“A CALL TO CRUSADE”
A Close Reading
LEARNING TARGETS:
 Use the strategy of close reading to deeply understand and analyze
the text
 Cite strong evidence from the text to support your ideas
 Participate with your peers in the discussion of the text
CLOSE READING
 What is close reading?
 What do close readers do?
“A CALL TO CRUSADE”
 Speech given by Pope Urban II to the council of Clermont after
the Byzantine emperor, Alexios I Komnenos called on him to help
him get aid from the west against the Seljuq Turks
 This speech was given before the Crusades began
READING #1
 Read silently to line #20.
 Annotate your text as you go:
• Underline interesting words and phrases
• Place a ? where the text becomes confusing
• Jot your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question in the margins
 Guiding Question:
• What role do the people Pope Urban is speaking to play in this
society?
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
 Share your first impressions of the text and your thoughts
pertaining to the guiding question with your neighbor.
 Be sure that both of you get a chance to share.
 Be prepared to discuss this with the whole class.
READ ALOUD/DISCUSSION
 What role do the people Pope Urban is speaking to play in this
society?
 What words and phrases does Urban use to describe their
role and responsibilities?
 What will happen if they don’t follow through?
 Why do you think Urban begins his speech in this way?
READING #2
 Read silently from line #20-45.
 Annotate your text as you go:
• Underline interesting words and phrases
• Place a ? where the text becomes confusing
• Jot your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question in the margins
 Guiding Question:
• What other expectations does Pope Urban have of his people?
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
 Share your impressions of the text and your thoughts pertaining to
the guiding question with your neighbor.
 Be sure that both of you get a chance to share.
 Be prepared to discuss this with the whole class.
READ ALOUD/DISCUSSION
 What other expectations does Pope Urban have of his people?
 Sometimes speakers use repetition of words or sentence structures
to convey a message. Can you find any examples of this in this section
of the text?
 Why do you think Urban does this?
 How would you describe the tone of the speech so far? How do you
think it made the people in the audience feel?
READING #3
 Read silently from line #45-60.
 Annotate your text as you go:
• Underline interesting words and phrases
• Place a ? where the text becomes confusing
• Jot your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question in the margins
 Guiding Question:
• How does Pope Urban feel about the current state of society
and the leadership of the Christian clergy?
READ ALOUD/DISCUSSION
 How does Pope Urban feel about the current state of society?
 How does he feel about the leadership of the Christian clergy?
 How do the people in the audience respond to him?
 He still hasn’t really reached his main point. Why do you think
Urban takes so long to lead into it?
HOMEWORK
 Read the rest of “A Call to Crusade”.
 Annotate your text as you go:
• Underline interesting words and phrases
• Place a ? where the text becomes confusing
• Jot your thoughts in the margins
 Short Written Response (one paragraph):
• What is the purpose of Pope Urban giving this speech? What
is interesting about the way he organizes it? Give specific
details from the text in your answer.