Google Docs Format
Students read and analyze the lesson excerpt, focusing on how the author establishes tone through specific word choices.
1. Review Vocabulary
- alpha male (n.) – a male animal having the highest rank in a dominance hierarchy
- inured (adj.) – accustomed to something, especially something unpleasant
2. Read closely
In this passage, analyze how word choice impacts tone.
- Read “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell, pp. 240–243 (from “Stage 4: As a more thorough understanding of the host culture is acquired” to “The jazz band struck up a tune”). This excerpt describes events leading up to the ball and the girls’ first experience at the ball.
3. Answer questions
Answers can be simple phrases, you do not need to use full sentences — I’m primarily assessing your comprehension of the text.
- What does the Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock predict will happen to the girls in Stage 4?
- How do Jeanette’s questions on page 240 relate to the Stage 4 epigraph?
- How do the questions on page 240 contribute to Jeanette’s development as a character?
- How does the interaction between Jeanette and Mirabella on page 240 contribute to each character’s development?
- How do Claudette’s interactions with Jeanette develop her character?
- How does the interaction between Jeanette, Mirabella, and Claudette develop one of the text’s central ideas?
- Analyze Claudette’s tone in describing her brothers on page 241.
- How does Claudette describe Mirabella at the ball?
- How does Claudette’s description of Mirabella establish her attitude toward about St. Lucy’s?
- How does Russell use specific details to establish Claudette’s tone on pages 242–243?
4. Short essay response (quick write)
- Lesson 11. How does Russell establish tone in this excerpt?
Include this lesson’s vocabulary wherever possible to develop the topic through the use of well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient evidence. Use your Short Response Rubric and Checklist to guide your written responses. Send in your responses to eharris@tec-coop.org!
5. Independent Work
Preview the paragraphs of Stage 4 that you did not read during class, pages 243–245, (from “The time has come to do the Sausalito” to “As far as I can recollect, that was our last communal howl”). Annotate for words and phrases that establish tone, and write a brief response to the following prompt:
- How does the author establish tone in the second half of the Stage 4 narrative?
Use vocabulary wherever possible and use the Short Response Rubric and Checklist to guide your written responses.