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Lesson 3

We will discuss a statement Toni Morrison makes about her authorial intent when writing Beloved. We will analyze and discuss characterization and point of view, ultimately becoming experts on at least one character. We will form an evidence-based claim about a character of our choosing, and we will each write a short paragraph that explains and supports our claim.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I participate in a jigsaw activity, offering ideas, asking relevant and insightful questions, and tolerating a range of positions?

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

  • Can I analyze relationships among thematic development, characterization, point of view, and plot in Beloved?

  • Can I form an evidence-based claim for my Section 1 Diagnostic draft in preparation for writing a focused, structured, and coherent response that effectively uses details, examples, and commentary?

Texts

Core

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

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will read and discuss an excerpt from the forward of Beloved where Morrison discusses her authorial intent when writing Beloved.

In the forward of Beloved, Morrison states, "I wanted the reader to be kidnapped, thrown ruthlessly into an alien environment, as the first step into a shared experience with the book’s population—just as the characters were snatched from one place to another, from any place to any other, without preparation or defense" (p. xviii).

With a partner, share your thoughts on this statement. Without looking at your notes, consider the following questions:

  1. What parts of the novel, or which characters, immediately come to mind as you process the excerpt?

  2. How does this forward help you better understand the novel’s structure, plot, and characters?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

In a jigsaw, we will begin to analyze and discuss characterization and point of view, digging deeper into each character and Morrison’s development of each of them.

Step 1

In this jigsaw, you will reflect on the reading by analyzing how Morrison develops her characters. You will form home groups and work with your group to gather first impressions of the novel’s main characters (Sethe, Baby Suggs, Paul D., Denver, and 124). Then, you will form expert groups in which you will reread and analyze for a greater understanding of one of the five characters, becoming an expert on that character.

You will then rejoin your home group, where each member will have become an expert on a different character. In your home group, you will share your expert group’s analysis of the assigned character in a jigsaw discussion.

Step 2

Join with two other students to form a home group in which you will discuss the novel’s characters. Share your impressions of Sethe, Baby Suggs, Paul D., Denver, and 124. Use your Character Note-Taking Tool that you completed for homework on each of the five characters. Add any important details that come up in your brief discussion.

Use the following questions to guide your discussion:

  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 do the characters’ words and dialogue reveal about them?

  4. How do the characters interact? What do their interactions reveal about them?

  5. What conflicts (internal or external) do the characters face?

Step 3

For a jigsaw reading, form expert groups of five students each. Each group will study one of the five characters.

In your expert groups, review pages 24-46, looking for and recording additional evidence about your focal character (Sethe, Baby Suggs, Paul D., Denver, and 124).

You are now an expert on your chosen character from Beloved. Discuss how you might teach your home group about your character.

Step 4

Rejoin your home group, and ensure that your group has an expert for each character. In a jigsaw discussion, share and discuss your notes from your Character Note-Taking Tool. Each of you should have notes about each of the five characters.

Activity 3: Write

We will review the task and expectations for the section 1 diagnostic. We will form an evidence-based claim about a character we studied and each write a short paragraph that explains and supports our claim.

Step 1

Read and annotate the Section 1 Diagnostic Checklist, which overviews what you will be asked to do.

With a partner, discuss what the task expects you to do. Ask your teacher any clarifying questions.

Step 2

Follow along as your teacher reviews the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool and models how it might be used to analyze a character in a literary work. Note the importance of selecting significant details and analyzing relationships among them in developing a claim about a character that is supported by the text.

For the character you have studied closely (or another of your choosing), review your Character Note-Taking Tool and pages 3-46 of the novel to identify three to four details about your character that you see as most important and also as interrelated.

Write down and analyze those details on a Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool. Then develop a clear and strong claim statement that answers the following question:

  1. What do the character’s words, actions, reactions, and interactions reveal about them?

Step 3

Use your Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool to write a paragraph that presents and explains your claim and that cites the evidence that has led to your claim.

If you are uncertain about how to organize this paragraph, you might begin at the bottom of the tool and state your claim as a topic sentence. Then, explain how your claim resulted from your analysis of key details in the text and how those details work as evidence that supports your thinking about the character. As you explain, try to use a few quotations from the text that you see as strong evidence of your thinking.

Conclude your paragraph by restating your claim in a new way, as a conclusion you have arrived at through your analysis of evidence from the text.

Activity 4: Read

We will read and annotate pages 46–59 for homework.

For homework, we will read and annotate pages 46-59 of Beloved, starting with the sentence "Kneeling in the keeping room" (p. 46). Continue filling out the Character Note-Taking Tool. Also, continue to record unfamiliar or interesting words in your Vocabulary Journal.

As you read, keep track of the following characters:

  • Sethe

  • Baby Suggs

  • Paul D.

  • Denver

  • 124

As you read, consider the following questions:

  1. How would you characterize the relationship between Sethe and Paul D.?

  2. Think particularly about the focus on color and colorful images (pp. 46-48). How does this language affect the mood? Does the discussion of colors lift or sadden you as a reader?

  3. What is meant by the line "As for Denver, the job Sethe had of keeping her from the past that was still waiting for her was all that mattered" (p. 51)?

  4. When Sethe, Paul D., and Denver go to the carnival, Sethe is the only one who notices that their three shadows held hands and she decides this is a "good sign" (p. 57). Does the description of the atmosphere at the carnival support her positive outlook? How does Morrison use word choice to create the atmosphere and mood? Use textual evidence to support your thoughts.