Lesson 8

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

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

• • “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation,” excerpt from The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, Dial Press, an imprint of Random House, 1962

Materials

Tools

• Vocabulary Journal

Question Sets

• Community: Section 2 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Community: Section 2 Question Set

• Vocabulary Journal

Activity 1: Discuss

We will compare the central ideas and communities in The Fire Next Time and Hillbilly Elegy.

The Fire Next Time and Hillbilly Elegy reflect different communities in different time periods. Discuss the following questions with the class:

1. What is similar about the central ideas in both texts?

2. What central ideas or lessons about community appear in both texts?

The Fire Next Time was published in 1962 and Hillbilly Elegy was published in 2016. Discuss the following question related to the time periods they describe:

1. What do you think each author wants readers to understand about the roles that race and poverty play in the time period and community he describes?

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will review the features of narrative, expository, and argument in order to compare the writing styles of James Baldwin and J.D. Vance.

Read the descriptions below of narrative, expository, and argument. Take notes on each term in your Vocabulary Journal.

A narrative is a story, or a spoken or written account of a series of events. Narratives can be based on real events, such as memoirs, or imagined events, such as science fiction. Narratives are often structured in a chronological, sequential way, and they are often based on plot, a series of events that drive the story.

An expository is a fact-based, informational text, often used to convey information. Expository texts often include facts and citations from reliable sources. Expository texts often use specific organizational structures such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, description, problem and solution, or sequence.

An argument is a logically organized work, such as an essay, speech, or presentation, that advocates for a position on an issue using supporting claims and evidence. An argument takes a position on a topic (a claim) and defends it, typically through ethos (an appeal to ethics), pathos (an appeal to emotion), and logos (an appeal to logic). A good argument often addresses counterclaims in order to strengthen its author’s claims.

Activity 3: Write

We will compare how James Baldwin structured The Fire Next Time with how J.D. Vance structured Hillbilly Elegy in order to determine which text uses structures more effectively.

Step 1

Respond to the questions below in your Learning Log. Be sure to justify your answers with evidence from the texts.

1. Is The Fire Next Time best described as a narrative, an expository, an argument, or a blend of styles? Why?

2. How would you describe James Baldwin’s writing style? How does James Baldwin structure The Fire Next Time?

3. How does the structure of The Fire Next Time help create its meaning?

4. Is Hillbilly Elegy best described as a narrative, an expository, an argument or a blend of styles? Why?

5. How does J.D. Vance structure Hillbilly Elegy?

6. Consider the choices both authors make in structuring their respective texts. Which choices regarding structure most contribute to each text’s impact?

7. How do each author’s choices about their text’s structure make each text more clear, convincing, or engaging?

8. Which text’s structure is more appealing to you? Why?

9. Which text uses structure more effectively to present and develop its central ideas? Why?

Share and discuss your responses with a partner. Discuss any outstanding questions with the class.

Step 2

Use the discussion to write down any new notes in the “Writer’s Rhetorical Toolbox” section of your Learning Log.