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Lesson 7

We will form evidence-based claims and write an analytical paragraph about Chapter 6: “Minerva, 1949.”

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use connections among details, elements, and effects to make logical deductions about an author’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in texts?

  • Can I analyze Julia Alvarez’s choices about how to structure the text in different voices in relation to her personal history?

  • Can I write an analytical paragraph that deconstructs texts from the biographical lens?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write

We will apply our biographical lens analysis to form and support claims about Alvarez and the text.

Working alone or with a partner, complete the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool, and answer the following guiding question:

  1. What did Julia Alvarez experience that could have influenced her decision to include information about Minerva’s desire to go to law school in the novel?

Use what you have read to find key details in Chapter 6, “A Postscript,” “Still the Time for Butterflies: A Note from the Author,” and the “Reading and Discussion Guide” that present Alvarez’s experiences that influence the content of the novel.

Activity 2: Write

We will apply our understanding of the text through the biographical lens and write an expository paragraph.

Using your Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool, draft a paragraph that answers the following question:

  1. How are Julia Alvarez’s personal experiences reflected in In the Time of the Butterflies?

Your paragraph should have the following:

  • a clear introduction or topic sentence that includes your claim, the author’s name, and the title of the text

  • an explanation of your position, with relevant details and an analysis of those details

  • textual evidence to support your claim

  • a conclusion that clearly states why the reader should care (the “so what”) or that synthesizes your points by pulling your information together in a succinct way

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We will analyze a partner’s paragraph and provide feedback.

Step 1

Exchange paragraphs with a partner.

Read your partner’s paragraph and analyze how well your partner analyzes the text through the biographical lens. Respond to the following questions:

  1. To what extent does your partner’s paragraph have a clear and arguable claim?

  2. To what extent does your partner’s paragraph develop the claim with relevant details from the text?

  3. To what extent is your partner’s paragraph organized in a way that makes sense to you?

Step 2

Discuss your feedback with your partner.

Step 3

Individually, respond to the following question in the margin of your paragraph:

  1. What do I need to do to write a clear, cohesive, and strong literary analysis paragraph?

During the Section Diagnostic, you will write an analytical response, using either the historical or biographical lens.