Units 4 & 5 - Long Fiction (40 Hours)
GOALS:
By the end of this unit you will be able to
(1) extend your understanding of how a novel's themes and characterizations are developed using The House On Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros as the literary text;
(2) communicate orally and in writing, rich and increasingly insightful connections between the ideas in fictional texts and personal knowledge, experience, and insights; other texts; and the world around you
(3) Identify a variety of textual features in a dramatic play, and demonstrate insight into the way stage dialogue, stage action and direction communicate meaning;
(4) analyse a play text in terms of the information, ideas, issues, and themes it explores, examining how various aspects of the play contributes to the presentation or development of these elements.
The lessons in the Novel Unit are devoted to the classic The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros. It is one of those rare novels that can be read by people of all ages. This novel has been read and studied in classrooms from grade school to high school to universities all around the world. It has been translated into multiple languages, and it has been a best seller since 1984 when it was first published.
The House on Mango Street is the semi-autobiographical story of a young Latina girl named Esperanza growing up in poverty in Chicago, USA in the 1980s. The book is only 110 pages long with 44 chapters known as vignettes - brief verbal portraits - yet the male and female characters Cisneros brings to life, and the settings, plots and themes she weaves into this powerful story will give every student in this course a great deal to reflect on and analyze.
Discussion Forums, oral discussions, and assessments will be integrated into lesson plans. Assessments 'OF LEARNING' of this unit will be graded and applied towards a final course mark.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a popular and frequently performed classic play. It focuses on the characters of Walter and Ruth Younger and their struggle with deciding what to do with an inheritance; the family also deal with racism, housing discrimination, and assimilation. It is a story about family and gender roles, marriage and relationships and the everyday struggles that black characters face within their lives, families, relationships and society.
Discussion Forums, oral discussions and assessments will be integrated into each lesson plan. Ongoing For/AS Learning Assessments on the literary elements will be part of this unit.
Students to post their questions here.