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Lesson 3

We will analyze the author’s use of narrative techniques in The Book of Unknown Americans.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of texts and topics, support claims, and develop ideas?

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas (characters, setting, tone, point of view, structure, development, etc.) within texts?

  • 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 explain why mentor sentences are powerful, and can I explain how I might emulate them in my own writing?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Book of Unknown Americans, Cristina Henríquez, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2015

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will analyze the author’s use of narrative techniques through questioning and discussion.

Step 1

Listen as your teacher or one of your peers reads aloud pages 239-241 of The Book of Unknown Americans.

Step 2

Analyze the passage by answering the following questions:

  1. Write down any descriptive phrases or imagery on page 239. What is each phrase describing? What is the tone? What tone does the phrase evoke?

  2. How does the tone change on page 240? How does Henríquez change the text structure to denote the tone change? Cite details from the text to support your answer.

  3. On the top of page 241, what narrative techniques does Henríquez use to express Alma’s emotions? Cite details from the text to support your answer.

Activity 2: Read

We will compare two different voices in the text.

Listen as your teacher or one of your peers reads aloud pages 248-249.

Working with a partner, write down descriptive phrases on pages 248 and 249. Respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. How does Mayor’s use of imagery differ from Alma’s?

  2. What effect does this difference in voice have on the reader’s understanding of the text?

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will analyze a mentor sentence from the passage.

Step 1

Follow your teacher’s direction regarding grouping, materials, and which mentor sentences you will analyze. Use the Working with Mentor Sentences Tool to work through the following steps for each mentor sentence:

Read and unpack: Read the sentence aloud. Unpack any unfamiliar vocabulary using your vocabulary strategies. Paraphrase the sentence in your own words based on your initial understanding.

Step 2

Deconstruct: Split the sentence up into parts. Determine the parts of speech and function, and note other observations about this part, such as examples of effective diction or changes in verb tense or point of view.

Step 3

Study concept: Follow along as your teacher reviews the relevant grammatical terms and concepts. Write down your notes on the concepts.

Step 4

Analyze the sentence: Review, discuss, or revise your deconstruction notes in light of the mini-lesson. Then use the following questions to analyze the sentence:

  1. Which parts make up the main clause? The main clause is the main subject and predicate that expresses the central idea of the sentence. Write down the sentence, underlining the main clause.

  2. How do the other parts of the sentence (e.g., phrases, clauses, modifiers) enhance the main clause?

  3. How could you restructure this sentence so that it relays the same message to the reader? What is the impact of the different structures on your understanding?

  4. What revisions need to be made to your initial paraphrasing now that you have increased your understanding of the sentence?

Step 5

Analyze mood, tone, and meaning: Respond to the following questions:

  1. What mood does the author create in this sentence? How do they create it?

  2. What tone is conveyed by the author in this sentence? How is that tone conveyed?

  3. What does this sentence contribute to the ideas in the text?

  4. How does the sentence expand your understanding of the text or author?

Step 6

Practice Writing: Use your analysis of the mentor sentence to craft a new sentence, revise one of your sentences in your Learning Log, or draft a sentence you plan to use on the Section Diagnostic, mimicking what the author does in terms of their structure, style, grammar, or punctuation.

Activity 4: Write

For homework, we will read the remaining pages of the novel, pages 264–286.

For homework, read and annotate pages 264-286 of The Book of Unknown Americans. Write down four entries in your Literary Elements and Narrative Techniques Note-Taking Tool. When logging them, think of recurring ideas or themes that are emerging.

Write down one sentence that stands out to you as interesting or that represents a strong example of a particular concept you have learned in your Mentor Sentence Journal.