Lesson Ten: “Heart Trouble”
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What's on for today and why?
For today, the students have read Chapters Eleven and Twelve, which delve in to matters of the heart. Nico finally realizes that her mother is addicted to prescription pills, and is forced to deal with the reality of her mother's deterioration. The family manages to band together, somehow, long enough to visit a cardiologist about Nico's possible heart condition. Though she is told that there is nothing medically wrong with her, between her family, her despair over losing Margaret, and her anxiety over Aaron, her “condition” lies much deeper. Unfortunately, the “happy family” doesn't last, and Nico continues to try and find ways to see Aaron, without being detected. Though she is less than thrilled at the potential relationship she has with her father, Nico turns to Elaine in order to plan her escape for the Fourth of July.
Today, the students will look at the hospital scene in Chapter Eleven from an outsider's point of view. The students will read through the scene again, and will write a “commentary” of sorts through Margaret's point of view; pretending that they are omniscient, the students will play the role of Margaret, and will create commentary based on the occurrences in the hospital scene. In essence, the students will be taking the role of the “staircase spirit”, and will be able to react to both the actual events that occur, and the thoughts that Nico has in her head. Character perspective is an essential part of understanding any novel; having the students take the perspective of one of the characters gives them an insight to both how that character would react in a given situation, and their perspective on the events occurring in the story.
What To Do:
1. Discussion of Homework:
The class will discuss Chapters Eleven and Twelve as a class, using the prompt questions as a starting point. The class will discuss the revelation that Nico has about her mother's addiction, and how it affects her (if at all). They will talk about how the family pretends to be “normal” long enough for Nico to go to her doctor's appointment, in order to find out the status of her “medical condition”. This will be touched on later in the class; after a brief discussion of the hospital visit, the class would move on to discussing Nico's feelings for Aaron. Are they her own feelings now, or does her connection to Aaron still revolve around Margaret? How does she feel about playing “the Margaret” card in order to see Aaron, and how has her personality changed? Does lying to everyone affect her, or is her time with Aaron more important than any lie she could tell? After this discussion, the class will move on to the activity for the day.
2. The Staircase Spirit:
The students will be told that they will be writing a commentary of the hospital scene, from Margaret's perspective. Individually, the students will re-read the doctor's appointment scene, which takes place from pages 177-184. Then, using Margaret's voice, the students will write a commentary of the events that occur within the scene. They will be able to comment on any aspect of the scene, from the actual events that take place, to the thoughts that Nico has inside her head. This commentary does not have to be long, but should be thorough; every aspect of the scene should be addressed, and examples should be given when necessary. Then, in a short paragraph, the students should explain why they commented the way they did, and what they thought the point of the assignment was. This will be collected, and should take the remainder of the period; if the students finish before the period is over, they will be allowed to begin reading Chapter Thirteen.
Voxopop:
The students will also be given a handout, explaining the first part of their homework assignment for that evening. Over the weekend, the students will be responsible for setting up a Voxopop account, and creating a voice thread regarding the two chapters they have to read for homework. The voice thread should be around a minute long, and should encompass all of their insights and feelings about Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen, along with any predictions they may have for the end of the book. The handout will appear as follows:
Voxopop!
By now, you should be familiar with creating voice recordings based on the reading; however, this is a whole new twist. You will be signing up for Voxopop, a website that incorporates voice technology into the classroom; you will be creating a “voice thread” as a reaction to reading chapters Thirteen and Fourteen; this voice thread should be no longer than a minute, and should encompass any insights, feelings, and predictions you have, regarding both those two chapters, and the end of the novel. Be sure to listen to your classmates' posts, as they may be valuable to you for future assignments. Here are the directions:
1. Go to www.voxopop.com. Click “sign up, join in” and fill out the required information.
2. After doing this, click the “explore” tab at the top of the page. Go to “search talkgroups”, and search for “Ms. Brown's 11th Grade English Class”. You should be taken to this page. This is our class page, and we will use it for any future assignments given on Voxopop.
3. If you are the first person to post, create a new thread entitled “Goldengrove, Chapters Eleven and Twelve”. Hit the “record a message” button, and record your post. You can do this as many times as you like. When you finally think you have your ideal post, hit “submit.” That's it, you're done! Just be sure to check back at the site and listen to your classmates' posts, for further insights.
4. Homework:
For homework, the students will read Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen, and will complete their ninth journal entries. In addition, they will post their reactions to these two chapters on Voxopop, by Sunday night at 9pm. When reading these chapters, the students will do so with the following questions in mind:
1. Do you think Nico may be wrong about Elaine? Is Elaine really Nico's father's lover, or is she just a woman scorned? Explain.
2. What does Aaron ask Nico to do? Why does she comply, and how does it make her feel?
3. How are Aaron and Nico keeping Margaret “alive”? How has this obsession with remembering her changed them both?
4. Analyze the passage on page 210, starting with “a volley”. What is this paragraph really talking about?
5. Aaron introduces Nico to Nico the singer. How are the two Nicos similar? How are they different?
6. How do things turn out with Aaron, and how does Nico find herself in the end?
How Did it Go?
Today, the students were able to put themselves in the shoes of a character that is no longer alive in the story; though her presence is everywhere, she no longer exists. The students were able to see the story through Margaret's point of view, and were able to tap into the differences between her personality and Nico's. This will become more important as the book draws to an end. Character perspective gives the students an opportunity to flex their imagination and creative skills, two elements that are extremely important when trying to be original and inventive. They were also able to get a better understanding of the occurrences in the story, as they were able to look at the connections between people from the perspective of the person who was connecting them. This exercise is good practice for writing critical lens essays, as it can be used as an invention strategy in order to create a topic to write about. The commentary that the students created in class will be graded the same as the journals, and will be given either a check plus, a check, a check minus, or a zero, based on the amount of effort put in. In addition, the Voxopop assignments will be given either a check or a zero, based on completion of the assignment.
