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Lesson 1

We will explore potential pathways for our group research. We will read a section of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, discuss the ethical issues in the text, and decide which pathway the ethical issue should be placed in. We will identify significant text features and connections to other relevant texts and ideas.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas in the excerpt of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?

  • Can I analyze how an author’s perspective influences the position, purpose, and ideas of a text?

  • Can I actively focus my attention on collaborative tasks to explore pathways for the unit?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph,” excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, Crown Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC., 2011

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write

We will begin our exploration of each pathway by looking at the list of pathway terms and creating a collaborative list of associated ideas, topics, and definitions.

In looking at possible pathways for this unit, you have the option of studying one of the following topics with your group members:

  • environmental ethics

  • ethics in sports

  • ethics of identity and representation

  • ethics of social justice

  • biomedical ethics

Individually, write down two to three ideas or questions that come to mind when you see each of these topics.

Activity 2: Discuss – Write

We will share our initial thoughts on each pathway to create a collaborative list that represents the general sentiment of each term.

As each pathway is introduced by your teacher, share what you have written down.

After each pathway has been discussed, respond to the following questions:

  1. How did your thoughts on each of the pathway terms compare to those of your classmates?

  2. Initially, what term seemed the most appealing? Why?

  3. Did any of the information presented surprise you? Why?

Jot down interesting ideas from your peers, and keep these ideas to the side, as you will return to them in later activities.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

Together, we will read an excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in order to practice analyzing a text and make connections to the larger topic of ethics.

Turn to the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Individually, read and annotate the first three paragraphs.

While reading, note the detail the author adds. Highlight or underline any sentences that seem significant or that tell you more about the character of Henrietta Lacks.

Discuss your initial impressions of the passage with a partner.

Activity 4: Write

We will examine the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks more closely by answering several text-dependent questions.

Step 1

For this activity, you will be using an Analyzing Relationships Tool.

The Analyzing Relationships Tool supports and guides a process for identifying and analyzing how an author uses details in a text to create literary effects like mood or tone. You can use this tool to analyze how the author’s choices contribute to effects the text has on you as a reader and the meaning you find in the text. Using this tool usually begins with a guiding or text-specific question related to a literary element or device (e.g., setting, characterization, irony, figurative language). The tool can be used with both literary and informational texts, whenever you are analyzing the relationships among textual details.

Step 2

After discussing your initial impressions with a partner, respond to one of the following questions using a copy of the Analyzing Relationships Tool:

  1. Skloot tells us that the photograph’s "left corner [is] torn and patched together with tape." What does this detail tell us about the relationship between the author and this object?

  2. Skloot juxtaposes the youth of this woman with the "tumor growing inside her." How does this combination of positive and negative descriptions characterize Henrietta?

  3. Henrietta is described in a very detailed manner by Skloot, yet we are told that she has three possible names. How does this inclusion of information add to your understanding of her character?

  4. Skloot uses an em dash (—) several times in this passage. What is its purpose and effect? How would these sentences be different if the text following the em dashes were not included?

Discuss your completed tool with another group.

Activity 5: Discuss – Write

We will discuss how the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks relates to ethics and determine its proper pathway placement.

Review your responses from the initial activity in which you loosely defined each pathway. With a partner, decide which pathway best aligns with the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

After deciding which pathway best aligns with the excerpt, respond to the following questions:

  1. Why is this pathway the most appropriate?

  2. What ethical issues are apparent after reading the excerpt?

  3. Based on what you have read, would you like to further explore this topic?

Discuss your responses with a partner or as a class.

Activity 6: Read – Write – Discuss

We will look more closely at Skloot’s usage of the em dash (—) in order to understand its syntactical meaning and importance.

Refer to the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on the Dashes Mentor Paragraph Handout. Underline each sentence where an em dash (—) appears.

Em dashes appear when there is a break in the train of thought of a sentence, to set off a longer introductory or explanatory thought in a sentence, or to set off a list. Hyphens, on the other hand, join words to indicate that they have a combined meaning or to denote the division of a word at the end of a line (e.g., off-campus, load-bearing walls). With that in mind, respond to the following questions:

  1. Which definition of the em dash does Skloot seem to be repeating (denoting a break in the train of thought of a sentence, setting off a longer introductory or explanatory thought in a sentence, or setting off a list)?

  2. How does the em dash contribute to the overall meaning of the passage?

Looking at the following paragraph (which appears later in the excerpt), determine where Skloot would place em dashes, using what you have previously read as a guide.

Discuss with a partner why you decided to place your em dashes in the locations you chose.

Activity 7: Read – Write – Discuss

We will work with vocabulary in the excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

For this activity, you will use a Vocabulary Journal. You might use a Vocabulary in Context Tool for words you can decipher from the text; for others, you might use morphology to decipher the meaning, or a reference resource to check if your meaning is accurate.

Write down the words and definitions in your Vocabulary Journal. For each word, identify the vocabulary strategy (e.g., context, morphology, reference resource) you used to determine its meaning.