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Lesson 4

We will review our analysis of “Women and Men in Sports: Separate is Not Equal.” We will then read Part 2 of Chapter 9 of Friday Night Lights as a class and discuss text-dependent questions. We will analyze how Bissinger uses evidence and rhetoric to present his perspective on the values and political views of Odessa.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I evaluate the relevance and credibility of information, ideas, evidence, and reasoning presented in "Women and Men in Sports: Separate is Not Equal?”
  • Can I develop and clearly communicate meaningful and defensible claims that represent valid, evidence-based analysis of "Women and Men in Sports: Separate is Not Equal?”

  • Can I formulate and use questions to establish and deepen my understanding of Friday Night Lights and Bissinger’s use of language and rhetoric?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Women and Men in Sports: Separate is Not Equal,” Laura Pappano and Eileen McDonagh, The Christian Science Monitor, 2008
  • Tradebook
    • Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger, Da Capo Press, 1990

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write

We review our analysis of “Women And Men In Sports: Separate Is Not Equal” to respond to a prompt about the authors’ use of evidence to support a claim. We will draw on our experience evaluating claims from previous lessons to answer the prompt.

Review the Evaluating Ideas Tool you completed with your groups for the article "Women and Men in Sports: Separate is Not Equal." Review the authors’ claim you identified, the evidence you identified that supported the authors’ claim, and your analysis and evaluation of this evidence and claim.

In your Learning Log, respond to the following question:

  1. Did the authors effectively support their claims in "Women and Men in Sports: Separate is Not Equal?" Why or why not? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Your response should be a paragraph in length.

Activity 2: Discuss – Read

We will read part 2 of chapter 9 in Friday Night Lights and answer and discuss text-dependent questions. We will analyze how Bissinger uses evidence and rhetoric to develop his perspective on the values of odessa citizens.

Step 1

As a class, discuss the term rhetoric and how authors use rhetoric in their writing. Write down the term in your Vocabulary Journal.

Step 2

Read Part 2 of Chapter 9 in Friday Night Lights. As you are reading the chapter, annotate the text for examples of rhetoric Bissinger uses.

Step 3

As a class, answer and discuss the following text-dependent questions from the Section 3 Question Set:

  1. On page 199, in the third full paragraph, the author describes the crowd that welcomes George Bush, and states, "The country was perfect and unblemished on this day." What was the author’s intent with using this language? What can you infer about the author’s perspective?

  2. On page 200, the author states, "But beyond all that there was something in the air, an outpouring that seemed unusually powerful, almost desperate."Why does the author use the term desperate?

  3. On page 201, the author states, "The word came out with a sneering nastiness, as though he was spitting out a rancid piece of food." What is the author’s purpose for using this type of rhetoric when describing Bush’s attitude toward liberals?

  4. Beginning in the last paragraph of page 201 and continuing onto page 202, the author explains the financial situation in Texas and the Odessa citizens’ view of Bush and Reagan. What is Bissinger trying to get the reader to understand?

  5. What is the author’s tone in his description of the economy on page 204? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

  6. What is the platform of the groups like Odessans for Decency? Who created these groups? Why?

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will analyze a selection from chapter 9 and identify how the author uses rhetoric in the sentence to develop his perspective and tone.

Read the following from selection from Chapter 9:

“They liked George Bush in the same way they liked Ronald Reagan, not because of the type of America actually created for them but because of the type of America he so vividly imagined."

As a class, discuss how this sentence is an example of the author’s use of rhetoric to describe the people of Odessa.

  1. What is he saying about the people of Odessa?

  2. How does the structure of the sentence emphasize his meaning?

Activity 4: Read

We will read chapter 10 in Friday Night Lights for homework.

Read and annotate Chapter 10 in Friday Night Lights for homework, paying close attention to how Bissinger uses rhetoric to advance his perspective.

Be sure to write down 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.