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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • identify patterns in the narrative.
  • understand how McLaurin used specific patterns to achieve focus and organization.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

Pre-activities

Students should read the piece once before starting the activity below.

As a class, decide what McLaurin’s purpose(s) was for writing the narrative. Write it (them) on board. “During today’s activity, we are going to identify thematic and organizational patterns in McLaurin’s writing to see how he organized his narrative and kept his writing focused.”

Activities

Modeling/Mini-lesson

  1. Tell students that they will be learning how to identify two kinds of patterns in a piece of writing: thematic patterns and organizational patterns. At the bottom of the transparency of the narrative, create a legend. For example, the author makes numerous references to nature. You could make a box, color it in with a green pencil, and label it “nature.” Then, every time you saw this pattern in the text, you would mark it green. (Other patterns include, for example, nature vs. city; ritual; past/present/future; figurative language; rooms in house).

  2. After the list is completed, ask students to star or circle those patterns that influenced the way the narrative was organized or helped the writer maintain his focus.

  3. As a class, choose one of the patterns that influenced organization and purpose. Then complete the outline below.

Examples of Pattern in Text

Purpose/Effect of Pattern
(What did it help the author do or achieve focus or organization?)

The title, “The Rite Time of Night”

“I go through this ritual (closing up the house) every night.”

Allowed writer to tie his life to that of his parents; he says they are similar but also different. This idea relates to the last line of the narrative where the author states his purpose: “A father should not be faulted for wanting to visit upon his children the morning coo of doves, if at the same time he provides them the tools to build the foundations of their own lives.”

“My parents followed a similar ritual.”

“I check the children next.”

Led toward the organization of his thoughts. As he walks into a room he discusses that place, the people in it, and the memories it triggers.

Guided Practice

  1. As students read the narrative a second time, they should color-code other patterns found in the narrative. A pattern can be defined as any item that appears more than twice. (Other patterns include, for example, nature vs. city; ritual; past/present/future; figurative language; rooms in house).

  2. When the students are finished, the teacher should list all the thematic patterns the students found on a piece of paper or overhead. Let students know that it is ok to name the same pattern differently. The teacher should also note that some answers/patterns will be very simplistic while other responses may be complex. Do not censor what is shared but ask students to give examples of where their identified pattern appears in the text.

  3. Have students complete a two-column chart on one of the identified patterns and share their charts with a small group of students who completed a chart on the same pattern.

Follow-up activities

Use similar organizational structures as McLaurin’s to help students write their own narratives:

  • Organize a story as if you were moving from place to place, room to room, person to person, or item to item. As you reach each place, person, or item what does it tell you about the traveler? Each room, for example, could symbolize a different aspect of the traveler’s personality.

  • Pick a common ritual or perhaps one personal to your family. As the details of the ritual are explained, intersperse the writer’s thoughts about what is happening?like objective reality vs. internal monologue.

  • Have the details of a place or person trigger a childhood memory. Describe the place in the present as the introduction and then flashback to the past.

Assessment

  • Was the student able to find at least three patterns in the narrative?

  • Was the student able to contribute/understand the analysis of a selected pattern?

Supplemental information

Comments

Development of this lesson plan was made possible by a grant from the North Caroliniana Society for the 2002 North Carolina Literary Festival.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 9

  • Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
    • Objective 5.01: Read and analyze various literary works by:
      • using effective reading strategies for preparation, engagement, reflection.
      • recognizing and analyzing the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction (e.g., myths, legends, short stories, novels), non-fiction (e.g., essays, biographies, autobiographies, historical documents), poetry (e.g., epics, sonnets, lyric poetry, ballads) and drama (e.g., tragedy, comedy).
      • interpreting literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, dialogue, diction, and imagery.
      • understanding the importance of tone, mood, diction, and style.
      • explaining and interpreting archetypal characters, themes, settings.
      • explaining how point of view is developed and its effect on literary texts.
      • determining a character's traits from his/her actions, speech, appearance, or what others say about him or her.
      • explaining how the writer creates character, setting, motif, theme, and other elements.
      • making thematic connections among literary texts and media and contemporary issues.
      • understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.
      • producing creative responses that follow the conventions of a specific genre and using appropriate literary devices for that genre.

Grade 10

  • Goal 4: The learner will critically interpret and evaluate experiences, literature, language, and ideas.
    • Objective 4.03: Analyze the ideas of others by identifying the ways in which writers:
      • introduce and develop a main idea.
      • choose and incorporate significant, supporting, relevant details.
      • relate the structure/organization to the ideas.
      • use effective word choice as a basis for coherence.
      • achieve a sense of completeness and closure.

Grade 11

  • Goal 4: The learner will critically analyze text to gain meaning, develop thematic connections, and synthesize ideas.
    • Objective 4.01: Interpret meaning for an audience by:
      - examining the functions and the effects of narrative strategies such as plot, conflict, suspense, point of view, characterization, and dialogue.
      - interpreting the effect of figures of speech (e.g., personification, oxymoron) and the effect of devices of sound (e.g., alliteration, onomatopoeia).
      - analyzing stylistic features such as word choice and links between sense and sound.
      - identifying ambiguity, contradiction, irony, parody, and satire.
      - demonstrating how literary works reflect the culture that shaped them.

  • Common Core State Standards
    • English Language Arts (2010)
      • Language

        • Grade 11-12
          • 11-12.L.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. 11-12.L.5.1 Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole, paradox) in context and analyze their role in the text. 11-12.L.5.2 Analyze nuances in the...
        • Grade 9-10
          • 9-10.L.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. 9-10.L.5.1 Interpret figures of speech (e.g., euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyze their role in the text. 9-10.L.5.2 Analyze nuances in the...
      • Reading: Literature

        • Grade 11-12
          • 11-12.RL.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
          • 11-12.RL.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
          • 11-12.RL.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly...
        • Grade 9-10
          • 9-10.RL.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
          • 9-10.RL.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
          • 9-10.RL.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...