Curriculum / ELA / 9th Grade / Unit 2: You Laugh But It’s True: Humor and Institutional Racism in Born a Crime / Lesson 22
ELA
Unit 2
9th Grade
Lesson 22 of 25
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Lesson Notes
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Apply the structural parts of a personal narrative to an excerpt from Born a Crime and brainstorm a personal narrative that explores identity development.
Book: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah pp. 56 – 59
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Reading and/or task to be completed at home in preparation for the next lesson.
Finish brainstorming for your personal narrative and select the moment you will write about.
In this unit, you and your classmates explored the development of identity and its relationship to race, class, and socioeconomic status as you read Born a Crime. In addition, you analyzed the structure of Trevor Noah’s writing and how he developed an argument through the many stories of his childhood.
To conclude this unit, you will write a personal narrative of your own. Choose a specific story from your upbringing that helps to shed light on a larger societal issue. Craft a personal narrative, imitating Noah’s stylistic elements and argument structure.
In your adaptation be sure to:
Page 56–59 from Born a Crime can be used as a sample response.
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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.
RI.9-10.3 — Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
W.9-10.5 — Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
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.
W.9-10.3 — Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
W.9-10.4 — Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Next
Outline the structure of a personal narrative that shows identity development and connects to a larger societal issue, and begin drafting.
Determine the central causes and effects of apartheid in South Africa and how it impacted different groups in society.
Standards
RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.3
Identify and evaluate the claims made by the National Party in an excerpt from their statement in support of apartheid.
RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.8
Analyze Mandela’s inaugural speech for diction and imagery and how both contribute to his rhetorical purpose.
L.9-10.5RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.4RI.9-10.6
Conduct a short research project on South African history in order to create a digital presentation.
RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2W.9-10.2.aW.9-10.2.bW.9-10.2.cW.9-10.2.dW.9-10.7W.9-10.8
Logically organize the research information into a digital presentation that includes all required components.
L.9-10.1L.9-10.2.cL.9-10.6W.9-10.2.aW.9-10.2.bW.9-10.2.cW.9-10.2.dW.9-10.2.eW.9-10.2.f
Present digital presentations as a group using appropriate physical presence and strong voice and articulation.
L.9-10.1SL.9-10.4SL.9-10.5SL.9-10.6
Analyze how Noah introduces characters, develops setting, and establishes tone in the first chapter of Born a Crime.
RI.9-10.3RI.9-10.4RI.9-10.5
Analyze how Noah develops his central idea that apartheid laws were unjust, unsustainable, and incoherent.
RI.9-10.2
Analyze how Noah develops the reader’s understanding of his unique experiences navigating life as a mixed-race person in South Africa.
Brainstorm and plan a short narrative scene that uses an informal and conversational tone as well as description and dialogue.
W.9-10.3W.9-10.3.bW.9-10.3.dW.9-10.4W.9-10.5
Emulate Noah's tone in a short narrative scene using an informal and conversational tone as well as description and dialogue.
Analyze how Noah characterizes his parents, their parenting, and his relationship with them.
RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.3RI.9-10.5
Identify similarities and differences in the portrayal of South Africa’s colored community in Born a Crime Chapter 9 and a news report.
RI.9-10.5RI.9-10.7
Analyze how Noah develops the reader's understanding of his unique experiences navigating life as a mixed-race person in South Africa.
RI.9-10.3RI.9-10.5
Analyze how Noah develops the reader’s understanding of life in Alex township, and how his experience there shaped his perspective.
Plan a short description of a neighborhood that uses vivid imagery to develop the reader’s understanding of setting.
W.9-10.3
Emulate Noah’s writing style by creating a short narrative description of a place using description and imagery.
Analyze how Noah develops different ideas within Chapter 17, and make connections between events in this chapter and those that have occurred previously in the text.
RI.9-10.3RI.9-10.5RI.9-10.5
Analyze how Abel’s presence impacts Trevor’s life and how the structural choices at the end of the memoir connect to its opening.
RI.9-10.4RI.9-10.5
Engage in a summative Socratic seminar about the larger themes and ideas of Born a Crime, supporting arguments with strong and thorough textual evidence.
RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.3RI.9-10.6SL.9-10.1SL.9-10.3SL.9-10.4SL.9-10.6
Analyze a central theme developed over the course of Born a Crime, sharing one’s understanding in a final product.
RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.3RI.9-10.5W.9-10.2W.9-10.9
RI.9-10.2RI.9-10.3W.9-10.5
W.9-10.5
Review the purpose of an introduction and conclusion in a personal narrative, and revise to strengthen those parts of a draft.
W.9-10.3.aW.9-10.3.bW.9-10.3.cW.9-10.3.dW.9-10.3.eW.9-10.4W.9-10.5
Analyze the effects of transitions in a personal narrative, and revise drafts to strengthen transitions.
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