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Lesson 8

We will analyze Rebecca Skloot’s structure, her representation of key persons, and how she creates mood in the text. We will complete a mentor sentence exercise and prepare for our response to the Section Diagnostic.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I evaluate the effects of mood in a text?

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among the uses of structure within the text?

  • Can I explain why mentor sentences are powerful and how I might emulate them in my own writing?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, Crown Publishing Group, 2010

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write – Discuss

We analyze the structure of chapter 9, using guiding questions.

Review the terms related to structure in the Author CraftNote-Taking Tool. Individually, answer the guiding questions below in your Learning Log. Be sure to refer to the text and include details from the text to support your answers.

  1. What type of structure best describes Chapter 9? Explain.

  2. What is the effect of this chapter? What purpose does it serve?

  3. What do you notice about the writer’s attitude toward the subject? Toward the reader?

  4. How does the structure of Chapter 9 compare to Chapter 8? Chapter 7?

  5. What important details about the topics or important persons are included?

Share your answers with your group members and pick one answer to share with the class. During the discussion, add and modify your answers as you deepen your understanding about the structure of the text.

Activity 2: Read – Write – Discuss

We will complete an analysis of cootie, a key person in the text, to examine how he is represented by Skloot.

Review your annotations and notes in your Learning Log regarding Cootie. Individually, answer the guiding questions from the Representation of Key Persons section on the Author CraftNote-Taking Tool. Be sure to explain your answer using evidence when appropriate.

Once you complete the answers, share them with your group. Add and revise your answers as you deepen your understanding. You will use this information in an upcoming activity.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We analyze how Rebecca Skloot creates mood in a chapter by completing a close analysis of the text.

Step 1

As a class, review the literary concept mood.

Divide Chapter 10 into equal parts with your group. Each member should individually reread their section of the chapter and pick out two sentences that capture the mood in that section. Write down your findings in your Learning Log. Write down the complete sentences from the text to get a good feel of Skloot’s style.

Step 2

Read your sentences aloud to the group. After all of the sentences have been read, discuss how each sentence adds to the overall mood. Take notes in your Learning Log as you discuss the mood of the chapter.

Individually, write a one-sentence summary of the mood, including evidence and analysis from the text.

You might use the following sentence frame:

The depiction of _____ and _____ creates a _____ mood in Chapter 10 because _____.

Share your sentences with your group members and pick one sentence to share with the class. During the discussion, add to or modify your sentence as you deepen your understanding of the text.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss – Writewrite

We will review some key vocabulary from chapters 9–11 that is content-specific or challenging. We will pay attention to word use and meaning in the text’s context. We will also write down important terms in our Vocabulary Journals, so that we can refer to them later in the unit.

Step 1

Working as a whole group, review the Vocabulary List from Chapters 9-11 of the text. Assign each member a set of words from the list to define. Individually, locate the words as they are used in the text, using the provided page number, and consider the following questions for each:

  1. What is the meaning of this word?

  2. What strategy did you use to determine the meaning (context, morphology, reference resource)?

  3. How is its meaning important to the text?

You might use the Vocabulary in ContextTool to assist you.

Step 2

Discuss your assigned words with your group.

Write down the group’s words and definitions in your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 5: Read – Discuss – Write

We will discuss and analyze Skloot’s sentences, analyzing the diction and sentence structure. Then, we will write sentences that mimic her structure, style, grammar, and punctuation.

Step 1

Reading like a writer involves studying how an author writes and determining why the author makes specific writing choices at the paragraph and sentence level. Understanding what those writing choices mean and deconstructing how the author made those choices can help you emulate those choices in your own writing practice and diversify your range of writing strategies.

Follow your teacher’s direction regarding grouping, materials, and which mentor sentences you will analyze. Use the Working with Mentor Sentences Tool to work through the following steps for each mentor sentence:

Step 2

Read the sentence aloud. Unpack 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 3

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 4

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

Step 5

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 6

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 7

Follow your teacher’s directions about choosing one or two mentor sentences to mimic. Use your deconstruction analysis of your chosen sentences to write your own, mimicking what the author does in terms of structure, style, grammar, and punctuation. The specific content of your sentences is your choice. Be prepared to share your sentences with your peers.

Activity 6: Write

For homework, we will review the section 1 diagnostic checklist and prepare for the diagnostic by synthesizing our notes on the Author Craft Note-Taking Tool.

Examine the Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist.

Review your notes from your Learning Log for Chapter 7-11 about figurative language, tone, structure, representation, mood, syntax, and central ideas. Highlight evidence and insightful analysis from the text. Transfer the evidence into your Author CraftNote-Taking Tool. Make sure you have examples from each topic and label each quotation, using the list of terms on the tool.

Use the Framing Questions to analyze your evidence to deepen your understanding of the text. You will use the evidence and the analysis to complete the Section Diagnostic in the next lesson.