Skip to Main Content

Lesson 1

We will review the Central Question and Framing Questions and will continue to explore the question, “Who is Alexander Hamilton?” We will do this by listening to and closely reading the songs “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot” from Act 1 of Hamilton: An American Musical. We will then characterize Alexander Hamilton based on the descriptions in the musical’s songs.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I characterize Alexander Hamilton, using text evidence from the lyrics of “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot” to support my conclusions?

  • Can I identify Hamilton’s motivations and describe the people and key events that influenced his life?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, Grand Central, 2016

Optional

  • Multimedia
    • Hamilton, Thomas Kail, Walt Disney Studios, 2020

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will review the Central Question and framing questions.

Review the Central Question of the unit:

How do storytellers use primary sources?

Review the Framing Questions for this unit, particularly Questions 1, 2, and 4:

  1. How did Lin-Manuel Miranda interpret primary and secondary sources to create Hamilton: An American Musical?

  2. Who is Alexander Hamilton?

  3. How did Lin-Manuel Miranda interpret primary and secondary sources to create the character of Alexander Hamilton?

  4. How did Lin-Manuel Miranda interpret primary and secondary sources to portray Hamilton’s relationships?

  5. How does Lin-Manuel Miranda’s interpretation of Alexander Hamilton compare with the Hamilton revealed in the primary and secondary sources?

  6. Is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s interpretation of Hamilton’s character accurate?

  7. How important is it to be historically accurate when creating art that is based on a real person or event?

  8. How will I use primary and secondary sources to create an original work?

  9. How does the use of primary sources affect modern storytelling?

Review the previous entries in your Learning Log, reflect on what you learned over the previous section, and add new observations and inquiries, using the following guiding questions:

  1. Notice: What seems interesting or important?

  2. Think: What does it make me think about? What connections can I make?

  3. Wonder: What am I curious about?

Discuss with a partner how your understanding has evolved and your ideas about what this section entails and how this section will support your success on the Culminating Task.

Share your responses with the whole group.

Activity 2: View

We will rewatch the songs “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot” from the filmed stage production of Hamilton.

Rewatch the scenes for the songs "Alexander Hamilton" and "My Shot” from the filmed stage production of Hamilton.

While rewatching, add any additional observations, thoughts, and questions to your Act 1Notice and Wonder Note-Taking Tool

Activity 3: Read

We will closely read “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot.”

Step 1

Find your Act 1 Notice and Wonder Note-Taking Tool and look at what you wrote down for the songs "Alexander Hamilton" and "My Shot."

Use the Details column on the Character Note-Taking Tool to note important details about Hamilton, and use the Analysis column to analyze why those details are important, or what you can infer about Hamilton based on the details.

Step 2

Reread through the songs with the purpose of finding evidence that will help you make inferences about the character of Alexander Hamilton as he is seen in these two songs.

As you read, take notes using the following text-specific questions, which appear on the Section 2 Question Set:

“Alexander Hamilton”

  1. Based on the rest of the lyrics to “Alexander Hamilton,” what is the answer to the question posed in the first lines of the song?

  2. What conclusions can you draw about Alexander Hamilton based on the lyrics to the song, “Alexander Hamilton”? What lines from the song helped you draw that conclusion?

  3. How would you summarize the theme of this song?

“My Shot”

  1. Why does Miranda use the following comparison for Hamilton: “I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal Tryin’ to reach my goal”? What is the effect of this comparison?

  2. What is the effect of repeating “I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry” throughout the song?

  3. How would you summarize the theme of this song?

Activity 4: Discuss

We will share and discuss our inferences about the character of Alexander Hamilton.

Share the evidence you found on your Character Note-Taking Tool for Hamilton.

After sharing your evidence, discuss the analysis and inferences you made about the character of Alexander Hamilton based on these two songs.

Activity 5: Discuss

We will use our notes on the character Note-Taking Tool to form a claim about the motivations behind Alexander Hamilton’s actions and thoughts.

Step 1

Using details and analysis you noted on the Character Note-Taking Tool, write a claim regarding the motivations behind Hamilton’s actions and thoughts. Use a copy of the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool to guide your process.

Before completing the tool, consider the word motivation.

  1. What does motivation mean?

  2. Think about a choice you have made in school (e.g., regarding homework, a relationship with a friend, a club, etc.).

  3. Why did you make that choice?

  4. Did anyone or anything help to influence the decision you made? Who or what? How did the person or thing influence you?

Step 2

After the discussion, write a claim in response to the following question:

  1. What motivated Alexander Hamilton to do the things he did or think the way he did?

Step 3

Use the tool in the following way:

  1. Write down the guiding question in the space provided at the top. You might be assigned the guiding question by your teacher, it might come from a question set, or you might think of your own question. This question can help you focus your reading, or it might give your reading a specific purpose. It is likely to be a question that asks you to draw a conclusion that is factual, analytical, comparative, or evaluative in nature.

  2. As you read the text, pay attention to details that relate to the guiding question. Depending on how long the section of text is, you might find several examples. You can use the Attend to Details row to write down the details that most strongly relate to the guiding question. This helps you narrow down the most supportable or most relevant details that connect to the question. Do not forget to include page numbers. You might have to come back later to get exact quotes or more clarity.

  3. In the Analyze the Details row, show your thinking. Doing so can help you ensure there is a clear connection among the details you identified, your analysis, and the guiding question.

  4. In the third row, Explain Connections, show your thinking about how the details connect to each other. Do the facts and information, taken together, lead to a conclusion? Are they details from a narrative that help you analyze a character? Are they indicators of an author’s perspective that you intend to support or refute?

  5. In the final row, form and express a claim. Look back over the tool and consider the guiding question, the details, and how they connect to each other. The conclusion you have drawn based on your analysis of the details in the previous rows should become your claim. Communicate that claim in a clear, direct sentence.

Step 4

To review and revise your claim, read it and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Is the claim clearly stated?

  2. Does the claim communicate your opinion or conclusion about your character?

  3. Is the claim based on evidence that you gathered from the text?

  4. Is the claim supported by evidence?

If you answered "no" to any of the questions, think about how you might revise your claim.

Activity 6: Read

We will research the sources Lin-Manuel Miranda used when he was writing Hamilton: an American musical.

Step 1

You have read, listened to, and summarized Hamilton: An American Musical.

Now, go on a fact-finding mission to understand Miranda’s motivations for writing the musical and the sources he used to do so, using a copy of the Research Note-Taking Tool to help you take notes.

Write the following guiding questions at the top of the tool and use them to help you search for sources:

  1. What motivated Lin-Manuel Miranda to write Hamilton: An American Musical?

  2. What sources and research did he do while writing?

Step 2

When researching Miranda’s sources and motivations, be sure to use sources that are accessible, relevant, and credible. Review the Assessing Sources Reference Guide for guiding questions you can use as you research sources.

Finish the fact-finding for homework if not completed in class.