Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers’ choices that create a narrative voice?
Do Now:
To start off our lesson, we were asked to have a class discussion on what came to mind when we read the phrase: “to come of age.” Some students said that what comes to mind would be when a person develops completely or when they reach a certain maturity. A person to reach a status of adulthood. Another student said that it is like a metaphor and a person coming of age.
The Double-Entry Journal:
A double-entry journal is a note-taking strategy for students when actively reading a text. Students can connect their own experiences to the characters, share opinions, track when there is character development, or comment on the writer’s choices that create the voice of the narrator.
Narrative Voice:
To start off the lesson, we first watched a video. NARRATIVE VOICE [2:50]
Narrative voice is the point of view that the story is being told in. There is first person, second
person, and third person. In first person POV, they use “I, mine, me, and we.” In second person POV, the words we would often use would be “you and yours.” Finally, in third person POV, it uses pronouns such as “he, she, it, hers, theirs, and his.”
Spirit Reading:
In the following scene from Speak, the narrator, Melinda, is dealing with a new experience: the first day of high school
Directions:
As you read, highlight quotes in the text that make you think; try to pay particular attention to diction (What word choices does the speaker make? Formal or informal?), imagery (What words and phrases include sensory details to create images?, and syntax (Are the sentences short, long, simple, complex?). Then, use the chart to write a variety of responses to the text.
From Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
1 I found my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.
2 I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.
3 The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.
4 I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast. There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.
5 The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.
6 Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.
7 I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no, Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding onto a football.
8 Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”
9 Me:
10 Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut.
11 Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”
12 Me:
13 It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.
14 Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”
Think/Pair/Share Breakout Rooms:
In these breakout rooms, we are asked to choose four quotes from “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson that stood out to us, and record our thoughts about the specific quote.
Then we exchange our answers with a partner on our documents and write down our responses to each other’s comments.
“Did you see things the same way or differently? Why?”
One quote that I chose was “All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.” This quote really stood out to me when I first saw it is because television compared to reality are different. The quote makes me think of a life lesson that everyone always expresses and talks about. That life lesson is the fact that life is not what meets the eye and is a lot more unfair and cruel than one would think. On the television, life seems perfect and everyone seems so happy, but that is not what life is at all, and this highlights that extremely well.
After sharing your responses on your partners and your own document, we worked on our individual activity
Individual Activity:
Anderson was 38 years old when Speak was published, yet she captures a teen girl’s voice through her diction, syntax, and imagery. To explore how, choose three “quotes” you think sound particularly authentic to a teen’s voice and respond to the following “2” bullets:
Does Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue seem authentic? Why or why not?
What inferences can students draw based on her voice? From her voicelessness?
A quote that I chose was “There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags-” I feel like Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue doesn’t seem authentic for this quote because in society, most teens and young adults are more obsessed with their reputation and first impressions to others that they will do whatever they have to to fit those standards. Brown bags, it is something that is under standard now even though that it is something that can be very resourceful, but to people, it is not something they want other people to see them using. Students want to feel like they fit in, or belong with the others in order to make friends, because if they can’t make friends, it could ruin how others see them.
Reflection:
Through today’s lesson, this lesson taught me what a double-entry journal was. In addition, the importance of diction, syntax and imagery to help us express our ideas clearly in a more professional way. It helps with understanding the author's tone and their ideas. I will apply this knowledge I have gained for anytime in the future when needed to improve my writing.
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