Lesson 8

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

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

Materials

Tools

• Alexander Hamilton: Mentor Sentence Handout

• Working with Mentor Sentences Tool

Editable Google Docs

• Working with Mentor Sentences Tool

Activity 1: Write

We will deconstruct and analyze mentor sentences from Hamilton: An American Musical.

Step 1

Lin-Manuel Miranda writes Hamilton: An American Musical in lyrics—poetic, typically brief, stanzas that express emotions or plot. The lyrics also often function as sentences, with a subject and a predicate. Consider these lyrics from "My Shot":

I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal

Tryin’ to reach my goal. My power of speech:

Unimpeachable.

What do you notice about how the lyrics are written?

Now, consider the lyrics as sentences:

I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal tryin’ to reach my goal. My power of speech: unimpeachable.

How is the sentence similar to the lyrics? How is the sentence different? How do we change lyrics into sentences?

You will analyze the lyrics for how they function as sentences in this lesson.

Step 2

Using the Working with Mentor Sentences Tool and the Mentor Sentence Handout, deconstruct and analyze mentor lyrics from Hamilton: An American Musical, focusing on the structure and style used by Miranda to convey tone, mood, and characterization.,

Use one of his lyrics as a model. First, convert the lyric into a sentence, with appropriate capitalization, and punctuation. Work through the following steps for each mentor lyric. Follow your teacher’s direction about grouping, materials, and mentor lyric choice.

Step 3

Read the lyrics aloud. Determine the meaning of any unfamiliar vocabulary using your vocabulary strategies. Then, determine what the sentence is saying, and paraphrase the sentence to convey its meaning based on your initial understanding.

Step 4

Deconstruct the whole into parts. Split the sentence up into parts as directed by your teacher; sometimes your teacher will give you the parts, and sometimes you will have to split the sentence on your own. Complete the following for each part:

• Determine the parts of speech and function.

• Note other observations about the part, such as examples of effective diction or changes in verb tense or point of view.

Step 5

Follow along as your teacher reviews the relevant grammatical terms and concepts of specific phrases and clauses, punctuation, syntax, mood, and tone.

Step 6

Analyze the concepts. Review, discuss, and revise your deconstruction notes. Then, respond to the following questions:

1. Which parts make up the main clause? The main clause is the main subject and predicate that expresses the central idea of the sentence. Write down the sentence, underlining the main clause.

2. How do the other parts of the sentence (e.g., phrases, clauses, modifiers) enhance the main clause?

3. How could you restructure this sentence so that it relays the same message to the reader? What is the impact of the different structures on your understanding?

4. What revisions need to be made to your initial paraphrasing now that you have increased your understanding of the sentence?

Step 7

Analyze mood, tone, and meaning. Discuss the following questions:

1. What mood does the author create in this sentence? How is this mood created?

2. What tone is conveyed by the author in this sentence? How is that tone conveyed?

3. What does this sentence contribute to the author’s ideas in the text? How does it expand your understanding of the text or author?

Step 8

Practice writing by using your analysis of the mentor sentence to craft a new sentence, revise one of your sentences in your Learning Log, or draft a sentence you plan to use on the Section Diagnostic. Mimic what Miranda does in terms of structure, style, grammar, and punctuation.