Where the World Began: Lawrence’s Hometown
Our home towns often have a very special place in our hearts.
Margaret Laurence felt strongly about her home town. In this
lesson, you will listen to an essay called, "Where the World
Began" by Margaret Laurence.
You will be listening for two things:
1. specific details the author uses in the essay
2. how the author has organized her ideas
Pre-Listening Activity:
Before you listen to the essay, complete the following questions, which will help you to identify
your purpose for listening.
1. The author's main idea is that her hometown formed her and became a part of who she is. If
you were to address this topic, what points might you include about your hometown?
2. Which of the following organizational patterns might you use to show that your past had an
impact on your present? (no right or wrong answer) why?
1. random series of events
2. assertion-point-conclusion
3. time order of events
4. cause and effect of events
5. comparison and contrast
During Listening Activity:
The essay has been divided into four sections. Listen to each of the sections separately and
answer the questions provided.
Section One
1. Why does the author refer to her hometown as "strange"?
2.
What words describe her "small prairie town"?
3. What is the main idea of this section?
Section Two
1. What did the author and her friends do for fun in the summer?
2. Describe one of the "oddities" that made this small town interesting.
3. What does the author mean when she says, "All of us cast stones in one shape or another?"
4. How did the author summarize her feelings about this town at age 18?
5. What image of summer does the author describe?
Section Three
1. How does the author feel about "Brittania" and "Uncle Sam"?
2. Name two things that the author does not like about this country?
3. What does the author mean when she talks about 'family' in the conclusion to this section?
Section Four
1. How does "this land" affect the author in comparison to Africa and England?
2. Why does the author believe that "this" is where her world began?
Post-Listening Activity:
Deductive/Inductive Organizational Pattern:
Another part of organization is determining whether the overall pattern of the essay is
deductive or inductive.
Deductive Organizational Pattern
Inductive Organizational Pattern
The author makes an assertion or statement, follows
this with evidence or examples, and then concludes by
building on the main statement.
The author begins by building the evidence or
examples and concludes with the thesis or main idea.
To help you determine this, consider the following question:
"At what point in the essay did you discover the author's main point?"
Instructions: Respond to the following question in a FORMAL 3 PARAGRH ESSAY format.
1. Is the overall pattern is: a) inductive or b) deductive? Then explain why you chose
your answer.
Plan your ideas here:
Where the World Began: Lawrence’s Hometown Rubric
Level
4
3
2
Comprehension
and Analysis
excellent
interpretive and
analytical skills
are clearly evident
clear understanding of
the material is shown,
but some difficulty
with analytical skills is
evident
some signs of
understanding are
seen, but difficulty
in interpretation is
evident
limited
understanding of
the essay and/or the
assignment is
shown
1
Task
Completion
all areas of this
assignment were
complete
Recall
Accuracy
recall accuracy is
excellent
all areas of this
assignment were
attempted, and most
were complete
recall accuracy is very
good
most areas of this
assignment were
attempted and some
were complete
recall accuracy is
average
some areas of this
assignment were
attempted, but none
were complete
recall accuracy is
poor