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Lesson 7

We will discuss Chapter 15 in Friday Night Lights as a class, as this chapter highlights the concept value of sports and emphasizes how the citizens of Odessa and other communities see athletics. We will analyze how Bissinger portrays this viewpoint on the values expressed and how they impact the athletes of these schools. We will answer text-dependent questions that help us unpack Bissinger’s purpose in this chapter. Through a classroom discussion, we will synthesize the value of athletics with our analysis from previous readings.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I identify Bissinger’s claims, reasoning, and evidence used to develop arguments and explanations about values?

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

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

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger, Da Capo Press, 1990

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss – Write

We will create Word Maps for key terms from chapter 15 of Friday Night Lights that are important to comprehending the text. These terms are important to understanding this theme within the chapter.

The following terms are key to comprehending Chapter 15 in Friday Night Lights. Understanding the meaning of these terms will be beneficial as you analyze the text

With your group, create a Word Map for each of the following terms:

  • bureaucratic

  • constituency

  • anathema

  • abhorrent

  • travesty

Continue to practice defining vocabulary using context or by referencing sources such as a dictionary.

Activity 2: Discuss – Write

We will discuss chapter 15 and the symbolism of gary edwards’s algebra ii grade. We will answer and discuss text-dependent questions that focus on the language that Bissinger uses to develop a tone about his perspective on the values expressed in this chapter.

Review the guiding question for Chapter 15. Take a moment to discuss the question as a whole group.

  1. How is Gary Edwards’s Algebra II grade a symbol for Bissinger’s purposes for writing Friday Night Lights?

As a class, answer and discuss the following questions from the Section 4 Question Set:

  1. Reread this sentence from page 315. "But they had the swagger, the feelings of immunity and invincibility, the giddy laughter that came from riding on clouds and knowing that no one could ever touch them, ever get to them no matter what they did." What tone is Bissinger creating about the football players of Carter High? Is this the same tone as Permian? Why would he do this?

  2. Read the paragraph that begins at the end of page 316 ("The was a controversial policy in Texas…"). What is Bissinger’s perspective of the no-pass, no-play policy based on this paragraph? How do you know? What words does he use to develop his tone?

  3. Read this line from page 317. "It would have been wrong to say that the players’ behavior posed a constant challenge to authorities, because by their account authorities made no effort to stop them and in many cases protected them." What possible issues could this lesson about values cause players in their future lives?

  4. Reread the paragraph on page 319 that begins with, "Sometimes the Carter Cowboys…." Why would the coach’s speech not impact the players? Why would Bissinger include this paragraph?

  5. At the end of Part 1, consider this question and discuss with your group: Who does Bissinger seem to blame for the lack of academic success and the behavior of the students? Who is he sympathetic toward? How do you know?

  6. Throughout the first page of Part 2, how does Bissinger portray Will Bates? What language does he use to achieve this description?

  7. At the end of Part 2, can you support the claim that Bissinger is creating a humorous or sarcastic tone in Chapter 15? Explain by using evidence from the text.

  8. How does Bissinger support the claim that the Algebra II argument is actually about race and not football in Part 3 of Chapter 15?

Write down any key takeaways from the discussion in your Learning Log.

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will deconstruct and analyze mentor sentences from Friday Night Lights, focusing on the structure, style, grammar, and punctuation used by Bissinger to convey his tone and create mood. We will then use one of the sentences as a model, applying our understanding of the concepts we study and adding to our writing repertoire by mimicking the structure, style, grammar, and punctuation.

Step 1

Use a copy of the Working with Mentor Sentences Tool. Follow your teacher’s directions regarding grouping, materials, and which mentor sentences you will analyze from the Mentor Sentence Handout 4.

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 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 their structure, style, grammar, and punctuation. The specific content of your sentences is your choice. Be prepared to share your sentences with your peers.

Activity 4: Read

For homework, we will read chapter 16, the epilogue, and the afterword in Friday Night Lights. We will begin thinking about our response to the next lesson’s Section Diagnostic.

For homework, read and annotate Chapter 16, the epilogue, and the afterword in Friday Night Lights. Continue to analyze how the Bissinger uses language to illustrate his claims.

The next lesson is the Section Diagnostic. Begin thinking about how you would respond to the following questions, using evidence from the text:

  1. How does Bissinger convey his perspective about the values that are communicated through the athletic culture of Permian High School?

  2. How does Bissinger’s perspective compare to those of the authors of the other section texts?

  3. Based on your own experiences and those reflected in Bissinger’s text, what values do you think high school sports culture imparts? How are those reflected in American society?