Youngstown City Schools Curriculum Project
ENGLISH / LANGUAGE ARTS - - Grade 11
Unit #6: THE DREAM AND THE REALITY (4-6 WEEKS) Surrounds Spring Break
SYNOPSIS: In this unit, students will read fiction, non-fiction, and poetry focused on dreams or aspirations versus reality. Developing
aspirations about their futures is part of every teenager’s life, but keeping their dreams realistic is also important. Students will read
fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that features dreams and realities; they will find explicit details and draw inferences that support the
author’s message. Students will determine how several central ideas develop throughout the text and how they build on one another.
In addition, students will write several of reflective pieces and summaries and use processing guides to analyze the literary selections.
By the end of the Unit, students will apply their skills to unfamiliar literature.
STANDARDS
RL 11.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RL 11.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative meanings;
analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language
that is particularly fresh, engaging or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors).
RL 11.6
Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is
really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
RL11.10 By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11 –
CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
RI 11.2
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including
how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide a complex analysis; provide an
objective summary of the text.
RI 11.10 By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11 – CCR text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
W 11.6
Use technology including the internet, to produce, publish and update individual or shared writing products in response to
ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
W 11.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
L 11.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole, paradox) in context and analyze their role in the text.
b. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
Materials
FICTION
“The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty” by James Thurber
(text, p 628)
POETRY
“The History Teacher” by
Billy Collins
DRAMA
N/A
ON-LINE / AUDIO
N/A
NON-FICTION
King of the Mild Frontier: An
Ill-Advised Autobiography
by Chris Crutcher
“A Pair of Silk Stockings” by
Kate Chopin (text, p 435-443)
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Key Terms
General
Vocabulary
authenticity
validity
reality
fantasy
Literary Skills
analysis
central ideas / main ideas
interpretation (multiple)
explicit details
text evidence
connotative meaning
multiple meanings
Writing Skills
figurative language
(hyperbole,
paradox etc)
point of view
satire
sarcasm
inference
paraphrase/summarize
use technology
research
reflection
revision
feedback
task
purpose
audience
Speaking /Listening and
Language Skills
standard English grammar
conventions
word relationships
nuances in meaning
MOTIVATION
1.
TEACHER
NOTES
Teacher
and students have a conversation about “dreams” (I.e. aspirations); which ones are realistic versus those
that are dreams. Students give examples from their own lives.
2. Teacher asks student to read Reality versus Dreams (Attachment #1). Students make a list of critical
attributes of reality versus Fantasy. Students journal using a t-chart.
3. Teacher asks students to discuss how “dreams” and “reality” change as we grow; e.g., What were your
dreams and reality in elementary school? In middle school? And now? Speculate what your dreams and
reality may be five years from now. (This may be done as a whole class or group activity and share out.)
4. Teacher asks students to consider the value of aspirations and write a journal entry completing the
sentence starter, “What if ______” (e.g., How does Steven Spielberg create films? Where did Walt
Disney start?) Students come up with a viable aspiration in their own lives and determine what it would
take to become reality.
5. Teacher previews the Unit activities, class work, traditional assessment and authentic assessment.
6. Students write one academic and one personal goal which will be monitored throughout the Unit.
TEACHING-LEARNING ACTIVITIES
FICTION
“A Pair of Silk Stockings” (text pages 435-443)
TEACHER NOTES
1. Teacher shares some examples of how he/she escapes from the daily routine of life (e.g., “If it were
only July …” or “If I could get another car…” or “ “If I could meet someone I really liked…: etc.)
2. Teacher asks students to think about what life was like in the late 1890s and early 1900s. (Refer to
page 436 in text.) In the story the women, Mrs. Sommers finds $15.00. Today, that $15.00 is like
$200.00. Teacher and students read Paragraphs 1 and 2 of “A pair of Silk Stockings” on page 437.
Teacher asks students to predict what Mrs. Sommers would likely do with the $15.00 Students call
out ideas and the teacher records it on the board for later reference. [ also see table with activity #6 ]
3. Students read the remainder of the short story in small groups or pairs and complete the Processing
Guide (Attachment #2). (RL 11.1) (RL 11.4)
NOTE: Teacher should do this Processing Guide with students; allow students to try a section,
then go over it with them; try the next section and go over it with them etc.
IMPORTANT: Section 3 is especially tricky, but with modeling, students can do it!
[ cont’d ]
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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TEACHING-LEARNING ACTIVITIES
TEACHER NOTES
4. Teacher asks students if the “silk stockings” motif/theme is
(a) just a “thing” in the 1890s … Could it happen in 2013?
(b) just a “female” thing …. Do men behave this way?
5. Teacher asks students to explain how they might react if they suddenly won $200. What would
they use this money for? Would they use it for one of their “dreams” or for some realistic need?
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (text pages 623-628)
6. Teacher gives background about the story which was written in 1939. American was in the final
years of The Great Depression.
(a) Hoovervilles still existed
(b) Hobos were still hopping trains
(c) Big screen movies as big business (e.g., “Gone with the Wind,” “Of Mice and Men” etc)
1930’s
Population
Average Yearly Income
Unemployment rate
Average cost of house
Quart of milk
Loaf of bread
Round steak
Average life span of males
Average life span of females
123,128,000
$1,380.00
25%
$3,800.00
14 cents
9 cents
42 cents/pound
58 years
61 years
Now
312.8 million
$43,460.00
7.8%
$40,000.00
89 cents
$2.00
$3.00/pound
74.8 years
80.1 years
7. Teacher introduces parody and satire with some movies with which the students might be familiar.
(a) “Police Academy” >>> police training
(b) ”Austin Powers” >>> James Bond
(c) “Spaceballs” >>> Star Wars
(d) “Saturday Night Live” >>>> everything!
8. Teacher shows snippet of movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. (Teacher can select 1 or 2 scenes
from You Tube.) Then, teacher and students read “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” together and
complete the Processing Guide for the short story. (Attachment #3) (RL 11.4)
POETRY
“The History Teacher” (Attachment #4)
NOTE: Task #10 requires that students have access to a computer. Teacher should make
arrangements to use the Media Center, Computer Lab or Laptop Carts.
9. Teacher and students read “The History Teacher.” (RL 11.6)
10. In groups, students search the internet to find information on one topic mentioned in the poem.
(a) Teacher assigns or lets students select one of the following topics referenced in the poem:
Ice Age, Stone Age, Spanish Inquisition, War of the Roses, Enola Gay and the Boer War.
(b) Students record 5-10 pieces of information about the topic and using the “bullet-format.”
(c) Students meet with others who researched the same topic and share their information.
and complete the Group Report Form (Attachment #5).
(d) Then one person from each group reports out information about the topic to the class.
11. Teacher and students re-read the poem to determine what the poet really meant. (RL 11.6)
NON-FICTION
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography by Chris Kutcher
[ cont’d ]
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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TEACHING-LEARNING ACTIVITIES
TEACHER NOTES
12. Teacher provides a summary/overview about the book. (Attachment #6). Teacher may select
one of two options for reading the book. (Plan A – time permitting)
PLAN A – Teacher and students read the entire book using a variety of reading strategies; e.g.,
whole class, in groups, in pairs etc. Teacher and students use the Processing Guide to
discuss each chapter with the students (Attachment #7). (RI 11.2)
PLAN B – Teacher and students read Chapter 1 together. Teacher leads discussion of central
ideas and how they’re developed and build on one another; how details support the main
ideas; and vocabulary. (RI 11.2)
Teacher assigns or students select one of the following chapters to read on their own.
(1) Chapter 7: The Roots of Angus
(2) Chapter 9: A Different King of Love
(3) Chapter 10: Dead Boy sledding, or Why Things Happen
When students complete their reading, they meet with others who read the same chapter
to analyze the central/main ideas; how they interact and build on one another using the
Processing Guide (Attachment #7).
Each student will write a 3-5 sentence summary of the chapter he/she read.
Student groups report out to the class.
Finally, the teacher and students read Chapter 14, the last chapter. Teacher and
students “tie the author’s life story together” (1) by identifying the main ideas and how
they developed over the time period (2) how they affected one another (3) what were
his dreams/aspirations/fantasies (4) what were his realities.
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT
Unit Test
TEACHER NOTES
Traditional Assessments
Journals
AUTHENITC OR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
1. FICTION: Read the poem, “A Story That Could Be True.”
a. List 3 explicit details and 2 inferences in the poem. (RL 11.1)
TEACHER NOTES
b. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone,
including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging or
beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors). (RL 11.4)
2. NON-FICTION: Analyze a passage from a NEW (not read during the Unit) NON-FICTION text dealing
with ambition; from that analysis, the student will - - [ on a response form provided ]
a.
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the
course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a
complex analysis; provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
(RI 11.2)
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
“A Story That Could Be True”
If you were exchanged in the cradle and
your real mother died
without ever telling the story
then no one knows your name, and somewhere in the world
your father is lost and needs you
but you are far away.
He can never find
how true you are, how ready.
When the great wind comes
and the robberies of the rain
you stand on the corner shivering.
the people who go by –
you wonder at their calm.
They miss the whisper that runs
Any day in your mind,
“Who are you really, wanderer?” –
and the answer you have to give
no matter how dark and cold
the world around you is:
“Maybe I’m a king.”
a. What are two explicit details in the piece ? (RL 11.1)
(1) _______________________________________________________________________
(2) _______________________________________________________________________
b. What are two implicit details in the essay, and what text details support them ? (RL 11.1)
(1) implicit detail
______________________________________________________________________
supporting detail from the text
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
[ cont’d ]
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Authentic Assessment, p. 2
(2) implicit detail
______________________________________________________________________
supporting detail from the text
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
b. Determine the meaning of the following phrases from the poem. Determine the meaning from context, whether
there is a figurative meaning, or a connotative meaning. (RL 11.4)
“exchanged in the cradle”
meaning from context __________________________________________________________
figurative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
connotative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
“without ever telling the story”
meaning from context __________________________________________________________
figurative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
connotative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Authentic Assessment, p. 3
“when the great wind comes”
meaning from context __________________________________________________________
figurative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
connotative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
“you wonder at their calm”
meaning from context __________________________________________________________
figurative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
connotative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
“the whisper that runs . . . any day in your mind”
meaning from context __________________________________________________________
figurative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
connotative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
“maybe I’m a king.”
meaning from context __________________________________________________________
figurative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
connotative meaning? If so, what is it? ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Authentic Assessment, p. 4
Selection #2
Did you ever have an imaginary friend as a child, or know someone who did? Whether it is the child
who sees fairies, the inventor who envisions something before it exists, or the composer who hears a
symphony in a waterfall and then writes it, “visions” drive the world. The mystery of our imagination
allows each of us to tune in to aspects of reality that others don't see. Something may be real for us,
but not validated by the outside world, and all of us experience this feeling at some point. We live in a
reality that is surrounded by mysteries, but our culture is obsessed with explaining them away. So most
of us keep our inner dreams or fantasies to ourselves.
Some cultures embrace the "Great Mysteries" by celebrating dreams. They provide theme parks,
fantasy or science fiction movies, and dream vacations. The real and the known are actually cushioned
and made bearable by the imaginary. Dreams allow multiple ideas (even conflicting ideas) to co-exist.
We all know that the movie Night at the Museum - - where all the displays come to life between dusk
and dawn - - is pure fun! But we love to watch it, nonetheless. Fantasy gives us some breathing room
in the continuous collision of events in our literal worlds.
Anyone who has spent time making art with children or playing in nature with them has probably been
awed by the wonderful worlds of imagination they inhabit. We have all seen art that has caused us to
question the artist's sanity or our own sanity, or the sanity of our culture, or just make us laugh and
cry at the colliding emotions that have been stirred. We live for this!
We all love to feel like there is something more, something beyond the reach of what is known. Glitz
and glamour, sparkle and fantasy, royalty and red carpets - - all of it brings freshness to what has
become mundane in our lives. But it would certainly lose its charm if it were with us ALL the time. It
would become tiresome and boring - - like having to live in Disney World 24/7.
a. List three explicit details from the text, and draw three valid inferences, the latter supported by text detail. (RI 11.1)
(1) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(2) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(3) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(4) inference
______________________________________________________________________
supporting detail from the text
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Authentic Assessment, p. 5
(5) inference
______________________________________________________________________
supporting detail from the text
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
b. List two matters that the author has left uncertain. (RI 11.1)
(1) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(2) _____________________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #1
Reality vs Dreams
Reality and Dreams are two words that are characterized by their differences. Reality has validity while dreams may
be more closely related to fantasy.
Reality is something that has been existent from the past until present day. It is authentic. It exists in nature. Take
for example the common experience of birth and death. It is reality. It happened, happens and will happen until
there is no life in this mortal world. Every living born will have to die one day.
Most often, people think of dreams as experienced in sleep or maybe in a class – called day dreaming! This type of
dream can take you to a faraway place or time. Also, it may be connected to a real-life event or person. A dream
may be about non-existing things.
The word dream takes on another meaning. Dreams can be what a person “aspires to be or do.” Many of us
dream of being a movie star, a singer, a dancer, a professional athlete. These examples are called “aspirations.”
Depending on what we do with our “reality,” some of these dreams may come to be real. You may hear a person
say, “I’m going to be a doctor.” What will that person need to do to make that “dream/aspiration” a reality?
Some of us are dreamers all of the time. Others of us are dreamers some of the time. But, we all live in a REAL
world. What is up to us is to determine how we can make our dreams a reality.
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #2
1.
Processing Guide
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
List 5 explicit details that drive the story, “A Pair of Silk Stockings.”
a. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
b. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
c. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
d. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
e. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
2.
Draw 3 inferences (implications) that underscore the author’s message. Support each
inference with detail from the text, including the author’s own language.
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
c. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Attachment #2
Page 2
3.
Processing Guide
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Record at least 5 phrases (not already underlined by the editor of the text) which illustrate
one or more of the following; include the phrase and its location (page and column) in the
text.
a. figurative language meaning
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
b. connotative meaning
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
c. multiple meanings
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
other meanings _________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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page _____ column __
Attachment #2
Page 3
4.
other meanings _________________________________
Processing Guide
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Select 3 phrases that are particularly fresh, engaging or beautiful.
a. __________________________________________________________ page ____ column __
b. __________________________________________________________ page ____column __
c. __________________________________________________________ page ____ column __
Explain how these impact the tone of the piece and enhance the author’s meaning.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #3
1.
Processing Guide
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
List 5 explicit details that drive the story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Include the mundane or
routine events that trigger “his dream adventures.” What happens immediately following the
adventure.
a. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Routine event ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What happened following his “dream adventure?” __________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Routine event ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What happened following his “dream adventure?” __________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
c. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Routine event ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What happened following his “dream adventure?” __________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
d. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Routine event ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #3
Page 2
Processing Guide
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
What happened following his “dream adventure?” __________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
e. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Routine event ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What happened following his “dream adventure?” __________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2.
Draw 3 inferences (implications) that underscore the author’s message. Support each
inference with detail from the text, including the author’s own language.
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
c. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #3
Page 3
3.
Processing Guide
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Record at least 5 phrases (not already underlined by the editor of the text) which illustrate
one or more of the following; include the phrase and its location (page and column) in the
text.
a. figurative language meaning
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
b. connotative meaning
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
c. multiple meanings
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
other meanings _________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
other meanings _________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #3
Page 4
4.
Processing Guide
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Select 3 phrases that are particularly fresh, engaging or beautiful.
a. __________________________________________________________ page ____ column __
b. __________________________________________________________ page ____column __
c. __________________________________________________________ page ____ column __
Explain how these impact the tone of the piece and enhance the author’s meaning.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #4
“The History Teacher”
“The History Teacher”
Billy Collins
Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.
And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.
The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"
The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan.
The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,
while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #5
Group Report Form
“The History Teacher”
TOPIC: ______________________________________________
GROUP MEMBERS:
__________________________
_____________________________
__________________________
_____________________________
__________________________
_____________________________
List the main ideas or points of interest learned from researching your topic. You do not have to
write in complete sentences.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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
_____________________________________________________________________________
Attachment #6
Overview of King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography
Telling the story of growing up in a tiny Idaho town, Crutcher relates how “an unusual path leads from
my life as a coonskin-cap-wearing, pimply-faced, 123-pound offensive lineman with a string of
spectacularly dismal attempts at romance, to a storyteller of modest acclaim.”
His father was a bomber pilot who had settled into a small-town life of running a wholesale oil and gas
business, his mother a ghostly, drinking, chain-smoking presence who died of emphysema. Early
scenes read like Gary Paulsen’s Harris and Me (1993) or Jack Gantos’s, Jack Henry Tales.
Now a child-abuse therapist, Crutcher is clear that his awareness of social cruelty began with the
adolescent cruelty of high-school life. What might have been just a volume of funny or unsettling
anecdotes becomes a candid take on lessons learned, with a clear adult perspective.
This is a good read and a deeply moral and philosophical work with important messages about life,
death, relativity, heroism, and why bad things sometimes happen to good people. Like Gantos’s Hole in
My Life (2002), it tells a strong story to get at strong truths.
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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Attachment #7
1.
Processing Guide
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography
List 5 explicit details that drive the story, “A Pair of Silk Stockings.”
a. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
b. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
c. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
d. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
e. __________________________________________________________ page ___ column __
2.
Draw 3 inferences (implications) that underscore the author’s message. Support each
inference with detail from the text, including the author’s own language.
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
c. ____________________________________________________________________________
text detail _______________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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______________________________________________________ page ___ column __
Attachment #7
Page 2
3.
Processing Guide
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography
Record at least 5 phrases (not already underlined by the editor of the text) which illustrate
one or more of the following; include the phrase and its location (page and column) in the
text.
a. figurative language meaning
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
b. connotative meaning
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
interpretation ___________________________________
c. multiple meanings
phrase __________________________________________________________________
page _____ column __
other meanings _________________________________
phrase __________________________________________________________________
YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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page _____ column __
Attachment #7
Page 3
4.
other meanings _________________________________
Processing Guide
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography
Select 3 phrases that are particularly fresh, engaging or beautiful.
a. __________________________________________________________ page ____ column __
b. __________________________________________________________ page ____column __
c. __________________________________________________________ page ____ column __
Explain how these impact the tone of the piece and enhance the author’s meaning.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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YCS Grade 11 English / Language Arts; Unit 6 - - The Dream and the Reality
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