Assessment
The following assessments accompany Unit 2. For more guidance, see the Summative Assessments Teacher Tool.
Authentic Assessments
The Socratic Seminar measures students' ability to think critically, engage meaningfully in discussion about key unit content, and support their ideas with evidence.
The Performance Task is the culminating assessment of the unit in which students have the opportunity to demonstrate the skills and content they have learned through an authentic task.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Essential Questions
- To what extent can love be created artificially?
- What are the benefits of technological progress? What are the costs?
- What is the role of faith in the human condition?
Vocabulary
Text-based
arduousdisparitiesengrossedfathomimpedeimplicationjeopardizekeenmarginalizedqualmreprimand
Literary Terms
foreshadowingfoilliterary point of viewmoodscience fictionsymboltheme
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 2, view our 12th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.
Lesson Map
Perform research about a self-generated question relevant to the Unit's Texts.
Standards
W.11-12.7W.11-12.8
Perform research about a self-generated question relevant to the Unit's Texts.
Standards
Perform research about a self-generated question relevant to the Unit's Texts.
Standards