Lesson Eleven: “Pistachio”
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What's on for today and why?
For today, the students have read Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen. These two chapters deal with the culmination of Aaron and Nico's relationship; as Nico finds out, Aaron isn't exactly everything that she thought he was. Nico spends the Fourth of July with Aaron, and bounces back and forth with him with commiserating about Margaret, and trying to fight her attraction towards him. Aaron wants to see Nico the next day, and asks her to wear Margaret's shirt, which she complies to. Upon seeing Aaron at his house, everything changes for Nico. Her feelings for Aaron do a complete 180; Nico goes from being completely attracted to Aaron, to the point where she was willing to lose her own identity, to finding herself again, and realizing that hanging out with Aaron may not be the best idea for her recovery. This is an extremely valuable lesson for Nico to learn, and could be said to be the point at which her and Margaret become two separate people again.
Today, the students will be taking a look at clips of the real Nico in concert, and will be comparing the personality of the real Nico to the personality that was forced upon the Nico in the story. After taking a look at both Nico's, the students will be logging in to their LiveJournals, and posting an entry regarding their observations. It is important that students are able to use the technology that is provided for them within the classroom; by using YouTube to look at video clips and posting their reactions to their LiveJournals, the students are learning how to successfully incorporate technology into their learning schemas, and are also able to observe how having a visual aid may help them in trying to analyze a text.
What to Do:
1. The Computer Lab:
Without discussing the assigned reading at all, the students will go straight into the computer lab. There, the teacher will focus their attention to the front of the room, and will show them a clip of the real Nico herself, in concert. Once this clip is over, the teacher will tell the students to do a little more research on Nico; using YouTube and search engines, the students should acquaint themselves with Nico's work, and get a better feel for her personality. Once they have done this, the students will then log on to their LiveJournals, and will post their reactions to Nico's work. They will compare the real Nico to Prose's version of Nico; they will discuss the similarities and differences between the two, and will use examples from the two chapters they have read. Then, they will focus on how those two Nico's are different from Aaron's vision of Nico, paying special attention to the pistachio ice cream scene, which starts on page 223. Did Aaron ever see Nico for who she really was? Or did he try to turn Nico into a miniature version of Margaret? Why did Nico allow this to happen, and what helped her snap back to reality? How do you think Nico feels now?
For the last ten minutes of the period, the class will discuss their findings and insights. They will talk about the end of Aaron and Nico's relationship, and what it means for both characters. Do you think Margaret would be happy with the way things ended? Why or why not? The class will also make predictions as to what they think will happen in the end of the story. In addition, the students will find out their group members for their final projects, which will be presented on the Thursday and Friday of that week.
Homework:
The students will read Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen of the novel, and will post their tenth journal entries. When reading these chapters, they should keep the following questions in mind:
1. Has Nico finally gotten past her grief? Explain.
2. Do you really think Margaret wants Nico to give Aaron something, or does Nico do it all on her own? Why does she pretend to be Margaret again after her altercation with Aaron?
3. How does Aaron completely deteriorate? What does Nico do? What should she have done?
4. In the end, Nico comes clean about Aaron to her parents. How do they react?
5. What do you think of the story's ending? Do you think it should have ended differently? If so, how and why?
How Did it Go?
Today, the students were able to come to their own conclusions about what happened in these chapters, rather than analyzing them as a class. Using the technology they had available to them, they were able to do their own research, and speculate over the main themes in the book. Their exploration of the real Nico allowed the students to analyze questions of identity, and gave them a basis for which to make their final predictions and conclusions about the novel. Hopefully, they are eager to see the ending, and are curious to see what they will be doing in their groups for their final projects. Both the journal entry done in class and the one done at home will count for a homework grade, and will be given either check pluses, checks, check minuses, or a zero, based on the amount of effort put in to the assignments.
