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Lesson 3

We will analyze the structure of Chapter 4 of Hillbilly Elegy to determine how Vance builds his case, makes a compelling argument, and establishes credibility.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas and themes of Hillbilly Elegy?

  • Can I recognize and interpret structures and patterns that Vance uses to develop to build his case and support his claims in Hillbilly Elegy?

  • Can I analyze and explain how the author’s perspective influences the position, purpose, and ideas in Hillbilly Elegy?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • Chapter 4, excerpt from Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance, HarperCollins Publishers, 2016

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write

We will read a section of the text closely, analyze its structure, and determine how the author supports his claims about Education.

With a partner, reread pages 56-60 and use a copy of the Evaluating Ideas Tool to answer your assigned question:

  1. What claims does Vance make about education in this section of the text? Are these claims explicitly stated or implied?

  2. What is the author’s position on the issue of education in his community? How do you know? Cite evidence from the text.

  3. What is Vance’s perspective? Explain what the details and language tell you about his view of the topic.

  4. How accurate, credible, and relevant are the information and ideas presented in Vance’s text?

  5. How do the perspective, tone, claims, evidence, and structure influence your evaluation of the text’s position, argument, or value?

  6. Consider Vance’s goal in writing. Does he achieve that goal? Why or why not?

Share your analyses with the whole group during the debrief discussion, adding notes to your tool and Learning Log.

Activity 2: Write

We will write about Vance’s claims about Education.

Using your analyses from the Evaluating Ideas Tool and the discussion in the previous activity, write a response to one of the following prompts:

  1. On pages 58-60, Vance tells a story, or anecdote, about an experience in his first grade class. Summarize this anecdote and explain its significance, both to the writer himself and to his argument about education in Middletown.

  2. What is the relationship between Vance’s evidence on page 57 for his argument about education and the anecdote beginning on page 58? Find another example of a similar pattern of evidence in Chapter 4, and describe how Vance structures his arguments and develops his claims in this chapter.