Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Project two notes a student might send to a principal. Both were written for this lesson.

   Warm-Up Prompt

   Note A: "Please keep the library open until 5:00. Thank you." Note B: "Every afternoon at 3:15, a group of us sits on the front steps waiting for rides, with homework and nowhere to do it. You tell us that reading comes first at this school. Keeping the library open until 5:00 would let us prove you right." What does the writer want in both notes? Where does the writer of Note B stand, and what does Note B do that Note A does not?

   Students usually see that the purpose is the same (a later closing time) but that Note B shows the writer's point of view (a student stuck outside) and uses the principal's own words to make the request hard to refuse. Name the three terms of the standard: point of view (where the author stands), purpose (what the author wants the audience to think, feel or do) and rhetoric (the choices the author makes to get it). RI.9-10.6 asks students to find the first two and explain how the third advances them.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: Three questions. Give students the first table. Stress that "to persuade" is never a complete purpose: persuade whom, of what, to do what?

   Three questions to ask of any argument or speech

   Question	What to look for	Sentence frame
   Point of view: where does the author stand?	Who is speaking, for whom, and what the speaker believes about the subject; pronouns such as I, we, you and they	The author speaks as ___ and sees ___ as ___.
   Purpose: what does the author want?	Stated aims (I want, I ask), requests and commands; what the audience should think, feel or do by the end	The author wants the audience to ___.
   Rhetoric: how does the author try to get it?	Appeals, structures and word choices (second table)	By ___ (choice), the author ___ (effect), which advances the purpose of ___.

   Rhetorical choices that can advance a purpose

   Choice	What it looks like	How it can serve the purpose
   Appeal to credibility (ethos)	The speaker shows honesty, experience or good character	Listeners accept claims from a speaker they trust
   Appeal to emotion (pathos)	Concrete losses, suffering, hopes, family	Makes the audience care enough to act
   Appeal to reason (logos)	Reasons, evidence, if-then statements, cause and effect	Makes the conclusion seem to follow
   Naming an opposing view	"Some of you think ..." followed by a reply	Removes an objection before it blocks the purpose
   Analogy	A familiar case set beside an unfamiliar one	Lets the audience judge the new case by rules it already accepts
   Repetition and parallel structure	The same opening or pattern several times in a row	Builds a case item by item and makes it easy to remember
   Rhetorical question	A question whose answer is obvious	The audience supplies the conclusion itself
   Concession	Granting a point to the other side	Shows fairness, so the remaining demand looks reasonable
   Irony	Saying one thing while meaning another	Mocks a view by pretending to hold it; the stated purpose differs from the real one

   Part 2: The speaker and the occasion. In 1877 the government ordered Joseph's band of Nez Percés out of the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon and onto a reservation in Idaho. When fighting broke out that summer, the U.S. Army pursued Joseph's band and other Nez Perce bands across Idaho and Montana. Joseph surrendered that October in Montana to the army officer he calls General Miles (Nelson Miles, then a colonel), who promised the band could return to the Northwest. Instead the government sent them to Kansas and then to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). In early 1879 Joseph came to Washington to plead his people's case, and the North American Review printed his account that April. Read Passage 1 aloud and work through the examples with Diagram 1.

   1My friends, I have been asked to show you my heart. I am glad to have a chance to do so. I want the white people to understand my people. Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake. I will tell you all about our people, and then you can judge whether an Indian is a man or not. I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell you in my way how the Indian sees things. The white man has more words to tell you how they look to him, but it does not require many words to speak the truth. What I have to say will come from my heart, and I will speak with a straight tongue. Ah-cum-kin-i-ma-me-hut (the Great Spirit) is looking at me, and will hear me.

   2My name is In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat (Thunder traveling over the Mountains). I am chief of the Wal-lam-wat-kin band of Chute-pa-lu, or Nez Percés (nose-pierced Indians). I was born in eastern Oregon, thirty-eight winters ago. My father was chief before me. When a young man, he was called Joseph by Mr. Spaulding, a missionary. He died a few years ago. There was no stain on his hands of the blood of a white man. He left a good name on the earth. He advised me well for my people.

   • Stated purpose and point of view

     "I want the white people to understand my people." (paragraph 1)

     Result: Joseph states his purpose outright: he wants understanding. His point of view is that of a chief speaking for his own people ("my people") to listeners outside it ("the white people"), and he promises to tell things "in my way." The pronouns frame the speech: I and my people on one side, you on the other.

   • Naming a belief in order to answer it

     "Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake." (paragraph 1)

     Result: Joseph states the view he expects some listeners to hold, then rejects it in five words. The next sentence gives the listeners a role: "then you can judge whether an Indian is a man or not." The purpose is now sharper than understanding. He sets out to prove his people's humanity and leaves the verdict to the audience, which makes it harder for them to refuse it.

   • Credibility (ethos) through plain speech

     "The white man has more words to tell you how they look to him, but it does not require many words to speak the truth." Then: "I will speak with a straight tongue." (paragraph 1)

     Result: Joseph turns a possible weakness, fewer words than his listeners, into a strength: few words, honest words. He also names a witness, the Great Spirit, who "is looking at me, and will hear me." Listeners who trust the speaker are more likely to accept the account that follows, so the credibility serves the purpose.

   • Credentials that answer an expected charge

     "My father was chief before me." ... "There was no stain on his hands of the blood of a white man. He left a good name on the earth." (paragraph 2)

     Result: Paragraph 2 reads like a list of facts, but each fact does rhetorical work: the speaker is a lawful chief from a family with a peaceful record. The image of a "stain" of blood tells listeners there is none to hide, so the complaints that follow will sound like those of a fair man, not an enemy.

   Part 3: Put it together. Model one complete answer on the board: "Joseph speaks as a chief who knows that his listeners may see his people as less than human. His purpose is to have them judge 'whether an Indian is a man or not' and decide that he is. By naming the belief and calling it 'a great mistake,' he answers the objection before it can stop his listeners from hearing the rest." Point out the three parts: point of view, purpose, and a rhetorical choice tied to the purpose with quoted words.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Passage 2 and complete Activity 1 (Analogy Map). Their question: what does Joseph want his listeners to conclude about the treaty, and how does the story of the horses make that conclusion hard to escape? Circulate and push past labels: "It is an analogy" names the tool; "The horse story lets property owners see the treaty as a sale by someone who did not own what he sold" explains how it serves the purpose.

   1For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water. They stole a great many horses from us, and we could not get them back because we were Indians. The white men told lies for each other. They drove off a great many of our cattle. Some white men branded our young cattle so they could claim them. We had no friend who would plead our cause before the law councils. It seemed to me that some of the white men in Wallowa were doing these things on purpose to get up a war. They knew that we were not strong enough to fight them. I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed. We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white man would not let us alone. We could have avenged our wrongs many times, but we did not. Whenever the Government has asked us to help them against other Indians, we have never refused. When the white men were few and we were strong we could have killed them all off, but the Nez Percés wished to live at peace.

   2If we have not done so, we have not been to blame. I believe that the old treaty has never been correctly reported. If we ever owned the land we own it still, for we never sold it. In the treaty councils the commissioners have claimed that our country had been sold to the Government. Suppose a white man should come to me and say, "Joseph, I like your horses, and I want to buy them." I say to him, "No, my horses suit me, I will not sell them." Then he goes to my neighbor, and says to him: "Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell." My neighbor answers, "Pay me the money, and I will sell you Joseph's horses." The white man returns to me, and says, "Joseph, I have bought your horses, and you must let me have them." If we sold our lands to the Government, this is the way they were bought.

   Debrief with three questions. (1) Paragraph 1 lists wrongs and then turns to what the Nez Percés chose not to do: "We could have avenged our wrongs many times, but we did not." Why put the restraint right before the argument about the land? (It builds credibility: the speaker is a man who kept the peace, so his claim is not a threat.) (2) Which sentence states the claim of paragraph 2? ("If we ever owned the land we own it still, for we never sold it.") (3) Joseph ends with "If we sold our lands to the Government, this is the way they were bought." Why an if-statement rather than "The treaty was a fraud"? (The listeners draw the conclusion themselves, which makes it theirs.)

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read Passage 3 on their own and answer quiz questions 1-14 with the passage open, then questions 15-20 in writing (question 20 also uses Passage 1). Passage 3 is one long paragraph from near the end of Joseph's account, after his visit to officials in Washington. Remind students to state a purpose as a specific aim and to quote the words that do the work in every answer.

   1At last I was granted permission to come to Washington and bring my friend Yellow Bull and our interpreter with me. I am glad we came. I have shaken hands with a great many friends, but there are some things I want to know which no one seems able to explain. I can not understand how the Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then breaks his word. Such a Government has something wrong about it. I can not understand why so many chiefs are allowed to talk so many different ways, and promise so many different things. I have seen the Great Father Chief (the President), the next Great Chief (Secretary of the Interior), the Commissioner Chief (Hayt), the Law Chief (General Butler), and many other law chiefs (Congressmen), and they all say they are my friends, and that I shall have justice, but while their mouths all talk right I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country, now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father's grave. They do not pay for all my horses and cattle. Good words will not give me back my children. Good words will not make good the promise of your War Chief General Miles. Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. Too many misrepresentations have been made, too many misunderstandings have come up between the white men about the Indians. If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Read Passage 4, the end of Joseph's account, aloud. It follows Passage 3 directly. Exit ticket: "Choose one paragraph of Passage 4. In two sentences, state what Joseph asks for in that paragraph and name one rhetorical choice that advances the request, with the words that show it." Sort the tickets into "names a choice only" and "ties the choice to the purpose" to plan the next lesson. Activity 3 can extend this into a full class period.

   1I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I can not go to my own home, let me have a home in some country where my people will not die so fast. I would like to go to Bitter Root Valley. There my people would be healthy; where they are now they are dying. Three have died since I left my camp to come to Washington.

   2When I think of our condition my heart is heavy. I see men of my race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.

   3I know that my race must change. We can not hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If the Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If the white man breaks the law, punish him also.

   4Let me be a free man—free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself—and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.

   5Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike—brothers of one father and one mother, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land, and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands from the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race are waiting and praying. I hope that no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.

   6In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat has spoken for his people.

   Teacher note on the texts and their language. Joseph's words are quoted exactly as printed in 1879. They use the terms of the time ("Indian," "the white man," "my race") and describe people "shot down like animals." Joseph spoke in Nez Perce, and Passage 3 mentions "our interpreter," so the English words passed through another person; ask students what that means for the "author's" point of view. The magazine printed the account after an introduction by a missionary bishop written in the language of its day, which is not reproduced here. Many Nez Perce people today call themselves Nimiipuu. The homework passage by Mark Twain is comic and includes a joke about hitting someone "with a brick." Two of its paragraphs, including one that jokes about a boy shooting at his grandmother with a gun he thought was unloaded, are left out, and the cut is marked [...].

   Homework passage. Passage 5 is most of a short comic speech that Mark Twain gave about 1882. It was first printed in the 1923 collection of his speeches, where it is headed "About 1882." Its stated purpose and its real purpose are not the same, which is what the homework asks students to work out.

   1BEING told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of a talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth—something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice. Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in one's tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First, then, I will say to you, my young friends—and I say it beseechingly, urgingly——

   2Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don't they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition than you can by acting on your own better judgment.

   3Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient. If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn't mean to. Yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite to the low and unrefined.

   4Go to bed early, get up early—this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some others say get up with one thing, some with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with. It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of a lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time—it is no trick at all.

   [...]

   5There are many sorts of books; but good ones are the sort for the young to read. Remember that. They are a great, an inestimable, an unspeakable means of improvement. Therefore be careful in your selection, my young friends; be very careful; confine yourselves exclusively to Robertson's Sermons, Baxter's Saint's Rest, The Innocents Abroad, and works of that kind.

   6But I have said enough. I hope you will treasure up the instructions which I have given you, and make them a guide to your feet and a light to your understanding. Build your character thoughtfully and painstaking upon these precepts, and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everybody else's.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement best describes Joseph's purpose in Passage 3?

   ATo thank the officials in Washington for receiving him as a trusted friend BTo show that promises to his people are empty and to ask for equal law CTo warn the government that his people will go to war if refused DTo describe the city of Washington and the leaders he met there

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How does Joseph view the officials he met in Washington?

   AAs enemies who refused to meet him or to hear his case BAs loyal friends who will soon keep every promise they made CAs men who speak kindly but whose words lead to no action DAs leaders who could not follow him because of the interpreter

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Joseph lists the officials by title, from "the Great Father Chief (the President)" to "many other law chiefs (Congressmen)." Why?

   AIt shows that every level made promises, so all of them share the failure BIt shows how honored Joseph felt to be received by such important men CIt asks readers to write to each of these officials on his behalf DIt explains the English titles so that readers can follow the account

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Joseph says "I can not understand" twice and "I do not understand" once. What does this repetition do?

   AIt admits that his English is too limited to follow the government's debates BIt shows that he does not accept the laws of the United States CIt asks the officials to find a better interpreter for his people DIt exposes a contradiction and leaves the listeners to explain it

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Five sentences in Passage 3 begin with "Good words." What is this choice, and what does it do?

   AA rhetorical question, which lets the audience supply the answer BAn analogy, which compares promises to a familiar household object CRepeated openings, which pile up losses that words cannot repair DA concession, which admits that the officials meant well after all

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence states the claim that the "Good words" sentences support?

   A"Good words do not last long unless they amount to something." B"I am glad we came." C"The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it." D"At last I was granted permission to come to Washington and bring my friend Yellow Bull and our interpreter with me."

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat?" Why does Joseph ask a question here instead of making a statement?

   AHe is unsure of the answer and wants the officials to tell him BHe is changing the subject from the land to the care of horses CHe is asking the government to return the horses and cattle it took from him DListeners must answer "no" themselves and then apply it to his people

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented when penned up." What is Joseph claiming?

   AThat the rivers of his homeland have changed their course since the war ended BThat a free man can no more be content penned up than a river can run backward CThat his people will follow the rivers back home if they are ever set free DThat the government's plans change as often as a river changes direction

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow." What changes in the passage at this point?

   AJoseph turns from complaint to command, saying in short sentences what he wants BJoseph admits that his own people have not always obeyed the laws of the country CJoseph begins to list the officials who have broken their promises DJoseph asks the officials a series of questions they cannot answer

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers." What kind of appeal is this?

    AAn appeal to fear, warning of what the Great Spirit will do to the government BAn appeal to authority, quoting what the officials in Washington told him CAn appeal to shared values: if one creator made all men, all deserve equal rights DAn appeal to self-interest, promising trade if the government agrees to his terms

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Passage 3 ends: "I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me." Why is the last sentence effective?

    AIt admits that Joseph got no answer, which makes his case weaker BIt shows that the officials were too busy to meet with Joseph CIt suggests that Joseph will stop asking questions and go back to his people DIt turns the officials' silence into evidence that they have no such right

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Joseph writes "penned up" and "If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth." How does this word choice advance his purpose?

    AIt shows that his people raised cattle and horses and needed pens to hold them BIt pictures the reservation as a livestock pen, as if his people were animals CIt proves that the reservation is smaller than the officials had said DIt suggests that his people agreed to stay in one place for a time

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "Too many misrepresentations have been made, too many misunderstandings have come up between the white men about the Indians." What does this sentence suggest about why Joseph is speaking?

    AHe wants his own account to replace the reports others have made BHe blames his interpreter for mistakes in what the officials were told CHe believes that Indians and white men can never understand each other DHe is apologizing for misunderstandings caused by his own young men

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble." How do these sentences advance Joseph's purpose?

    AThey warn that trouble will follow if his demands are refused BThey leave the choice of peace to the white listeners and show he is no threat CThey admit that his people started the trouble between the two groups DThey change the subject from keeping the peace to the question of who owns the land

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    In two or three sentences, state Joseph's point of view and his purpose in Passage 3. Quote words that show each.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Joseph contrasts talking with doing throughout Passage 3. Quote two places where he makes this contrast and explain how it advances his purpose.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Choose two of the losses Joseph names in the sentences that begin "Words do not pay" and "Good words will not." Explain why naming particular losses is more persuasive than a general complaint.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain how the question "If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat?" and the sentence after it work together.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Joseph criticizes powerful men who say they are his friends. How does he criticize them without insulting them? Quote two phrases and explain why this choice fits his purpose.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    In Passage 1, Joseph says, "I want the white people to understand my people." Compare that stated purpose with his purpose in Passage 3. How has it changed, and which words show the change?

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RI.9-10.6: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.