Blogger #4 - Chloe Chen- Period 2 - 2/23/2021 - Day A
Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers' choices that
create a narrative voice?
Do Now: (class discussion)
What does it mean to you when you hear the phrase: "to come of age"?
As a class, we discussed that “coming of age” reminds us of development and being able to reach a certain maturity. (Ayah) To come of age would be somewhat of a metaphor because we are earning maturity and learning to voice our opinions. We gain experience and knowledge to make our own decisions and have a certain point of self-awareness. It is like “a new stage” with more freedom and additional realization.
Typically, the phrase “coming of age” is used to describe different teen movies because it is where we, as people transform. In our teenage years, we tend to face situations that we have never seen before. It is when we transition into adulthood and experience the real world. We start to take on new perspectives and meet people who are completely different compared to us. It’s special because although we may not have it all figured out yet, we learned more about ourselves than we have before.
The double-entry journal:
The double-entry journal is used in high school and college-level courses to help understand the materials that you encounter. It is a note-taking strategy and connecting experiences between the characters and ourselves. It is in the format of a T chart, where we put in text analysis, reflection, questions, and opinions. We may include various commentary and personal opinions. Down below is how the entry journal is supposed to look like:
| “Text” (The book says...) | Analysis/Question/Opinion (I say...) |
| If you are having trouble thinking of what to write, try using these stems: I really like / dislike this part because… I wonder why… ? The diction / imagery creates a tone of… This quote shows the narrator's / character’s voice by… I predict that… This reminds me of the time when I… If it was me, I would… Wow! I can’t believe... |
A narrative voice is a narrator created by the writer. Depending on the angle the audience is reading the story from, there are different types of narrative voice.
There are three types of narrative voice:
First Person:
- When the narrator speaks directly to the audience
- Uses I, me, we, mine...
Second Person:
- When the audience is implied as the narrator or the writer address you as a character
- Uses you, yours...
Third Person:
- When the narrator tells the story from a distance
- Uses he, she, they, them...
- The writer may focus us on one character’s thoughts and feelings to understand them better
Additional sources to understand narrative voice:
First person vs. Second person vs. Third person - Rebekah Bergman
Spirit Reading:
The class read through a scene from Speak, the narrator is Melinda and she is dealing with her first day at school. We followed the directions below to annotate the scene:
“DIRECTIONS: As you read, highlight quotes in the text that make you think; try to pay particular attention to diction (What word choices does the speaker make? Formal or informal?), imagery, (What words and phrases include sensory details to create images?) and syntax (Are the sentences short, long, simple, complex?). Then, use the chart to write a variety of responses to the text.”
From Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
1 I found my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of
fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.
2 I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the
acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.
3 The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a
cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.
4 I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast.
There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.
5 The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a
bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.
6 Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the
entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.
7 I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no,
Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding onto a football.
8 Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”
9 Me:
10 Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep
my mouth shut.
11 Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”
12 Me:
13 It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about
communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.
14 Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for
twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”
Think, Pair, Share:
In our groups, we chose four of our highlighted quotes and reacted to them in our graphic organizers/double-entry journal. We made sure that each quote played a part in the story's diction, syntax, and imagery.
First, we copied and pasted the quotes from the scene into box 1 with quotation marks.
(If you are inserting a section and it is too long, you can use ellipses to shorten the quote)
For example: “The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted...and a cookie.”
Then, we commented about how we felt about that certain scene in box 2. Why did this scene stand out? How did you react? How does it affect the story's diction, imagery, or syntax?
Finally, we shared our doc with our partner and they reflected on our commentary in the last box. We reflected on their commentary on their doc. Did they agree or disagree? Why? What did you think of the scene?
| The book says… (box 1) | I say… (box 2) | Comments from your partner: |
When we shared out our opinions as a class, we realized that many people had different takes on the same scene. Some people had similar views and it’s all about perspective and personal experiences.
One scene that stood out to me was “Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.” This sentence makes the passage seem informal because she used words that are not necessarily professional. For example, the word, “Shut your trap...crap” This phrase sounds like we know her very well and that’s why she isn't so formal. We are inside of her head and understanding how she feels.
Individual work
Anderson was 38 years old when Speak was published, yet she captures a teen girl’s voice through her diction, syntax, and imagery. To explore how, choose three “quotes” you think sound particularly authentic to a teen's voice and respond to the following “2” bullets:
- Does Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue seem authentic? Why or why not?
- What inferences can students draw based on her voice? From her voicelessness?
|
Respond to the 2 Bullets: |
We responded to the box individually, allowing us to reflect on how the writer brings out her inner teenage self through monologues. Responding to the first bullet, I think that Melinda's sarcastic interior monologue seems somewhat authentic because although regular teens don’t use vocabulary words like she does, most of her emotions like anger and embarrassment make her more like a teenager. It shows how her emotions affected the way she acted and teenagers run on emotions. They act based on how they feel at the moment, purely on impulse. It makes the story so much more relatable and brings out the inner teenager within the narrator.
Reflection:
Throughout today’s lesson, I learned to use the double-entry journal effectively. I practiced how to use it as a way to reflect on my thoughts and comments. I also learned that working together has a big impact on perspective because there can be so many views on a single scene of a story. The narrative voice has a big impact on the way we tell and receive stories, it affects the audience’s connection with the characters. I learned to use narrative voice because then I can manipulate the way I want my audience to receive my story. Using different perspectives and learning to use the double-entry journal, I can connect with different characters and try to understand them.
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