Skip to Main Content

Lesson 1

We will be introduced to the text Beloved, the Central Question, and the Section Diagnostic. We will read, discuss and unpack the first few pages from Beloved to introduce Toni Morrison’s style of writing, focusing on the setting, word choice, and syntax.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I establish a purpose for reading Beloved?

  • Can I analyze how the behaviors and underlying motivations of 124, Sethe, Baby Suggs, and Denver contribute to moral dilemmas that influence the plot and theme of Beloved?

  • Can I analyze American literature by reading Beloved?

  • Can I evaluate how Morrison’s use of language shapes readers’ perceptions of Beloved?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Beloved, Toni Morrison, Vintage Books, 2004

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss – Write

We will discuss the unit’s Central Question and each student will make a personal connection to it by completing a quick-write in our Learning Log.

Review the Central Question of the unit:

In what ways does a person’s past have power over their present?

Use the following questions to guide a discussion with a partner or small group:

  1. What is the Central Question asking?

  2. What might you already know in relation to the Central Question?

  3. What about the question piques your curiosity?

  4. How do you think this question relates to the texts or topic of the unit?

  5. If you were to provide an answer to the Central Question today, what would it be?

In your Learning Log, write a response to Question 5. You will return to this initial response in later lessons to examine how your understanding of the Central Question has evolved.

Activity 2: Read

We will review the Unit Text List to familiarize ourselves with the texts we will analyze and discuss throughout the unit.

Step 1

Review the Unit Text List. Note the information that is included about each text. These texts are also listed in the activities in which they appear, under the Materials and Texts tabs. Each text has an icon by it; these indicate where the text is located, which corresponds to the Location column in the Unit Text List.

Text locations:

  • Tradebook: These texts are full-length novels or nonfiction books you will most likely have copies of.

  • Digital Access: You can find these texts online. Use the information provided in the Unit Text List or on the Texts tab for the activity to conduct a web search for the resource. Digital Access resources include online articles, videos, podcasts, and other web sources.

  • PDF Texts: These are formatted PDFs of texts that are available for download on the Materials tab.

  • CD/DVD: This material is available on a CD or DVD. These materials might also be available through online content providers.

Step 2

Review the Independent Reading Text Options. Here, you will find suggested options for independent reading related to the unit.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will read and analyze the Culminating Task to identify the specific knowledge we are expected to learn throughout the unit and the specific skills we will need in order to be successful on the Culminating Task.

Step 1

Individually, review the Culminating Task Checklist, using the following guiding questions:

  1. What is the focus of the Culminating Task? What does the task ask you to do?

  2. What questions do you have about the Culminating Task?

Step 2

In a small group, discuss the following questions:

  1. Knowledge: What do I need to know to succeed on the Culminating Task?

  2. Skills: What skills do I need to succeed on the Culminating Task?

Use the Culminating Task Progress Tracker to note what you need to know and do to succeed on the Culminating Task. For each type of knowledge and skill identified, assess how prepared you are.

You will revisit the Culminating Task Progress Tracker and continue to build your understanding as you move through the unit. Throughout the unit, you will have an opportunity to begin working on the Culminating Task by creating narrative vignettes in the Section Diagnostics. You might select a main character from a set of curated photos or images provided by your teacher.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss – Write

We will read the opening paragraph of Beloved and use guiding questions to establish an opening impression of the author’s style and subject of the novel.

Step 1

Listen as your teacher or one of your peers reads aloud the first page of Beloved. As you follow along in your text, think about your first impressions:

  1. What is unusual about the opening?

  2. In what ways do you find Morrison’s use of language interesting or unusual?

Discuss your responses to your initial reading of the opening paragraph and the guided questions provided above.

Step 2

Individually, read this page again and respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. How does Morrison’s use of language establish the setting? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

  2. What do you notice about the syntax? Why might Morrison have started the story with two short sentences?

  3. Which words or phrases stand out to you as powerful or important? What impact do they have on you as a reader?

Activity 5: Read – Write

We will learn to use the character Note-Taking Tool to begin analyzing characters in the novel and read pages 4–7.

Step 1

Follow along as your teacher introduces the Character Note-Taking Tool. You will use this tool throughout your reading of the novel to write down key textual evidence about each of its major characters and your interpretations of that evidence.

Step 2

Working alone or with a partner, write down “124,” the house, in the Character section on the top of a Character Note-Taking Tool. You will be able to add information to the other two sections, Role in the Narrative and Key Chapters, Scenes, Events as you learn more about 124.

Next, write down two examples of what you have learned about 124, on the Character Note-Taking Tool. Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text to support your assertions.

In the Details column, write down a quote from page 3 that gives insight about 124. Summarize your interpretation of this quote in the Analysis column. In the Type of Detail column, indicate how you learned what you did. Be sure to always include a page number reference in the first column of the tool.

Step 3

Read pages 4-7 individually. Stop on page 7 with the sentence that ends in "she could not forgive her memory for that." As you read, you use a separate Character Note-Taking Tool to track each of the following characters:

  1. 124

  2. Sethe

  3. Baby Suggs

  4. Denver

Use the following questions to help guide your reading about each of the characters:

  1. How do we come to know the characters? How are they introduced and developed?

  2. What do the characters’ words and dialogue reveal about them?

  3. On page 6, Baby Suggs says, "What’d be the point [of moving?] …Not a house in this country ain’t packed to the rafters with some dead Negro’s grief. We lucky this ghost is a baby" (p. 6). What does this suggest?

  4. Why do you think Denver tells Paul D. about the ghost on page 15?

Discuss as a class some of the important details about each of the characters and what they tell us about each character.

Activity 6: Write

We will begin working with vocabulary words and adding to our Vocabulary Journals.

Step 1

For this activity, you will use a Vocabulary Journal, which you will maintain for the entire unit. 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 you might use a reference resource to check if your meaning is accurate. For some words, your teacher might present you with definitions.

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

Step 2

Work with a partner or group to respond to the vocabulary exercises, as directed by your teacher.

Activity 7: Read – Write

For homework, we will read pages 7–23 and utilize the character Note-Taking Tool to track main characters.

Read pages 7-23 for homework (beginning with "When the last chamomile was gone" and until the end of the chapter). Use the Character Note-Taking Tool to complete at least two entries for each of the following characters:

  1. 124

  2. Sethe

  3. Denver

  4. Paul D.

Use the following questions to guide your reading:

  1. How do we come to know the characters? How are they introduced and developed?

  2. What do the characters’ actions and reactions reveal about them?

  3. What evidence from the text supports these conclusions?