Skip to Main Content

Lesson 2

We will continue our analysis of how the author uses symbolism and tone to explain his perspective in Friday Night Lights. We will also continue to discuss and analyze the role of race in high school athletics. By completing the Analyzing Relationships Tool, we will identify how Bissinger develops claims through his tone. Through reading and discussion of text-dependent questions, we will identify how race relations play a role in how the players of Permian see American society.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence from Friday Night Lights to demonstrate an understanding of it and develop claims about the author’s use of tone?

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among the tone and Bissinger’s perspective within Friday Night Lights?

  • Can I use connections among details, elements, and effects to make logical deductions about Bissinger’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in the text?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger, Da Capo Press, 1990
  • Unit Reader
    • “Unchecked, Unchallenged and Unabashed: Is Racism in High School Sports Being Tolerated?,” Ivey DeJesus, PA Media Group LLC, 2014

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will review the author’s use of symbolism in the first two parts of chapter 5. we will use the brainstorming activity from Lesson 1 and identify other symbols that are used to represent societal differences and add them to our list.

The author uses the symbol of the railroad tracks as a dividing line throughout the first two parts of Chapter 5. With a partner, discuss other symbols used to show division in cultures in American society. Respond to the following question:

  1. Are there symbols used to divide poverty and wealth? Genders? Cultures?

Share your thoughts with the class.

Activity 2: Discuss

We will continue our analysis of Bissinger’s use of symbolism and tone to support his perspective by answering and discussing text-dependent questions.

Answer and discuss the following text-dependent questions from the Section 2 Question Set:

  1. On page 108, what symbolism do you see in the first full paragraph?

  2. The author states Hurd "undertook the challenge of desegregating the schools and obliterating the boundary of the railroad tracks." What does he mean? What is the connection between the two? What is the tone in these sentences? Do you think this goal is possible?

  3. Consider the last line on page 108. How does Hurd’s observations about his employment opportunities fit with Bissinger’s tone regarding race relations? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

  4. Bissinger clearly details what each race does during one week in 1980. Explain the difference in what he highlights about what each race does that week, and what each race finds important. How does this fit into the narrative he has created about race relations?

  5. What is the significance of Ector High School to the Black community?

  6. What message do the events Bissinger describes on page 113 send to the Black football players? Do you think they noticed?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will finish reading chapter 5 and use an Analyzing Relationships Tool to analyze how Bissinger creates tone in the text.

Read and annotate Part 4 of Chapter 5, continuing to focus on Bissinger’s tone.

Use a copy of the Analyzing Relationships Tool to respond to the following question:

  1. How does Bissinger convey a suspicious tone regarding the true motivation for the desegregation of Odessa’s schools?

Activity 4: Write

We will complete an exit ticket to provide a quick analysis of chapter 5. we will write for five minutes to share our personal thoughts on Bissinger’s writing in chapter 5.

Take the remaining five minutes of class to respond to the following question in your Learning Log:

  1. Bissinger uses a negative tone to describe the race relations in Odessa in Chapter 5. Do you think he was fair in his analysis? Why or why not?

Once you have completed your response, turn in your Learning Log.

Activity 5: Read

For homework, we will do a first read of the article “unchecked, unchallenged, and unabashed: is racism in high school sports being tolerated?".

For homework, read and annotate the article "Unchecked, Unchallenged, and Unabashed: Is Racism in High School Sports Being Tolerated?". As you read, look for words and phrases that indicate the tone of the passage, which will help you determine the reader’s perspective and any indications of bias.

Write down any new or interesting words in your Vocabulary Journal.

Write down sentences that stand out to you as interesting or that represent a strong example of a particular concept you have learned in your Mentor Sentence Journal.