Day Six: Back at Clongowes

 

 

What’s on For Today and Why

 

Today, the students will get back into the swing of reading for homework.  They have been working on their WebQuest assignments for a couple of days, and to ease them back into the novel, some of the next section of the novel will be read aloud in class.  This will give the class a chance to make sure they are all up to speed on the plot and they can move forward together in the reading.

 

 

What to Do

 

1.  Homework Review

 

The essays from the WebQuest assignment will be collected.  If time permits, some of the opening paragraphs will be read aloud.

 

2.   Read Around

 

This section of Portrait begins with Stephen back at school with his friends.  The boys are gossiping about some of the other boys getting in trouble.  Students will be asked to stand up in a circle and read the lines around, taking turns at each speaker change in the dialogue.  Then students will be asked:  What do you think is going on here?  What did the boys do to get in trouble?

Try the read around one more time, but this time one student will be the narrator of Stephen’s thoughts, reading only the text not marked off as dialogue.  After this second read around, ask the students:  What changes when we know what Stephen is thinking?  How does Stephen feel about what the other boys are saying?  Does Stephen actually say anything out loud?

 

3.  Setting Up the Trial

 

After the read around exercise has been complete, it is time to set the class up for tomorrow.  Tell the class that there will be a trial in tomorrow’s class and they will need to carefully read the remainder of the section.  Divide the class into two groups.  Explain that one half of the class is going to be the prosecution (on Stephen’s side), and the rest of the class will have to defend Father Dolan.

 

4.  Homework

 

For homework tonight, the students will read pages 50-69 of Portrait.  Tell the students to write one paragraph in against or in defense of Father Dolan, depending on their group, in preparation for tomorrow’s trial.  Along with the paragraph, ask the students to come up with one question that they would like to ask the other side during the trial.  Also, remind students of their word tracking responsibilities.

 

 

How Did it Go?

 

Did every student get a chance to read?  Did the students have some insight into Stephen’s character and his thoughts? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Seven: Authority on Trial

 

What’s on For Today and Why

 

Today, students will have the opportunity to put a character form the novel on trial.  This classroom court case will give students a chance to evaluate the characters of Father Dolan, Stephen, Father Arnall, and the rector.  Through this process, students will have to take a close look at the text to find the circumstances under which Stephen was beaten bay Father Dolan, to see what Father Arnall’s reaction to the incident was, to recognize what steps Stephen took, and review the decision of the rector.  The process of a trial will give enable the students to do a close analysis of these characters.

 

 

What to Do

 

1.  Defense and Prosecution

 

Before you begin, ask for volunteers to be a judge, and others to play the parts of Stephen, Father Dolan, Father Arnall, and the rector.  Once these characters have been established, break the students up into the defense/prosecution sides that were assigned the day before.  Have “Stephen” join the prosecution, “Father Dolan” join the defense, and instruct the judge, “Father Arnall” and “the rector” consult with both sides.  With their homework assignment, have each group come up with an opening argument, and a couple of questions for their client, for cross examination, and a couple of questions for Father Arnall and the rector.

After about 15 minutes, each side will select a speaker to give their opening statements.  Have the judge mediate between the two sides.  Once the statements have been given, the each side will be able to have their client tell their side of the story.  Cross-examinations can take place while each character is on the stand.  Make sure the judge is able to control the speakers (i.e. giving both sides equal turns).  After the four characters have been put on the stand, the class as a whole will become the jury.  Each student will get a vote:  Was Father Dolan justified in his beating of Stephen?  

 

2.  Back to the Map

 

Once a verdict has been reached, have the students take out their character maps and individually have them answer the final question on the map:  Was Stephen a hero at the end of the chapter?

 

 

 

 

3.  Homework

 

Now that Chapter One of the novel has been completed, have the students switch word tracking assignments.  Give a new log sheet for tonight’s reading.  Also, give out a new map for this chapter.  This map will have less information that the first one did, but it will ask questions to direct student reading.  Have students read pages 70-82 of Portrait and instruct them to fill in as much information as they can on the map.  

 

 

How Did it Go?

 

Did the students:

 

• Give opening arguments that reflected the text?
• Ask questions that could be answered with evidence form the text?
• Explain the events of the last section of the chapter in their trial?
• Attribute qualities to the characters that could be supported by the text?

 

If the answers to these questions are mostly “yes,” then the lesson was successful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Eight: Maturing Narrative

 

What’s on For Today and Why

 

For the past few days, the students, through performance exercises, have done close readings of the text.  These performances have allowed students to examine political issues, play with dialogue, and do character analysis.  For this lesson, students will return their focus to the narrative, as was done with the opening of the novel.  Through the imagery used in this chapter, students will be able to identify a shift in the narrative technique.   As the novel progresses, there is a shift from child-like sensory reactions to outside actions to a more mature type of narrative.  Through identification of imagery, students will be able to recognize the narrative shift inside Stephen’s mind.

 

 

What to Do

 

1.  Homework Review

 

Teacher will check to make sure that students have added something to their map.  During this time, students will be able to share the information they have added to their map with the class as well as make additions to their own map from the information shared. 

 

2.  The Poetry of Stephen’s Mind

 

Now that the students have discussed the plot through the map exercise, a new activity will be introduced to shift the focus back to the narrative technique.  Student will work individually on different segments of the text.  Approximately every five to students will receive the same paragraph (handouts) taken from the first two episodes of Chapter Two.  First, the students will have about five minutes to read through the text and underline the descriptive words in the passage. 

            Then the students will do and exercise in found poetry.  Using only the words in the text, students will create a poem.  Encourage students to focus on words that create imagery and not to focus on the plot.  Once the class has completed their poems, each student will read their work aloud.

 

3.  Discussion Groups

 

After all of the poems have been read, students will break into groups of four.  The following questions will be written on the blackboard to guide student conversation about the narrative technique:  What kinds of images arise in this chapter?  Which character is creating these images?  How is the language in this chapter different from the language in the first chapter?  Why do you think it changed? After about ten minutes, the groups will share their analysis with the class.

 

4.  Homework

 

For homework, students will read pages 82-95 of Portrait and fill in the next section of their map. 

 

 

How Did it Go?

 

• Were the students able to identify the imagery in the text?
• Did the students create poems that reflected imagery and not plot?
• Were the students able to identify whose thoughts they were reading?
• Were the students able to recognize that the narrative had matured since the beginning of the novel?

 

If the students were able to have discussion that touched on these points, then the lesson was successful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Nine: Animal Imagery

 

What’s on for Today and Why

 

In order to familiarize students with a transformation that the main character will undergo in the next section of reading, an exercise in animal imagery will be done during class.  This exercise will enable students to recognize the metaphors Joyce uses in describing Stephen’s lust.  This lesson will also provide some foundation for an essay that will be written over the weekend.

 

 

What to Do

 

1.  Homework Review

 

Teacher will check to make sure that students have added something to their map.  During this time, students will be able to share the information they have added to their map with the class as well as make additions to their own map from the information shared. 

 

2.  Question and Answer Session

 

Once again, students will have the opportunity to ask questions about what they have read so far.  Students will be broken up into groups of four.  In these groups, students will discuss what they have read, and see if they are able to answer each other’s questions for about ten minutes.  Then they will be able to make a list of the questions for which they could find no answer.  Each group will then be able to share these questions with the class and the teacher.  Discussion of these questions will help to clarify the text so far.

 

3.  The Animal in the Poetry

 

Have students break into four groups.  Each group will receive a paragraph of the text in poem form.  Working in these groups, have students quietly perform the read around exercise that has been previously done with the whole class. 

            Once they have done at least one read around session, have the students pull out all of the animal imagery and depictions of animal lust that they can find in their poems.  After they have completed this exercise, each group will read their piece of text aloud and point out the imagery they found to the class. 

 

4.  Homework

 

For homework, students will read the final pages of Chapter Two, pages 95-109 of Portrait.  Tell the class they must complete their maps for this chapter.

How Did it Go?

 

• Were the students able to come up with insightful questions about the text?
• Did the students include important and relevant information from the text on their maps?

 

If so, then the class understands the text.  They are able to interpret the language of the text and put it into their own terms.

 

·        Were the students able to recognize the animal imagery in their passages?

 

If yes, then the class is becoming prepared to write their next essay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Ten:  Stephen and the Minotaur

 

 

What’s on for Today and Why?

 

During yesterday’s class, students (unknowingly) read the last segment of Chapter 2.  In this segment, Stephen is overcome by feelings of lust.  Joyce, as we found yesterday, uses animal imagery to describe Stephen in this state.  Now that students have become familiar with this imagery, students will apply yesterday’s work to the idea of allusion in Portrait.

 

 

What to Do

 

1.  Rotating Map Groups

 

Before the class proceeds with their reading, it is important for the students to clarify the events that have taken place thus far in the novel.  To do this, students will finalize the information on their maps.  First, students will work in groups of four to discuss their maps.  After about ten minutes, two students from each group will move to the next group.  This will allow for ideas to be shared between groups.  Give students about five minutes to compare notes.  Have students rotate groups at least one more time before reviewing as a class.

 

2.      Read Around

 

Now that Chapter Two has been well outlined, it is time have the students think more critically about the text they are reading.  Earlier in this unit, students were introduced to the definition of literary allusion.  Remind students of this term while distributing copies of the myth of the Minotaur.  Have the class do a read around session with this myth.  After the class has read through the text, ask them to think about the Minotaur.  What kind of a character is the Minotaur?

 

3.      Homework

 

Students will have the weekend to write an essay comparing Stephen at the end of Chapter Two to the Minotaur.  Tell students to think about the animal imagery they found in the poetry exercise during yesterday’s class.  Also, have students read pages 110-116 of Portrait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Did it Go?

 

Were the students upset with you for ruining the end of the chapter during class the day before? If they gave you a hard time about the poetry preview from the day before, then the class is hooked.  That would be real success. 

If the students were able to finalize most of the maps on their own (without the teacher) then they understand the text.