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Lesson 8

We will write a reflective narrative that tells the story of our reading and interpretation of Animal Farm and our learning about the context in which it was written. We will explain the connections among our interpretation of Orwell’s allegory, our claims about our character’s symbolic role in the allegory, and our first-person retelling of the story. We will turn in our Section 2 Portfolio.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I make inferences and use evidence to support my understanding of the meaning of Orwell’s allegory in Animal Farm and the role my character plays in the story?

  • Can I write about how my understanding of the explicit or implicit meanings of Animal Farm have evolved?

  • Can I develop my reflective narrative drafts by drawing on textual details, notes, and my own understanding?

Texts

There are no texts for this Lesson.

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write

We will review the expectations for the reflective narrative we will write and a set of questions we can use as an outline for our response.

Step 1

Review the expectations for the reflective narrative you will write in class for the Section 2 Diagnostic:

  • Tell the story of your developing understanding of Animal Farm, its historical allegory, and your character’s symbolic role in the novel

  • Explain your initial interpretation of the story in Section 1 and how learning about the historical context represented in the novel changed or expanded your understanding

  • Analyze your character’s symbolic role in the allegory and explain how your claim (Lesson 3), your storyboard for a first-person retelling of the novel’s storyline (Lesson 5), and your working draft of your first-person narrative (Lesson 6) reflect your analysis

Step 2

To meet these expectations, consider this set of questions, which you can use as a sequential outline for writing your reflective narrative:

  1. What were your initial questions and predictions about the book?

  2. What did you discover and think about as you read Animal Farm?

  3. Why and how did you focus on your character’s role in the allegory?

  4. How did you interpret your character’s point of view and represent it in your first-person narratives?

  5. How did your understanding of the book develop further as you learned about totalitarianism and the historical context in response to which the novel was written?

  6. What final conclusions have you drawn about the meaning of the allegory and your character’s symbolic role in it?

  7. What are the connections among your interpretation of the allegory, your claim about your character’s symbolic role, your storyboard plan, and your working draft of a first-person retelling of the story from your character’s point of view?

Activity 2: Write

We will write a multiparagraph reflective narrative.

Using the set of reflective questions as an organizer, write a multiparagraph reflective narrative that tells the story of your reading of Animal Farm, your developing interpretation of the meaning of its allegory, and your storyboard plan for writing a first-person narrative from your character’s point of view.

  1. What were your initial questions and predictions about the book?

  2. What did you discover and think about as you read Animal Farm?

  3. Why and how did you focus on your character’s role in the allegory?

  4. How did you interpret your character’s point of view and represent it in your first-person narratives?

  5. How did your understanding of the book develop further as you learned about totalitarianism and the historical context in response to which the novel was written?

  6. What final conclusions have you drawn about the meaning of the allegory and your character’s symbolic role in it?

  7. What are the connections among your interpretation of the allegory, your claim about your character’s symbolic role, your storyboard plan, and your working draft of a first-person retelling of the story from your character’s point of view?

Activity 3: Write

We will review and edit our reflective narrative before submitting it with our portfolio of evidence for the section 2 diagnostic.

Step 1

Read through the draft of the reflective narrative you have written. Check to see that you have completely told the story of your reading, learning, and writing in the unit.

Use the following checklist to determine if you have met all of the expectations of the task:

Be sure you have explained:

  • Your initial questions and predictions about the book

  • What you discovered and thought as you read Animal Farm

  • Why and how you focused on your character’s role in the allegory

  • How you interpreted your character’s point of view and represented it in your first-person narratives

  • How your understanding developed as you learned about totalitarianism and the historical context in response to which the novel was written

  • Your final conclusions about the meaning of the allegory and your character’s symbolic role

  • The connections among your interpretation of the allegory, your claim about your character’s symbolic role, your storyboard plan, and your working draft of a first-person retelling of the story from your character’s point of view

Step 2

Do a final edit of your reflective narrative, checking to see that it does the following:

  • reads clearly

  • is written in first person (“I”) and uses your voice in a personal narrative about reading Animal Farm

  • is written in complete sentences (avoids sentence fragments)

  • is free of errors in spelling, conventions, and grammar

Activity 4: Write

We will reflect on our work on the Section Diagnostic and assess our progress on the Culminating Task.

Step 1

Choose at least three of the questions below and respond to them in your Learning Log:

  1. How well did you take necessary action to prepare for the task?

  2. What went well for you during the completion of this task?

  3. What did you struggle with during the completion of this task? How did you push through that struggle?

  4. How well did you actively focus your attention during this independent task?

  5. How well did you develop and use an effective and efficient process to maintain workflow during this task?

  6. What would you do differently during the next Section Diagnostic?

Now, find and review your Culminating Task Progress Tracker. Think about all you have learned and done during this section of the unit. Evaluate your skills and knowledge to determine how prepared you are for the Culminating Task.

  • Add or refine any skills and content knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

  • Evaluate how well you are mastering skills and knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

Step 2

Review the Central Question of the unit:

How do authors develop themes and commentary through allegorical stories and characters?

Use the following questions to guide a discussion with a partner or small group:

  1. What new knowledge do you have that relates to the Central Question?

  2. What are you still curious about that relates to the Central Question?

  3. What is the relationship between the Central Question and the texts you have read so far? How do the texts shed light on the question? How does the question help you understand the texts?

  4. How has your response to the question evolved, deepened, or changed?

In your Learning Log, write your response to Question 3. You will return to this response in later lessons to examine how your understanding of the Central Question has evolved.