The Bluest Eye Character Comparison Charts

Character Comparison Charts 

Claudia’s Mother	Pecola’s Mother
Page Number:  Quotation from the Text:
What is Claudia’s Mother Doing?
What is Claudia’s Mother Saying?
Analysis:

March 2, 2015 - March 6, 2015 Agenda for Contemporary Composition

Monday, March 2nd:

First Period:
8:00 - 8:20

Groups: 

Reader: the one who reads

Questioner: the one who poses the questions

Verifier: one who checks to see the information is accurate

Recorder: the one writes down the answers

Break into the following groups: 

Cynthia Barragan

Kamron Orange 

Jalen Owens 

Bianca Vazquez

Andrea Chavez

Araksi Fesilyn

Jose Mendoza

Katia Ramos 

Stephanie Delgado 

Karla Gutierrez

Marine Trtryan

Renatta Chavez 

Astrid Duarte

Chelsy Velis 

Justin Pivaral

Tereza Sahakian 

Christian Flores 

Maria Kivokian 

Eddie Larita 

Audrey Spain

Robert Ford 

Jasmine Newman 

Yutzil Villares

China Phillips

You may decide who will do the reading; who will pose the questions and lead the discussion; who will check to verify the information is correct (check the text); who will write down the information 

Your task is to read the first twelve pages of The Great Gatsby and establish the characters, the setting, the thematic strands, and any figurative language you may encounter.

Everyone will switch roles, but the first person designated as the reader will begin reading.

The person designated as the questioner will ask questions and lead discussion regarding the text. However, everyone is expected to participate and may ask and answer questions, and lead the discussion as well. 

The person designated as the verifier will check the text to verify that the answers are correct; however, she or he may also ask and answer questions and lead the discussion as well. 

The person designated as the recorder will write the group's findings and turn in; however, she or he may also ask and answer questions and lead the discussion as well.

Some information about the structure of THE GREAT GATSBY:

The story of THE GREAT GATSBY is narrated by another character who tells the story in flashback. This narrative device is called a "FRAME NARRATIVE".  The narrator is NOT the lead character or protagonist; the narrator recounts the events in the protagonist's journey, makes comments and provides context about the events or characters, and provides moral judgments. The presence of a narrator draws the reader into the story and provides insights which might be closed to us if there were not a narrator.

Some Guiding Questions to Get You Started: 

1. Who is the narrator of the story? How might his character, his values, and experience color his telling of the story and the way we see the other characters in the book?

2. The clash between two geographical areas, specifically the East vs. the West, plays a prominent role and provides a recurring theme in the book. Find examples of how geography plays an important role in the story.

3. Pay attention to class in THE GREAT GATSBY.  This is a book about the clash between "Old Money" and "New Money" and the poor; the 1 Percenters versus the ones whose lives were destroyed by the 1 Percenters in their quest to make more and more money. 

Create a Character Log
Create a Figurative Language Log
Create a Chasing the Motif


________________________________________________________________________________

2nd Period:
THE BLUEST EYE; Prologue to page 17

Symbols:
Marigolds (picture of Marigolds)
The constant renewal of nature. Claudia and Frieda sacrifice their money and marigold seeds to plant the seeds deep in the earth of Lorain, Ohio, so that Pecola's baby will develop and be born healthy; however, the soil of Lorain, Ohio is inhospitable to Pecola, and her father's rape and impregnation of her perverts the healthy renewal of nature.

Break into the following groups:
Ray Reyes

Ty Young 

Jessianne Banegas

Maci Greene

Lupo Benatti

Mary Rose Campos

Chantal Hernandez

Rebecca Olguin

Ruth Zacarias

Joseph Khudeda 

Clarissa Meza-Carrillo
Ivette Priego

Cat Mazzotta

Christian Polanco

Taraz Welch
Davion Cook

Tigran Minasyan 

Jesus Alfaro

Tyler Lynch

Jahayra Rosas
Christopher Ake 

Maria Torres 

Kona Jackson

Pamela Lara

Ricardo Quintilla

Marlinda Rivas 

Guiding Questions:
Autumn (picture of autumn)

1. What do we normally associate with autumn?

2. Describe the parents of Claudia and Frieda. Find specific examples of actions by Claudia's mother and list them in the Character Graphic Organizer.

Character Comparison Charts 

Claudia’s Mother	Pecola’s Mother
Page Number:  Quotation from the Text:
What is Claudia’s Mother Doing?
What is Claudia’s Mother Saying?
Analysis:

Tuesday, March 3rd: 

Period 1: 

Watch six minute video on the life of Zelda Fitzgerald.

Compare and Contrast Character Analysis in THE GREAT GATSBY

Page 7:

Analyze the passage on page 7 starting with, “He had changed since his New Haven years….” And ending with “….men at New Haven who hated his guts.”

Write the phrases and words which describe Tom.  Here are some phrases and words to get you started:

1.     “Sturdy” 2. “Hard mouth” 3. “Supercilious manner”

Page 8:

Analyze the passage on page 8 starting with, “The only completely stationary object in the room…..” and ending with “…two young women ballooned slowly to the ground.”

Write the phrases and words which describe the room and the women, Daisy and Jordan. Here are some phrases to get you started:

1.     “…enormous couch on which two women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon.”

Write a brief paragraph comparing the words, the phrases and imagery comparing Tom to the two young women, Daisy and Jordan. 

For tonight, finish reading Chapter 1 in THE GREAT GATSBY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Period 2:

Vocabulary Game
Board Race: Words from The Bluest Eye, Prologue through Page 17

THE BLUEST EYE; pages 15 – 18

Acted out the personification of paragraph on page 15, starting with “Their conversation is like a gently wicked dance….” And ending with “punctuated with warm-pulsed laughter….”

Vocabulary:

Irrevocable

Complementing

Metaphysical

Hem

Consolidate

Peripheral

Tomorrow: go over the metaphor at the bottom of page 17

Wednesday, March 3rd: 

Period 1:
Finish your paragraph from yesterday comparing Fitzgerald's description of Tom to his description of Daisy and Jordan.

Pass out the Figurative Language Handout: 

Figurative Language Analysis:
Personfication
Metaphor
Simile
Imagery 

Break into your groups and look for examples of figurative language in the first chapter of THE GREAT GATSBY. Write the quotation using the figurative language; write what is being compared and to what; write what the comparison reveals about the object being compared. 

Finish for homework!

Pass out the Symbols/Motifs handouts

Begin reading Chapter 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Period 2:

Break into your groups

Pass out the Figurative Language graphic organizer. Read pages 17 through 32 and find examples of figurative language. Write the examples and what the object is being compared to; explain the effect that is achieved through the comparison. 

Personification: giving human qualities to inanimate objects 

Metaphors: the comparison of one thing to another without using like or as, particularly something which is concrete and symbolically is representative of something abstract. May also be two objects which share a common quality.  

Similes: the comparison between two unlike things using like or as. 

Imagery: words which  appeal to our physical senses. The words may create strong visual images so that we see on our own movie screen inside our heads the images created by the author's words, but imagery also includes words the writer has used which help us "hear", and "feel" and "taste" the scene the writer has created. 

Thursday, March 5th:

1^st Period:

THE GREAT GATSBY

Pair up

Reread last night’s reading (finish Chapter 2)

Vocabulary:

Regal: like royalty; majestic

THE GREAT GATSBY, CHAPTER 2, FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Find and write examples of figurative language from the pages of 27 - 38:

Everyone should write on her/his own sheet of paper

Metaphor: comparing two unlike things not using like or as

Simile: comparing two unlike things using like or as

Personification: giving human characteristics to inanimate objects

Imagery: language that appeals to the five senses. The words create a rich image of the scene which plays like a movie in the mind of the reader. The words or language create the visual scene in the mind of the reader. The words also create the sounds, the smells, the taste, the feel of the scene.

Explain what are the two things being compared

Explain how that reveals the character of the thing or person begin compared

Example:

Page 27: “He passed his hand over the brown washrag of the coat.” Metaphor: comparing the dog’s coat to a brown washrag.

Imagery: This creates in the mind of the reader the rough texture and appearance of the dog’s coat, likening it to the texture and appearance of a washcloth.

Page 28: “At 158^th Street the cab stopped at one slice in a long white cake of apartment-houses.”

Metaphor: Comparing the apartments to a white cake and the individual apartment to a slice of the white cake.

Imagery: The descriptive words create an image in the mind of the reader of the white ornate apartment building.

Page 29: “The living room was crowded to the doors….over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles.”

Allusion: It is a reference to the historical period of Louis XV’s court, with its opulence, its luxury and its “damn the poor, let them eat cake” attitude of self-absorption of the rich.  

Minimum of ten and must have examples from each page.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Period 2:

Pair up

Reread pages 20 – 32

Find examples of figurative language in those pages:

Similes: A comparison of two unlike things using like or as.

Metaphors: A comparison of two unlike things not using like or as.

Personification: giving human qualities to inanimate objects.

Imagery: Words used by writers to create scenes – like watching movies in your mind – with strong words which appeal to the five senses: visual, aural (hearing), taste, touch and smell.  The words create in the minds of the readers scenes where they see the scenes as movies, with sounds, with taste, with touch, with smells.

Allusion: Reference to other literature, art, and/or historical eras.

Mnemonic: having to do with memory and tricks to help with memorization

Minimum of ten examples and must span pages 20 – 32.

Write the page number

Write the quotation

Write the figurative language

Write the two objects being compared

Page 21:  “The emotion of years of unfulfilled longing preened in their voices.”

Personification: emotion of unfulfilled longing preens.

Explanation: Emotion is given the ability to preen, which is a human (or even an animal) activity

Vocabulary:

Preen:  to congratulate, or pride oneself on something.

Acridness: bitterness, a chemical bitterness to the taste of

Page 22: “The lowness of the stool made for my body, the security and warmth of Big Mama’s kitchen, the smell of the lilacs, the sound of the music, and since it would be good to have all my sense engaged, the taste of a peach, perhaps, afterward.”

Pamela!!!! Imagery! Morrison’s words engage the reader’s five senses  - feel (warmth), smell (the lilacs), sound (music) and taste (peach).
Connotations:
Tone: 

Page 22: “….slipping around in the zinc galvanized tub, no time for soaking…make curtains of soapy water careen down between the legs.”

Imagery:
Connotations:
Tone:

Friday, March 6th: 

Friday, March 6^th:

1^st Period:

No one here today due to dance show.

Gave them twenty minutes to work on last night’s homework: figurative language in Chapter 2 of THE GREAT GATSBY

Passed out and went over the “Character Chart for THE GREAT GATSBY”; discussed Nick Carraway:  analyzed his biases, whether he is a reliable narrator, affiliation or lack thereof with Tom; the fact Tom felt comfortable in introducing Myrtle, his mistress to Nick, his wife’s cousin.

Nick’s attitude revealed by his tone describing Myrtle, the love nest she shares with Tom, and the people who attend the party in the love nest that Sunday afternoon. 

Read pages 39 – 41; discussion: comprehension, cultural references: Rolls Royce, Castile, gypsies: Broadway dancers

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Period 2:

No one here today due to dance show.

Collected last night’s homework on figurative language in Chapter 2, pages 22 – 32.

Passed out Figurative Language Analysis paper for THE BLUEST EYE

Read pages 33 – 34.

Discussion: gypsies,

Analysis: Page 33 “They looked out occasionally….hiding the nakedness that stood in their eyes.”

Vocabulary:

Foist: to force itself on someone

Parlor: front room in a home used for entertainment; a room in a building used for business purposes such as a pizza parlor, a beauty parlor, an ice cream parlor.

Novice: a beginner, someone who is still learning how to do a particular skill.