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Lesson 1

We will prepare for the Culminating Task by revisiting the Central Question and the Culminating Task Checklist. We will also prepare to write a narrative by analyzing the narrative vignettes from the Section 2 and 3 Diagnostics and by completing a Storyboard Planning Tool.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I plan my Culminating Task to be appropriate for various purposes and audiences by generating ideas through a range of strategies such as brainstorming, reading, and discussing?

Texts

Core

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

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss – Write

We will refamiliarize ourselves with the Central Question and the Culminating Task checklist. We will clarify expectations and answer questions regarding the Culminating Task narrative, and we will select our prompt.

Step 1

Individually, reread, annotate, and discuss the Central Question, thinking about how you understand Beloved and its thematic commentary:

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

In your Learning Log, write a response to this question now that you have finished reading the novel. Then, go to the beginning of your Learning Log where you answered this question in the first lesson of this unit.

In pairs or small groups, do the following:

  • Share the response you wrote today that answers the Central Question.

  • Discuss how your answer to this question has changed.

You will meet with your writing workshop peers during this section as you prepare, draft, and finalize your Culminating Task. It is important that you establish a respectful work environment in which you feel comfortable seeking and offering feedback.

Step 2

In light of your response to the Central Question, read, annotate, and discuss the three prompts on your Culminating Task Checklist, one of which you will use to organize your narrative:

  • Write a fictional story with an element of the uncanny.

  • Write a fictional story about someone who is haunted by a memory of their past.

  • Write a fictional story about someone who is haunted by the consequences of their past actions.

Consider what responding to each prompt will involve and for which prompt you feel better prepared.

Decide which prompt you want to pursue and write down any initial ideas that you have in response to the prompt.

Discuss with a partner, small group, or as a class what excites you about the prompt and what questions you have about it.

Step 3

Read and annotate the Culminating Task Checklist to better understand what you will be expected to do as you write your Culminating Task narrative.

Finally, revisit your Culminating Task Progress Tracker.

Discuss with other students and your teacher what you understand the task to be. Ask questions about expectations that are not clear to you.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will revisit our narrative vignettes from the sections 2 and 3 diagnostics and consider utilizing these stories to springboard our Culminating Task narrative.

Step 1

Individually, reread the narratives you submitted for the Section Diagnostics for Sections 2 and 3.

Consider the following questions:

  1. What do you like about each narrative?

  2. What would you change about each narrative?

  3. Do the characters and setting flow together for both narratives? Could the two stories be combined into one? Or are the characters and settings different between the two stories?

  4. Do you plan to use one or both narratives in your Culminating Task? If so, which? If not, consider what you want to do differently for your new narrative.

Step 2

Discuss your narratives and your thoughts regarding each with your writer’s workshop partner or small group.

If you plan to use one or both of your narratives in your Culminating Task, read your selection to your peers and obtain feedback on these points:

  1. Are the characters strongly developed?

  2. Is the setting strongly developed?

  3. Does your story demonstrate a response to the Central Question: In what ways does a person’s past have power over their present? If not, what can be added to ensure this requirement is met?

  4. What could you add to your story so that it fulfills the expectations of the Culminating Task Checklist?

  5. Does anything need to be changed or removed from your story?

  6. If using both narratives, how will they fit together?

Step 3

If you plan to draft a new narrative, select a photo or image from the choices provided by your teacher.

Then, discuss the following with your peers:

  1. Who will be the characters of your narrative?

  2. What is your intended setting?

  3. How will your story demonstrate a response to the Central Question: In what ways does a person’s past have power over their present?

  4. What could you add to your story so that it fulfills the expectations of the Culminating Task Checklist?

Step 4

In light of your discussion with your writer’s workshop peers, take some time to brainstorm ideas and solutions to the feedback you received.

Activity 3: Discuss – Write

We will discuss narrative shift, nonlinear sequencing, and theme development as important pieces of our Culminating Task.

As a class, unpack the following expectations for the Culminating Task narrative:

  • employs narrative shift (changes in narrative point of view)

  • includes at least one example of nonlinear sequencing (flashback)

  • successfully establishes a theme that serves as an underlying message or big idea about life and the human experience

Revisit the Narratives Reference Guide and the Theme Reference Guide. Also discuss the following:

  1. Narrative Point of View and Voice: Who will tell your story? A third- or first-person narrator? Will the narrator be omniscient (able to see inside the characters’ thoughts and feelings)? What perspective and voice will the narrator bring to the story? How will you incorporate narrative shifts in point of view?

  2. Nonlinear Sequencing: How will your story defy chronological sequencing? Will your story include a flashback or a flashforward? What will your readers learn in your flashback or flashforward that will propel character, setting, plot, or theme development?

  3. Theme: What aspects of life or human experience will your story address? What will be the central ideas, themes, or morals of your story? Will your story be a parable or allegory with an obvious central theme, or will you leave it up to your reader to decide the meaning of the story?

Brainstorm ideas for how your narrative will meet these expectations and note your thoughts in your Learning Log.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

We will discuss and use the Storyboard Planning Tool to begin planning our Culminating Task narratives.

Step 1

As a class, discuss the Storyboard Planning Tool and break down the structural elements of a narrative: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Define these elements and discuss whether all elements must be included in the Culminating Task narrative. It is possible that a strong narrative can be written without every element. Discuss examples of this and begin thinking about your own narrative and deciding which structural elements you feel are needed to satisfy the Central Question and your chosen prompt.

Step 2

Individually, begin to populate the Storyboard Planning Tool with your ideas. You should also identify, on the Storyboard Planning Tool, where you will incorporate nonlinear sequencing (flashback), and note any potential places for narrative shifts.

You might ask for feedback or suggestions from your writer’s workshop peers as you work on your Storyboard Planning Tool in class.

Activity 5: Write

For homework, we will continue planning our narrative utilizing the Storyboard Planning Tool to organize our thoughts.

For homework, continue working with your Storyboard Planning Tool to plan your Culminating Task narrative.

Be sure that your tool includes notes on the following:

  • who, what, and why

  • where (note setting details in areas on the tool that you feel are relevant to your organizational process)

  • where in the story (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) will you incorporate nonlinear sequencing.

  • a point of view with identified places for narrative shift to occur

  • a potential theme

Prepare to share and discuss your plans with your peers in the next lesson.