Lesson Two: “Mirror Lake”
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What's on for today and why?
Today, the students will be able to start to get involved in the novel. Though they haven't begun reading, they will be able to get a basic idea of what the novel will be about, and will be able to interact with different parts of the first chapter. The students will each be given a line from the first chapter, and will have to “toss” these lines at each other, in order to become familiar with the stylistic language of the story. After completing this exercise, we will discuss its effectiveness as a class, and will talk about the language used in the novel. If there is time, we will begin reading the first chapter as a class.
By “tossing” lines from the first chapter, the students will be able to see what Prose's style is like, and will be able to become familiar with it. The class will be working together as a team, which will allow them to form stronger bonds with each other, and will also allow them to become comfortable performing in front of their classmates. This will be beneficial in the future, as the students will be interacting with their classmates throughout the course of the novel.
What To Do:
1. Set the Scene:
Get the class into a circle. Explain the activity of “tossing lines” to them, and hand each student an index card containing a line from the first chapter in the book. Give students a few minutes to study these lines. The index cards will contain the following lines:
“Our lives were as calm and transparent as its waters “ (1)
“Then something- a pebble, a raindrop- breaks the surface and shatters the mirror” (1)
“Even the trees looked uncomfortable, naked and embarrassed...” (2)
“Margaret arched her shoulders, flung one arm over the side, and trailed her fingertips in the water” (2)
“Her silvery laughter was my prize for getting it right” (3)
“Margaret said, 'this is heaven'” (3)
“Margaret had a heart condition. A mild one, but I worried” (3)
“Smoking was the least of the things she trusted me to keep secret” (4)
“Okay. Who am I, Nico?” (5)
“Margaret said she was born too late...” (6)
“Everyone knew she was going to be a singer” (6)
“Water kissed the side of the boat” (6)
“Being somebody's laughable valentine was better than being no one's, funny or not” (7)
“So what you're saying is that in four years I'll look like you?” (8)
“They told us they'd named Margaret after a line in a poem” (8)
“It was strange how she sounded like Margaret, only hollow and checked-out...” (8)
“Don't be anyone's mirror, darling” (9)
“She always sang it differently, but it was always pure sex” (9)
“No wonder Margaret was obsessed with the past. We lived in it, in a way” (9)
“It was strange, how the music changed everything, so that, note by note, Mirror Lake began to look like one of Aaron's paintings” (10)
“...you couldn't live in a family without a lie or two as a cushion between you and the people you loved” (11)
“Our little rowboat caught a current and turned, then stopped turning” (13)
“When I looked into the sun, my sister blazed like a candle” (13)
“I already miss everyone. You, Mom, Dad. Aaron, I guess. And I'm not even gone yet” (14)
“You know I'll miss you, Nico. You know I'm sad about leaving” (15)
“The sun was trying to trick us into believing that the afternoon would last longer than it would” (15)
“Margaret said there was something holy about indecision and regret” (16)
“I would never be poetic and beautiful like Margaret” (18)
“Something made me shiver, as if I'd floated over a cold spot” (19)
“Where is she, Nico? Go find her” (19)
2. Toss It Up:
After giving the students a couple of minutes to study their lines, one student will be given a bean bag. That student will recite their line, and then toss the bean bag to a classmate of their choice. This will occur for one round. Then, another beanbag will be introduced. This process will repeat until the noise becomes chaotic. Once this occurs, the activity will end and the class will discuss it as a whole.
3. What Just Happened?
As a class, discuss the effectiveness of the “tossing lines” activity. What type of language does Prose use? What do the students think is happening in the first chapter, after listening to these lines? How are these predictions different from the ones the students made in their journal entries last night? The teacher should steer the class discussion towards talking about the usage of metaphors within Prose's writing, and how these metaphors could potentially affect the plot of the story. What does the lake represent? Why is it important? If there is time after this discussion, the class will begin reading Chapter 1.
4. Homework:
The students will finish reading Chapter 1 for homework, and will complete their first music journal entry. They will be asked to consider the following questions, but can also create their journal entry without them:
1. What line were you given to repeat? What did you make of it at first?
2. Now that you have read the first chapter, does your line make more sense? Where does it fall in the chapter?
3. How does the song you have chosen fit in with your line? With the chapter? Explain.
How Did it Go?
Now, the students have had their first opportunity to perform in front of their classmates. They have familiarized themselves with the language used in the novel, and have worked together as a class to complete an assignment. By now, the students should be extremely interested in reading the first chapter, if they haven't skipped ahead already. Hopefully, a connection has been formed between the students, their peers, and Goldengrove.
The students should be completing their second journal entries; they should be picking a song to go along with the first chapter, and describing why they have chosen it. In addition, the students should also be discussing the events that occurred in the first chapter, and will hopefully be asking questions as to the plot of the story. The students will receive either a check plus for extraordinary work, a check for completing the assignment, a check minus for poor effort, or a zero for an incompletion of the task.
