Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "It snowed 20 inches overnight, and school is canceled. Write one sentence about the snow as a seventh grader would see it, and one sentence as the school bus driver or a parent who has to go to work would see it."

   Take a few pairs of sentences. The event is the same; the words change because the people want different things (a day off, a safe drive, a way to get to work). Tell students that this is what a point of view is, and that authors create these differences on purpose. Today's question: how does an author build each character's way of seeing, and why put two of them side by side?

2. Direct Instruction15 minutes

   Key words for today:

   • Point of view: the way a character or narrator sees events: what that person knows, notices, believes, feels and wants.
   • Narrator: the voice that tells the story. A first-person narrator is a character in the story who says "I." A third-person narrator stands outside the story and says "he," "she" and "they."
   • Develop a point of view: show it bit by bit, through what a character says (dialogue), does (actions), notices and thinks, the words the author gives that character (word choice), and what the narrator says about the character.
   • Contrast points of view: place two or more of them side by side so the reader sees how they differ, and why.

   Read Saxe's poem aloud. Background: Indostan is an old name for India, where the story of the blind men and the elephant was first told. The poem uses blindness to stand for knowing only part of something. Words to know: inclined (eager), observation (here: examining by touch), bawl (shout), quoth (said), spake (spoke), 't is (it is), scope (reach) and disputed (argued).

   1It was six men of Indostan,
   To learning much inclined,
   Who went to see the elephant,
   (Though all of them were blind,)
   5That each by observation
   Might satisfy his mind.

   The first approached the elephant,
   And, happening to fall
   Against his broad and sturdy side,
   10At once began to bawl:
   "God bless me! but the elephant
   Is very like a wall!"

   The second, feeling of the tusk,
   Cried: "Ha! what have we here,
   15So very round, and smooth, and sharp?
   To me 't is very clear,
   This wonder of an elephant
   Is very like a spear!"

   The third approached the animal,
   20And, happening to take
   The squirming trunk within his hands,
   Thus boldly up he spake:
   "I see," quoth he, "the elephant
   Is very like a snake!"

   25The fourth reached out his eager hand,
   And fell about the knee:
   "What most this wondrous beast is like,
   Is very plain," quoth he;
   " 'T is clear enough the elephant
   30Is very like a tree!"

   The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
   Said: "E'en the blindest man
   Can tell what this resembles most:
   Deny the fact who can,
   35This marvel of an elephant
   Is very like a fan!"

   The sixth no sooner had begun
   About the beast to grope,
   Than, seizing on the swinging tail
   40That fell within his scope,
   "I see," quoth he, "the elephant
   Is very like a rope!"

   And so these men of Indostan
   Disputed loud and long,
   45Each in his own opinion
   Exceeding stiff and strong,
   Though each was partly in the right,
   And all were in the wrong!

   • Developing one character's point of view

     How does Saxe develop the first man's point of view in stanza 2 (lines 7-12)?

     Result: Through an action and his own words. The man happens "to fall / Against his broad and sturdy side" (lines 8-9), so the only part he knows is a flat, solid side. He "At once began to bawl" (line 10), which shows he decides right away and loudly, and his dialogue gives his view: the elephant "Is very like a wall!" (line 12). What he touches, how he reacts and what he says together build his point of view.

   • Certainty words

     What do the second man's words "To me 't is very clear" (line 16) add to his point of view?

     Result: They show he is sure he is right. "To me" admits his view is his own, but "very clear" claims it is obviously true. Saxe gives each man words of certainty like these, so the reader sees six people who each believe a partial view is the whole truth.

   • A pattern that sets views side by side

     How does the structure of stanzas 2-7 help Saxe contrast the six points of view?

     Result: Each stanza follows the same pattern: one man touches one part, then announces that "the elephant / Is very like a" something, with the new comparison always in the stanza's last line. Because the frame repeats, the only thing that changes is the view itself, and the reader can line the six up and compare them: wall, spear, snake, tree, fan, rope (see Diagram 1).

   • The narrator's point of view

     How does the narrator's point of view in stanza 8 (lines 43-48) contrast with the men's?

     Result: The narrator is the only voice that sees the whole animal. He says the men argued "Each in his own opinion / Exceeding stiff and strong" (lines 45-46), then sums up: "Though each was partly in the right, / And all were in the wrong!" (lines 47-48). The men each see a part and argue; the narrator sees the whole and judges them. That contrast carries the poem's lesson: a partial view held too stubbornly becomes a wrong one.

   • Two narrators, one event (written for this page)

     Narrator 1: "The fire drill ruined my math test; I had finally figured out problem 6." Narrator 2: "The fire drill saved me; I was staring at problem 6 with no idea." How does the author contrast their points of view?

     Result: The event and even the detail (problem 6) are the same, but the key verbs are opposites: "ruined" and "saved." Each narrator's situation (ready or stuck) explains the view. Keeping everything the same except the feeling makes the contrast sharp and a little funny.

   How, what, why. Write the frame on the board: "The author develops ___'s point of view through ___ (quote). In contrast, ___ sees it as ___ (quote). The contrast shows ___." Model it with the fourth example. Remind students that a strong answer names the author's tool (a word choice, an action, a line of dialogue, a narrator's comment) and does not just retell who thinks what.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Now read the opening of a Mark Twain story. It is a frame story: a story told inside another story. The first narrator, who says "I," visits a mining camp in California. There he meets Simon Wheeler, who becomes a second narrator and tells a story of his own in his own way of speaking. Wheeler speaks in dialect, the spelling and grammar of the way people talked in one place and time; it is part of how Twain shows his point of view. Words to know: garrulous (very talkative), conjectured (guessed), exasperating reminiscence (annoying story of the past), dilapidated (falling apart), countenance (face), commissioned (asked), interminable (endless), transcendent (far above others), finesse (clever skill) and '49 (1849, the busiest year of the California Gold Rush).

   1In compliance with the request of a friend of mine, who wrote me from the East, I called on good-natured, garrulous old Simon Wheeler, and inquired after my friend's friend, Leonidas W. Smiley, as requested to do, and I hereunto append the result. I have a lurking suspicion that Leonidas W. Smiley is a myth that my friend never knew such a personage; and that he only conjectured that if I asked old Wheeler about him, it would remind him of his infamous Jim Smiley, and he would go to work and bore me to death with some exasperating reminiscence of him as long and as tedious as it should be useless to me. If that was the design, it succeeded.

   2I found Simon Wheeler dozing comfortably by the bar-room stove of the dilapidated tavern in the decayed mining camp of Angel's, and I noticed that he was fat and bald-headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance. He roused up, and gave me good day. I told him that a friend of mine had commissioned me to make some inquiries about a cherished companion of his boyhood named Leonidas W. Smiley--Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley, a young minister of the Gospel, who he had heard was at one time resident of Angel's Camp. I added that if Mr. Wheeler could tell me anything about this Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley, I would feel under many obligations to him.

   3Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and blockaded me there with his chair, and then sat down and reeled off the monotonous narrative which follows this paragraph. He never smiled, he never frowned, he never changed his voice from the gentle flowing key to which he tuned his initial sentence, he never betrayed the slightest suspicion of enthusiasm; but all through the interminable narrative there ran a vein of impressive earnestness and sincerity, which showed me plainly that, so far from his imagining that there was anything ridiculous or funny about his story, he regarded it as a really important matter, and admired its two heroes as men of transcendent genius in 'finesse.' I let him go on in his own way, and never interrupted him once.

   4“Rev. Leonidas W. H'm, Reverend Le--well, there was a feller here, once by the name of Jim Smiley, in the winter of '49--or maybe it was the spring of '50--I don't recollect exactly, somehow, [...] but anyway, he was the curiousest man about always betting on anything that turned up you ever see, if he could get anybody to bet on the other side; and if he couldn't he'd change sides. [...]

   Work through three places together. For each one, pairs quote the words, say whose point of view they show, and name the author's tool:

   1. "I have a lurking suspicion that Leonidas W. Smiley is a myth" and "If that was the design, it succeeded" (paragraph 1). Teacher note: the first narrator suspects his friend invented the name to trick him into hearing a boring story, and "it succeeded" admits the trick worked. Twain develops this narrator's point of view through his own comments: he is educated, a little proud and annoyed.
   2. "the monotonous narrative" and "he regarded it as a really important matter" (paragraph 3). Teacher note: this paragraph contrasts the two points of view directly. To the first narrator the story is "monotonous" and "interminable"; to Wheeler it is serious, and its heroes are "men of transcendent genius." The humor comes from the gap between them.
   3. "there was a feller here, once by the name of Jim Smiley" (paragraph 4). Teacher note: Wheeler's dialect ("feller," "curiousest," "you ever see") replaces the first narrator's long, formal words. He also answers a question about the Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley by starting a story about someone else. Twain develops Wheeler's point of view through the way he talks: friendly, sincere and in no hurry.

   Show Diagram 2. Pairs add one more quotation to each column of their own two-column chart, then write one sentence: "The first narrator thinks ___, but Wheeler thinks ___."

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read a conversation from Mark Twain's novel The Prince and the Pauper on their own. It is set in London in the 1540s and told by a third-person narrator. Tom Canty, a very poor boy (a pauper) from a street called Offal Court, has wandered to the royal palace. Edward, the Prince of Wales and son of the king, has brought him inside, fed him and started asking about his life. Tom has twin sisters, Nan and Bet, who are fifteen, and the prince has just asked whether their servants are allowed to smile. Words to know: prithee (please), raiment (clothing), lackeys (servants), enow (enough), cofferer (the officer in charge of a royal household's money), farthing (a coin worth very little), cudgel (a short, thick stick), 'prentices (apprentices, young workers learning a trade), fleetest (fastest), Maypole (a tall pole people dance around in spring), meseemeth (it seems to me), forego (give up) and clad (dressed).

   1“They? Oh, dost think, sir, that they have servants?”

   2The little prince contemplated the little pauper gravely a moment, then said--

   3“And prithee, why not? Who helpeth them undress at night? Who attireth them when they rise?”

   4“None, sir. Would’st have them take off their garment, and sleep without--like the beasts?”

   5“Their garment! Have they but one?”

   6“Ah, good your worship, what would they do with more? Truly they have not two bodies each.”

   7“It is a quaint and marvellous thought! Thy pardon, I had not meant to laugh. But thy good Nan and thy Bet shall have raiment and lackeys enow, and that soon, too: my cofferer shall look to it. No, thank me not; ’tis nothing. Thou speakest well; thou hast an easy grace in it. Art learned?”

   [...]

   8“[...] But tell me of thy Offal Court. Hast thou a pleasant life there?”

   9“In truth, yes, so please you, sir, save when one is hungry. There be Punch-and-Judy shows, and monkeys--oh such antic creatures! and so bravely dressed!--and there be plays wherein they that play do shout and fight till all are slain, and ’tis so fine to see, and costeth but a farthing--albeit ’tis main hard to get the farthing, please your worship.”

   10“Tell me more.”

   11“We lads of Offal Court do strive against each other with the cudgel, like to the fashion of the ‘prentices, sometimes.”

   12The prince’s eyes flashed. Said he--

   13“Marry, that would not I mislike. Tell me more.”

   14“We strive in races, sir, to see who of us shall be fleetest.”

   15“That would I like also. Speak on.”

   16“In summer, sir, we wade and swim in the canals and in the river, and each doth duck his neighbour, and splatter him with water, and dive and shout and tumble and--”

   17“‘Twould be worth my father’s kingdom but to enjoy it once! Prithee go on.”

   18“We dance and sing about the Maypole in Cheapside; we play in the sand, each covering his neighbour up; and times we make mud pastry--oh the lovely mud, it hath not its like for delightfulness in all the world!--we do fairly wallow in the mud, sir, saving your worship’s presence.”

   19“Oh, prithee, say no more, ’tis glorious! If that I could but clothe me in raiment like to thine, and strip my feet, and revel in the mud once, just once, with none to rebuke me or forbid, meseemeth I could forego the crown!”

   20“And if that I could clothe me once, sweet sir, as thou art clad--just once--”

   With two colored pencils, students mark the conversation: one color for words that show Tom's point of view and the other for the prince's. Then they fill in a two-column chart with three rows: "What he knows," "What he feels" and "What he wants," with a quotation and paragraph number in each box. Circulate and ask, "What does each boy find strange about the other's life?" The quiz questions on this passage check the chart.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) In one sentence, explain the difference between developing a point of view and contrasting two points of view. (2) Name one tool an author can use to show a character's point of view, and give an example from today's texts.

   Teacher note on language and content: Saxe's poem uses blindness as a picture of knowing only part of something; point out that the men go wrong because they refuse to share what they know, not because they are blind. Twain's frog story is written in the dialect of a California mining camp in the 1850s ("feller," "warn't," "ketched"); treat it as the character's voice, not as an error to copy in formal writing. The story is about betting, and the omitted part of it tells how a stranger cheats by filling the frog with lead shot. The Prince and the Pauper uses older English (thou, thee, doth, prithee) that is explained in the word list. Keep the authors' words as printed.

   For homework: students read two more parts of "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," printed below. The first is from the middle of Wheeler's long story about Jim Smiley, a man who would bet on anything. The second is the end of the story, where the first narrator speaks again. Between the two parts, marked [...], a stranger tricks Smiley and wins a bet against his frog. Words to know: rat-tarriers (rat terriers, small dogs), cal'lated (planned), summerset (somersault), laid over (beat), vagabond (a wanderer with no steady home or job), buttonholed (stopped someone to talk at length) and afflicted (suffering from a problem).

   1“Well, thish-yer Smiley had rat-tarriers, and chicken cocks, and tomcats and all them kind of things, till you couldn't rest, and you couldn't fetch nothing for him to bet on but he'd match you. He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal'lated to educate him; and so he never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet you he did learn him, too. He'd give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you'd see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut--see him turn one summerset, or maybe a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat-footed and all right, like a cat. He got him up so in the matter of ketching flies, and kep' him in practice so constant, that he'd nail a fly every time as fur as he could see him. Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do 'most anything--and I believe him. Why, I've seen him set Dan'l Webster down here on this floor--Dan'l Webster was the name of the frog--and sing out, 'Flies, Dan'l, flies!' and quicker'n you could wink he'd spring straight up and snake a fly off'n the counter there, and flop down on the floor ag'in as solid as a gob of mud, and fall to scratching the side of his head with his hind foot as indifferent as if he hadn't no idea he'd been doin' any more'n any frog might do. [...] Smiley was monstrous proud of his frog, and well he might be, for fellers that had traveled and been everywheres all said he laid over any frog that ever they see.

   [...]

   2[Here Simon Wheeler heard his name called from the front yard, and got up to see what was wanted.] And turning to me as he moved away, he said: “Just set where you are, stranger, and rest easy--I ain't going to be gone a second.”

   3But, by your leave, I did not think that a continuation of the history of the enterprising vagabond Jim Smiley would be likely to afford me much information concerning the Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley, and so I started away.

   4At the door I met the sociable Wheeler returning, and he buttonholed me and recommenced:

   5“Well, thish-yer Smiley had a yaller one-eyed cow that didn't have no tail, only just a short stump like a bannanner, and--”

   6However, lacking both time and inclination, I did not wait to hear about the afflicted cow, but took my leave.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What is a character's point of view?

   AThe part of the story where the problem is finally solved BThe way the character sees what happens in the story CThe place and time where the story happens DThe lesson the author wants every reader to learn

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence, written for this quiz, is told by a first-person narrator?

   AShe hid the key under the mat before anyone woke up. BThe twins argued all the way to the lake and back. CNobody in the town had seen snow in May before. DI hid the key under the mat before anyone woke up.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A story written for this quiz has two narrators. Narrator 1: "The storm finally gave us a day off school!" Narrator 2: "The storm flattened the garden I had worked on all spring." How does the author contrast their points of view?

   ABy showing one event that brings joy to one narrator and loss to the other BBy showing that the two narrators live in different towns and different years CBy proving that the first narrator is lying about the storm DBy making both narrators feel exactly the same about the storm

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The third man "Thus boldly up he spake" (line 22). What does the word "boldly" add to his point of view?

   AIt shows that he is afraid of the animal and speaks in a quiet whisper. BIt shows that he is confident, even though he touched only the trunk. CIt shows that he has seen elephants many times before this day. DIt shows that he agrees with the second man about the spear.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The fifth man says, "E'en the blindest man / Can tell what this resembles most" (lines 32-33). Why are these words funny?

   AHe says anyone could tell, but he and all the others are blind and wrong. BHe is the only one of the six men who can really see the elephant clearly. CHe is joking with the others and does not believe what he says. DHe is repeating the exact words that the first man used.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Stanza 1 tells the reader that "all of them were blind" (line 4) before any man speaks. How does this detail shape the reader's point of view?

   AIt keeps the reader from learning what a real elephant actually looks like. BIt makes the reader trust each man's description completely. CIt lets the reader know the men's limits before they announce their views. DIt shows that the men have never heard of an elephant before.

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2 of the frog story, the first narrator notices that Wheeler had "an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance." What does this description show about how the narrator sees Wheeler at first?

   AAs a dangerous man who might rob him at the tavern BAs a clever trickster who is laughing at him CAs a famous storyteller whom he has come to hear DAs a calm, simple, harmless old man

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and blockaded me there with his chair" (paragraph 3). What do the words "backed me into a corner" and "blockaded" show about the first narrator's point of view?

   AHe feels trapped, as if Wheeler has taken him prisoner. BHe feels proud that Wheeler chose him to hear the story. CHe feels afraid that Wheeler is about to start a fight. DHe feels sorry for Wheeler, who has no one to talk to.

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "They? Oh, dost think, sir, that they have servants?" (paragraph 1). What does Tom's reply show about his point of view?

   AHe is angry that the prince has insulted his sisters. BHe thinks his sisters are too proud to accept servants. CHe wants the prince to send servants to Offal Court. DHe finds the idea of poor girls with servants surprising.

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "Their garment! Have they but one?" (paragraph 5). What does the prince's question show about his point of view?

    AHe cannot picture a life in which a person owns one set of clothes. BHe is making fun of Tom's sisters for being poor. CHe is angry that Tom has not told him the truth about his poor family. DHe thinks one garment is plenty for a young girl.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Tom answers, "Ah, good your worship, what would they do with more? Truly they have not two bodies each" (paragraph 6). How does this reply contrast with the prince's point of view?

    ATom agrees that his sisters need many more clothes. BTom thinks of need, while the prince takes having many clothes for granted. CTom is ashamed and refuses to talk about his family. DTom thinks the prince should give away all of his own fine clothes to the poor.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraphs 10-17 the prince says, "Tell me more," "Speak on" and "Prithee go on." How do these short replies develop his point of view?

    AThey show that he is bored and wants Tom to finish quickly. BThey show that he is testing whether Tom is telling him the truth about his life. CThey show that he grows more and more eager to hear about Tom's life. DThey show that he has already done everything Tom describes.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which words from paragraph 19 best explain why the prince wants to play in the mud?

    A"say no more, 'tis glorious!" B"raiment like to thine" C"strip my feet" D"with none to rebuke me or forbid"

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Tom ends the passage, "And if that I could clothe me once, sweet sir, as thou art clad--just once--" (paragraph 20). How does this line contrast the two boys' points of view?

    AIt shows that Tom wants to stay in Offal Court forever. BIt shows that Tom is afraid the prince will punish him. CIt mirrors the prince's wish: each boy longs for the other's life. DIt shows that Tom has decided to steal the prince's fine clothes and run away.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Tom describes the plays he loves, then adds, "albeit 'tis main hard to get the farthing, please your worship" (paragraph 9). How does this detail develop the contrast between the boys?

    AIt shows that Tom thinks the plays cost far too much money to enjoy. BIt reminds us Tom is poor, a fact the prince does not respond to. CIt shows that the prince has never heard of a farthing before. DIt proves that Tom is lying about going to see the plays.

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain how Twain develops and contrasts the points of view of Tom and the prince in this passage. Quote at least one line from each boy with its paragraph number.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    The prince promises that Nan and Bet "shall have raiment and lackeys enow, and that soon, too: my cofferer shall look to it" (paragraph 7). What does this promise show about the prince's point of view?

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Choose the fourth man (lines 25-30) and the sixth man (lines 37-42) in "The Blind Men and the Elephant." Explain how Saxe develops each man's point of view and what the contrast between them shows.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Both Saxe's poem and The Prince and the Pauper contrast points of view. Explain one difference in how the two authors show the contrast.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write two sentences about the same event, a lost soccer game, from two characters with different points of view. Then explain in one sentence which tool you used to create the contrast.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RL.7.6: 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.