9th Grade Literary Analysis Unit – Lesson One
BIG PICTURE UNIT OBJECTIVE: You will be able to apply your new knowledge of literary terms to the poems,
short stories and theater under analysis in order to be able to write quality essays with an effective thesis,
textual evidence, and organization. All work is due: Monday 3/5/12
FIRST STEPS TOWARDS BUILDING OUR CAPACITY TO ACCOMPLISH THE BIG PICTURE OBJECTIVE aka steps in
this lesson:
1. Rate your understanding of the two pieces on a scale of 1-10.
2. Choose a number that will be your term. Re-read the 2 pieces and analyze them by comparing how the
author uses each term (annotate them*). Remember, you are not simply finding the terms, but
identifying how the author uses them and the effect. Ask yourself: Why did the author make this
choice? How would the piece be different if the author had not included it? What does it do in the
piece? (i.e. does it reveal the theme, shape the character, highlight the conflict?) Think like an author
as well as a reader.
3. Write your findings in a T chart.
4. Rate your understanding of the essay now that you have concluded your literary analysis
5. Write a short essay (3-5 paragraphs) conclusion that expresses how your understanding of the text
improved after analyzing the literary element. Include what you learned from the analysis. Include
textual evidence that highlights the use of the term in each piece to support your conclusion.
1. Allusion
2. Metaphor
3. Simile
4. Personification
5. Flashback
6. Dialogue
7. Symbolism
8. Irony
9. Tone
10. Mood
11. Theme
12. Conflict
13. Point of view
*Annotation: While reading, mark the passage and comment in the margins.
! = new information / example of your literary term
? = confusing or do not understand
*= section you liked or made you think
The point of annotating a text is to give you a lot of places to revisit in your analysis. This is the first step in a Close
Reading (to be explained soon . . . ).
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STANDARDS:
Writing applications:
2.2 Write responses to literature:
a. Demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the significant ideas of literary works.
b. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate and detailed references to the text or to other
works.
c. Demonstrate awareness of the author’s use of stylistic devices and an appreciation of the effects created.
d. Identify and assess the impact of perceived ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within the text.
Reading:
Structural Features of Literature
3.1 Articulate the relationship between the expressed purposes and the characteristics of different forms of
dramatic literature (e.g., comedy, tragedy, drama, dramatic monologue).
3.2 Compare and contrast the presentation of a similar theme or topic across genres to explain how the
selection of genre shapes the theme or topic.
3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text (e.g., internal and external
conflicts, motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those interactions affect the plot.
3.4 Determine characters’ traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic
monologue, and soliloquy.
3.5 Compare works that express a universal theme and provide evidence to support the ideas expressed in
each work.
3.6 Analyze and trace an author’s development of time and sequence, including the use of complex literary
devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks).
3.7 Recognize and understand the significance of various literary devices, including figurative language,
imagery, allegory, and symbolism, and explain their appeal.
3.8 Interpret and evaluate the impact of ambiguities, subtleties, contradictions, ironies, and incongruities in a
text.
3.9 Explain how voice, persona, and the choice of a narrator affect characterization and the tone, plot, and
credibility of a text.
3.10 Identify and describe the function of dialogue, scene designs, soliloquies, asides, and character foils in
dramatic literature.
Literary Criticism
3.11 Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style, including the impact of diction and figurative language on tone,
mood, and theme, using the terminology of literary criticism.
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9th Grade Literary Analysis Unit – Lesson Two
BIG PICTURE UNIT OBJECTIVE: You will be able to apply your new knowledge of literary terms to the poems,
short stories and theater under analysis in order to be able to write quality essays with an effective thesis,
textual evidence, and organization.
NEXT STEPS TOWARDS BUILDING OUR CAPACITY TO ACCOMPLISH THE BIG PICTURE OBJECTIVE aka steps in
this lesson: (reminder: 1 = no understanding & 10 = you are in the author’s head)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Rate your understanding of the poem on a scale of 1-10 after your first silently read. ________
Rate your understanding of the poem on a scale of 1-10 after listening to the poem read aloud. ______
Annotate the poem (see reminders below)
Rate your understanding of the poems after annotating them and the class discussion. _________
Create a T chart where you pull out literary elements and analyze the effect on the listener:
Literary Element Effect on the reader
6. Rate your understanding of the poem now that you have concluded your literary analysis _________
“How To Read a Poem Out Loud” by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins
No doubt, most of the readers will be students with little or no experience in reading poetry out loud,
especially to such a large group. And we know that a poem will live or die depending on how it is read.
What follows, then, are a few pointers about the oral recitation of poetry. The readers, by the way, should
not read cold; they should be given their poem a few days in advance so they will have time to practice,
maybe in the presence of a teacher. In addition to exposing students to the sounds of contemporary
poetry, Poetry 180 can also serve as a way to improve students' abilities to communicate publicly. Here
are a few basic tips:
1. Read the poem slowly. Most adolescents speak rapidly, and a nervous reader will tend to do the
same in order to get the reading over with. Reading a poem slowly is the best way to ensure that
the poem will be read clearly and understood by its listeners. Learning to read a poem slowly will
not just make the poem easier to hear; it will underscore the importance in poetry of each and
every word. A poem cannot be read too slowly, and a good way for a reader to set an easy pace is
to pause for a few seconds between the title and the poem's first line.
2. Read in a normal, relaxed tone of voice. It is not necessary to give any of these poems a dramatic
reading as if from a stage. The poems selected are mostly written in a natural, colloquial style and
should be read that way. Let the words of the poem do the work. Just speak clearly and slowly.
3. Obviously, poems come in lines, but pausing at the end of every line will create a choppy effect and
interrupt the flow of the poem's sense. Readers should pause only where there is punctuation, just
as you would when reading prose, only more slowly.
4. Use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words and hard-to-pronounce words. To read with conviction,
a reader needs to know at least the dictionary sense of every word. In some cases, a reader might
want to write out a word phonetically as a reminder of how it should sound. It should be
emphasized that learning to read a poem out loud is a way of coming to a full understanding of
that poem, perhaps a better way than writing a paper on the subject.
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Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
from The Apple that Astonished Paris, 1996
University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Ark.
Permissions information.
*Annotation: While reading, mark the poems and comment in the margins.
! = new information / example of a literary term
? = confusing or do not understand
*= section you liked or made you think
The point of annotating a text is to give you a lot of places to revisit in your analysis. This is the first step in a Close
Reading (to be explained soon . . . )
Montes 2012
9th Grade Literary Analysis Unit – Lesson Four
BIG PICTURE UNIT OBJECTIVE: You will be able to apply your new knowledge of literary terms to the poems,
short stories and theater under analysis in order to be able to write quality essays with an effective thesis,
textual evidence, and organization.
NEXT STEPS TOWARDS BUILDING OUR CAPACITY TO ACCOMPLISH THE BIG PICTURE OBJECTIVE aka steps in
this lesson: (reminder: 1 = no understanding & 10 = you are in the author’s head)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Rate your understanding of the poem on a scale of 1-10 after your first silently read. ________
Rate your understanding of the poem on a scale of 1-10 after listening to the poem read aloud. ______
Annotate the poem (see reminders below)
Rate your understanding of the poems after annotating them and the class discussion. _________
Create a T chart where you pull out literary elements and analyze the effect on the listener:
Literary Element Effect on the reader
6. Rate your understanding of the poem now that you have concluded your literary analysis _________
FACING WEST FROM CALIFORNIA'S SHORES by: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
FACING west, from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of
maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western Sea—the circle
almost circled;
For, starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales
of Kashmere,
From Asia—from the north—from the God, the sage,
and the hero,
From the south—from the flowery peninsulas, and the
spice islands;
Long having wander'd since—round the earth having
wander'd,
Now I face home again—very pleas'd and joyous;
(But where is what I started for, so long ago?
And why is it yet unfound?)
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Literary Analysis Essay Assignment: Poetry
According to Billy Collins when a reader reads a poem, he / she should, “let the words of the poem do the
work.” Additionally, “learning to read a poem out loud is a way of coming to a full understanding of that
poem, perhaps a better way than writing a paper on the subject.” Both statements support the idea that in
order to fully understand a poem and read it out loud properly, you have to analyze the poem as directed in
“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins. We have attempted to follow Billy Collins’ directions and should have
a greater understanding of the poem.
Choose one of the poems studied in class and write an essay in which you analyze how the “words work.”
These words are used in specific literary devices. Identify and analyze how the literary devices reveal the
theme. Some devices discussed in class include figurative language, tone, mood, symbolism, irony, imagery,
allusion and/ or other literary elements. Use details and examples from the story to support your ideas.
Checklist for Your Writing
The following checklist will help you do your best work. Make sure you do the following:
❏ Carefully read the passage and the description of the task.
❏ Organize your writing with a strong introduction, body, and conclusion.
❏ Use specific details and examples from the passage to demonstrate your understanding of the main ideas and
the author’s purpose.
❏ Use precise language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose.
❏ Vary your sentences to make your writing interesting to read.
❏ Check for mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence formation.
Prompt analysis directions: To properly respond to a prompt you need to take it apart and re-work it into a
thesis. To practice this, you will do the following:
1. Take apart the prompt. What exactly is it asking you to do? I suggest you underline the phrases that tell
you what to write.
2. Re-write the prompt into a thesis
3. Write an Introduction that contains the thesis
4. Complete the rest of the essay with:
a. complete body paragraphs that supports the thesis
b. a conclusion that summarizes your thesis and main points in writing the essay and informs the
reader and leaves him / her educated
THESIS:
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9th Grade Literary Analysis Unit – Lesson Three: Mythology –
“Cupid and Psyche” & “Echo and Narcissus”
STANDARDS: Literary Response and Analysis 3.12 - Analyze the way in which a work of literature is related to
the themes and issues of its historical period. (Historical approach) & Reading 3.7 Recognize and understand
the significance of various literary devices, including figurative language, imagery, allegory, and symbolism,
and explain their appeal.
BIG PICTURE UNIT OBJECTIVE: You will be able to apply your new knowledge of literary terms to the poems,
short stories and theater under analysis in order to be able to write quality essays with an effective thesis,
textual evidence, and organization.
NEXT STEPS TOWARDS BUILDING OUR CAPACITY TO ACCOMPLISH THE BIG PICTURE OBJECTIVE aka steps in
this lesson: (reminder: 1 = no understanding & 10 = you are in the author’s head)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Rate your understanding of the myth on a scale of 1-10 after reading the myth aloud. ______
Annotate the myth (see reminders below)
Rate your understanding of the myth after annotating _______ and the class discussion. _________
Create a T chart where you pull out literary elements that shows how this myth is related to the
themes and issues of the Ancient Greeks and / or an allegory:
Passages:
Themes & Issues of Ancient Greeks or allegory
6. Rate your understanding of the myth now that you have concluded your literary analysis _________
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Name__________________________________________________________ Grade____________
9th Grade Literary Analysis
CATEGORY 5 - A
100-90
Introduction The Intro is perfect
(Organization) containing an
4-B
89-80
3 -C
79-70
2 -D
69-60
1–F
50
The Intro is good
containing an inviting
hook, good
background and a
well-developed thesis.
The Intro is proficient
containing a hook,
background and a
thesis.
The Intro is
inadequate and lacks
either a hook,
background, and / or
thesis.
Unclear / Missing
hook,
background, and
/ or thesis.
Good elucidation of
your thesis with good
textual details
analyzed, explained
and interpreted.
Proficient elucidation
of your thesis with
adequate textual
details analyzed,
explained and
interpreted.
Inadequate
elucidation of your
thesis with inadequate
textual details lacking
full analysis,
explanation and
interpretation.
Unclear / Missing
elucidation of
your thesis with
inadequate
textual details
lacking full
analysis,
explanation and
interpretation.
Includes a good
summary of your
thesis, a clear
thesis with a clear
summary of your main summary of your main
points in writing the
points in writing the
essay and perfectly
essay. Informs the
informs the reader
reader and leaves
and leaves them
them educated.
educated.
Includes a proficient
summary of your
thesis with an
adequate summary
of your main points
in writing the essay.
Informs the reader
and leaves them
adequately
educated.
Inadequately does
one or more of the
following: inadequate
summary of your
thesis, inadequate
summary of your main
points in writing the
essay. Fails to fully
inform the reader and
leaves them
inadequately
educated.
Missing or
unclear summary
of your thesis,
summary of your
main points in
writing the essay.
Fails to inform the
reader and
leaves them
inadequately
educated.
Transitions /
Topic
Sentences
(Organization)
Effective and
thoughtful transitions
and topic sentences
allow for a
comfortable flow when
reading the essay.
Good transitions and
topic sentences allow
for a comfortable flow
when reading the
essay.
Proficient transitions
and topic sentences
allow for a flow when
reading the essay.
Inadequate transitions
and topic sentences
disallow for an ease in
reading the essay
making it necessary to
re-read and causing a
messy organization
overall.
Unclear / Missing
transitions and
topic sentences
in some or all of
the paragraphs.
Grammar,
Spelling,
Sentences
There are no errors in There are 1-2 errors
grammar, spelling, or in grammar, spelling,
sentences.
or sentences but
errors do not impede
understanding.
There are 3-4 errors
in grammar, spelling,
or sentences but
errors do not impede
understanding.
There are more than 5
errors in grammar,
spelling, or sentences
and errors do impede
understanding and
display a lack of proof
reading.
Too many errors
causing the
essay to be
unclear and too
much work to
read.
effectively inviting
hook, effective
background and a
thoughtfully welldeveloped thesis.
Body
(Content)
Perfect elucidation of
your thesis with
specific effective
textual details
analyzed, explained
and interpreted.
Includes a perfect
Conclusion
(Organization) summary of your
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Name ____________________________________________ Grade _______________
Criteria for Effective Essay – Rubric
(5 = Perfect A, 4 = Good B, 3 = Proficient C, 2 = Inadequate D, 1 = Unclear / missing F)
INTRO:
___Hook
___Background
___Thesis
BODY:
___Compare and contrast blended throughout NOT half and half
___Elucidate the main ideas of your essay
___Specific textual details: quotes, paraphrased (SAY)
___Transitions
___Analyze and interpret the textual details (MEAN & MATTER)
CONCLUSION:
___Summarize your thesis
___Clearly summarize your main points in writing the essay
___Inform the reader and leave them educated
Comments:
Name ____________________________________________ Grade _______________
Criteria for Effective Essay – Rubric
(5 = Perfect A, 4 = Good B, 3 = Proficient C, 2 = Inadequate D, 1 = Unclear / missing F)
INTRO:
___Hook
___Background
___Thesis
BODY:
___Compare and contrast blended throughout NOT half and half
___Elucidate the main ideas of your essay
___Specific textual details: quotes, paraphrased (SAY)
___Transitions
___Analyze and interpret the textual details (MEAN & MATTER)
CONCLUSION:
___Summarize your thesis
___Clearly summarize your main points in writing the essay
___Inform the reader and leave them educated
Comments:
Montes 2012