Overview

Lesson Procedure

65-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Think of a story, movie or show in which a character gives away something precious. Why do you think storytellers return to that kind of plot again and again?"

   Take four or five answers. Then introduce three terms from RL.8.9, the Reading standard this half of the lesson applies: a theme is a message about life that a story develops; a pattern of events is a kind of plot that many stories share; a character type is a kind of character readers recognize from older stories, such as the trickster or the rich man who cannot let go of his money. Modern writers often borrow all three from myths, traditional stories and religious works such as the Bible.

   Read Text 1, three short passages from the Gospel of Matthew in the King James Version of 1611. Explain that the lesson reads them as literature and as the source a later writer used, as RL.8.9 names, and that the old words are exact: thou hast means "you have" and an hungred means "hungry." Students underline one line in each passage that sounds like advice about riches.

   16:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

   [...]

   219:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

   319:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

   419:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

   519:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

   [...]

   625:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

   7[...] 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   W.8.9 asks students to draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research. Drawing evidence means quoting or paraphrasing the exact part of a text that proves a point, and saying where it is. An analytical paragraph makes four moves:

   • Claim: one sentence a reader could disagree with.
   • Evidence: exact words in quotation marks, cited by verse or paragraph, for example (Text 1, Matthew 6:20) or (Text 2, paragraph 3).
   • Explanation: how those words support the claim.
   • Reflection: a closing sentence on why the point matters or what the comparison shows.

   Read Text 2, the opening of Wilde's tale, aloud. Then work through the two examples and Diagram 1, which lines up what Wilde keeps from Matthew and what he makes new.

   1HIGH above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.

   2He was very much admired indeed. “He is as beautiful as a weathercock,” remarked one of the Town Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; “only not quite so useful,” he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.

   [...]

   3“When I was alive and had a human heart,” answered the statue, “I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace of Sans-Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter. In the daytime I played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening I led the dance in the Great Hall. Round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but I never cared to ask what lay beyond it, everything about me was so beautiful. My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. So I lived, and so I died. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot chose but weep.”

   4“What! is he not solid gold?” said the Swallow to himself. He was too polite to make any personal remarks out loud.

   5“Far away,” continued the statue in a low musical voice, “far away in a little street there is a poor house. One of the windows is open, and through it I can see a woman seated at a table. Her face is thin and worn, and she has coarse, red hands, all pricked by the needle, for she is a seamstress. She is embroidering passion-flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen’s maids-of-honour to wear at the next Court-ball. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill. He has a fever, and is asking for oranges. His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying. Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow, will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword-hilt? My feet are fastened to this pedestal and I cannot move.”

   • Theme: treasure and the heart

     Matthew warns, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth" and ends, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Text 1, Matthew 6:19, 6:21). Wilde's statue is "gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold" (Text 2, paragraph 1), yet the Prince says, "my heart is made of lead" (paragraph 3).

     Result: Wilde keeps the theme and makes it literal: the treasure is on the outside of the statue and the heart is made of cheap metal on the inside. Written as analysis: by building the Prince out of gold and lead, Wilde turns Matthew's warning into something a reader can picture.

   • Pattern of events: a rich man and the poor

     In Matthew, Jesus tells a rich young man, "go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor" (Text 1, Matthew 19:21). Wilde's Prince asks, "will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword-hilt?" (Text 2, paragraph 5).

     Result: Wilde keeps the pattern of a rich man giving his riches to the poor. He renders it new in two ways: no one commands the Prince, since he asks on his own, and his first gift goes to one family he can see from the column, not to "the poor" in general.

   Text 3 is a model paragraph on a third link, between Matthew 25 and the seamstress's room. Students mark its claim, its evidence, its explanation and its reflection, each in a different color.

   1Wilde's first gift scene in The Happy Prince draws on the King's words in Matthew 25, but it turns a general list of needs into one family's room. In Matthew, the King tells the blessed, "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink" and "I was sick, and ye visited me" (Text 1, Matthew 25:35-36). The seamstress's home in Wilde's tale holds these same needs: "her little boy is lying ill," and "His mother has nothing to give him but river water" (Text 2, paragraph 5). Where the Bible names needs in general, Wilde makes them specific, down to a feverish child "asking for oranges." Because readers see one sick, thirsty boy, the Prince's gift of his ruby feels like an answer to the King's words, not a lesson about them. Reading Matthew beside the tale shows that Wilde's details are not random: each need in the seamstress's room comes from the King's list, rendered new as a scene.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Now apply RI.8.8 to literary nonfiction. To delineate an argument is to lay out its parts in order: the claim, the reasons and the support for each reason. To evaluate it is to judge it: the reasoning is sound when the reasons really lead to the claim; the evidence is relevant when it is about the reason it supports and sufficient when there is enough of it to convince a careful reader. A writer who brings in irrelevant evidence offers facts or sayings that do not bear on the point at all.

   Text 4 is the opening of The Way to Wealth. The narrator stops at an auction, where a crowd complains about taxes, and an old man, Father Abraham, answers them. Poor Richard is the name printed on a popular almanac, a yearly book of calendars, weather reports and sayings. Diagram 2 maps the argument.

   1I HAVE heard that nothing gives an author so great pleasure, as to find his works respectfully quoted by others. Judge, then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped my horse, lately, where a great number of people were collected at an auction of merchants' goods. The hour of the sale not being come, they were conversing on the badness of the times; and one of the company called to a plain, clean, old man, with white locks, 'Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not those heavy taxes quite ruin the country! How shall we be ever able to pay them? What would you advise us to?'----Father Abraham stood up, and replied, 'If you would have my advice, I will give it you in short; "for a word to the wise is enough," as Poor Richard says.' They joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and, gathering round him, he proceeded as follows:

   2'Friends,' says he, 'the taxes are indeed very heavy; and, if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good advice, and something may be done for us; "God helps them that help themselves," as Poor Richard says.

   3I. 'It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their time to be employed in its service: but idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life.

   4"Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears, while the used key is always bright," as Poor Richard says.--"But, dost thou love life? then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of," as Poor Richard says.--How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep! forgetting that, "the sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave," as Poor Richard says.

   • Delineating Father Abraham's argument

     Paragraph 2 states the claim: "We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly." Paragraph 3 gives the first reason: idleness costs people time, and "sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life."

     Result: Claim, then Reason 1 (idleness), then its support in paragraphs 3 and 4. Pride and folly, the other two "taxes," come later in the speech. Delineating first keeps a writer from judging an argument before seeing all of its parts.

   • Evaluating one piece of support

     Paragraph 4 supports Reason 1 with this saying: "Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears, while the used key is always bright."

     Result: The saying is relevant: it is about idleness wearing a person out. But it is an analogy, a comparison between two unlike things, and a key is not a body. It makes the point memorable without proving it. Written up: "Poor Richard's rust saying makes idleness sound harmful, but it gives no facts that it actually harms anyone."

   Support table for Text 4 (pairs fill in the blank cells)

   Support	Where	Kind of support	Relevant to Reason 1?	Sufficient?
   A government tax of "one-tenth part of their time"	Paragraph 3
   "Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears"	Paragraph 4	Saying (an analogy)	Yes: idleness wears a person out	No: a picture, not proof
   "do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of"	Paragraph 4
   "the sleeping fox catches no poultry"	Paragraph 4

   Row 2 is filled in from the second example. Quiz Questions 8, 9 and 11 check the other rows, so leave their answers to the quiz. Discuss: What kind of support is missing from Text 4 altogether?

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Text 5 is a weak first draft about Text 4 by an invented eighth grader. For each numbered sentence, students write one code: SUM (summary, no claim), DQ (dropped quotation: no introduction, citation or explanation), OVR (overclaim: a saying treated as proof), IRR (irrelevant evidence), UN (unsupported: the text does not say it) or HG (hasty generalization: a conclusion broader than the text). Then they rewrite the draft as one paragraph of 120-160 words that makes a claim about Father Abraham's argument and evaluates two of his supports.

   The quiz uses Texts 1-5 (Warm-Up, Direct Instruction, Guided Practice and this phase). Paragraph numbers match the numbers beside each text; Text 1 is cited by verse.

   1[1] Benjamin Franklin published The Way to Wealth in 1758, and it is about money. [2] "God helps them that help themselves." [3] Father Abraham proves that lazy people die young, because he says "there will be sleeping enough in the grave." [4] Franklin also flew a kite in a thunderstorm and started a library, so he knew what he was talking about. [5] Everyone at the auction agreed with Father Abraham, so his argument must be correct. [6] This shows that sleeping is bad for you.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Write one claim about Text 2 and one quotation from Text 1 that supports it, with its verse. (2) Reflection: name one thing you check now before you trust a piece of evidence.

   Hand out the homework texts below: the ending of The Happy Prince (Text 6) and the auction passage and ending of The Way to Wealth (Text 7).

   Teacher notes: (1) The Bible passages are studied as literature and as Wilde's source, as RL.8.9 names; no student is asked to share or accept a belief. (2) The full text of The Happy Prince includes two passages, in the Swallow's flight over the city and in his stories of Egypt, that use dated racial and religious stereotypes. Neither is printed on this page; preview them before assigning the whole tale. (3) Text 4 and Text 7 come from an 1810 London reprint of Franklin's speech. Franklin wrote the speech in 1757, during the French and Indian War, when the colonies were raising taxes for their defense.

   1“I am covered with fine gold,” said the Prince, “you must take it off, leaf by leaf, and give it to my poor; the living always think that gold can make them happy.”

   2Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off, till the Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey. Leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought to the poor, and the children’s faces grew rosier, and they laughed and played games in the street. “We have bread now!” they cried.

   [...]

   3And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.

   4At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.

   [...]

   5So they pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince. “As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful,” said the Art Professor at the University.

   6Then they melted the statue in a furnace, and the Mayor held a meeting of the Corporation to decide what was to be done with the metal. “We must have another statue, of course,” he said, “and it shall be a statue of myself.”

   7“Of myself,” said each of the Town Councillors, and they quarrelled. When I last heard of them they were quarrelling still.

   8“What a strange thing!” said the overseer of the workmen at the foundry. “This broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace. We must throw it away.” So they threw it on a dust-heap where the dead Swallow was also lying.

   9“Bring me the two most precious things in the city,” said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the leaden heart and the dead bird.

   10“You have rightly chosen,” said God, “for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.”

   1[...] Here you are all got together to this sale of fineries and nick-nacks. You call them goods; but, if you do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, and, perhaps, they may for less than they cost; but, if you have no occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what poor Richard says, "Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries." And again, "At a great pennyworth pause a while:" he means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; or the bargain, by straitening thee in thy business, may do thee more harm than good. For, in another place, he says, "Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths." Again, "It is foolish to lay out money in a purchase of repentance;" and yet this folly is practised every day at auctions, for want of minding the Almanack. Many a one, for the sake of finery on the back, have gone with a hungry belly, and half starved their families; "Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire," as Poor Richard says.

   [...]

   2Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practised the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the auction opened, and they began to buy extravagantly.--I found the good man had thoroughly studied my Almanacks, and digested all I had dropt on those topics during the course of twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made of me must have tired any one else; but my vanity was wonderfully delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own, which he ascribed to me; but rather the gleanings that I had made of the sense of all ages and nations. However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and, though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away, resolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do the same, thy profit will be as great as mine.--I am, as ever, thine to serve thee,

   3RICHARD SAUNDERS.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Matthew 19:22 (Text 1), why does the young man go away sorrowful?

   AHe had broken one of the commandments BHe could not give up his great wealth CJesus refused to answer what he asked DHe had nothing left to give to the poor

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Text 2, paragraph 3, when does the Prince first see the suffering in his city?

   AWhile he led the dance in the Great Hall BWhen the Swallow first landed at his feet CAfter he died and was set up as a statue DWhen the Town Councillors came to admire him

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Matthew 19:17-19 (Text 1), how does Jesus first answer the young man's question about eternal life?

   AKeep the commandments, and he names them BSell all you have and give it to the poor CPray and go to the temple every day DLeave your family and your home behind

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence in Text 3 is its claim?

   A"In Matthew, the King tells the blessed, 'I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink' and 'I was sick, and ye visited me.'" B"Where the Bible names needs in general, Wilde makes them specific, down to a feverish child 'asking for oranges.'" C"Reading Matthew beside the tale shows that Wilde's details are not random: each need in the seamstress's room comes from the King's list, rendered new as a scene." D"Wilde's first gift scene in The Happy Prince draws on the King's words in Matthew 25, but it turns a general list of needs into one family's room."

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which is the strongest claim sentence to open a paragraph about Texts 1 and 2?

   AOscar Wilde published The Happy Prince in 1888, when he was living and writing in London. BThe Happy Prince is a story about a statue and a bird who work together to help the poor people of a city. CLike Matthew's rich young man, the Prince once lived for pleasure, but unlike him, he gives his riches away. DI liked The Happy Prince better than the Bible passages because it has a talking bird and funny characters in it.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The Town Councillor says the statue "is as beautiful as a weathercock" and then adds, "only not quite so useful" (Text 2, paragraph 2). What does this passage add that has no source in Text 1?

   AIt pokes fun at officials who judge only by looks BIt shows a councillor giving his own money to the poor CIt repeats Jesus's advice to the young man in new words DIt explains the reason why the Prince weeps at night

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Matthew's young man is told to "go and sell" his possessions himself (Text 1, Matthew 19:21). Why does Wilde's Prince need the Swallow to give his riches away?

   AThe Swallow had once been a servant in the palace BThe seamstress will not accept a gift from a prince CThe Town Councillors have forbidden him to give DHis feet are fastened in place on the pedestal

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Father Abraham says a government that took "one-tenth part of their time" would be hard (Text 4, paragraph 3), and that we are taxed "twice as much by our idleness" (paragraph 2). If a reader combines the two, as if idleness took twice that tenth, what fraction of people's time would idleness take?

   A1/20 B1/5 C3/10 D1/12

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Father Abraham's reason in paragraph 3 is that idleness costs people time and life. Which saying in paragraph 4 is about losing profit instead?

   A"Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears" B"do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of" C"there will be sleeping enough in the grave" D"the sleeping fox catches no poultry"

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 1 of Text 4 begins, "nothing gives an author so great pleasure, as to find his works respectfully quoted by others." Why does this make "as Poor Richard says" weaker support?

    APoor Richard is a doctor, so he knows little about money BThe sayings all come from the narrator's own almanac CPoor Richard lived long before Father Abraham was born DThe crowd at the auction has never heard of Poor Richard

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which evidence would do the most to make the claim "sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life" (Text 4, paragraph 3) sufficient?

    ARecords of the health and ages of idle and hard-working people BMore sayings from Poor Richard's almanac on the very same subject CA report that the whole crowd agreed with Father Abraham DA closer description of Father Abraham's age and white hair

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Text 5, what is the main problem with sentence [4]?

    AIt drops in a quotation without introducing or explaining it BIt misquotes one of the sayings in paragraph 4 of Text 4 CIt summarizes the speech instead of making any claim of its own about it DIt brings in facts about Franklin that do not bear on the point

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Text 5, what is wrong with sentence [3]?

    AIt treats a saying as proof about health BIt quotes a line that does not appear in Text 4 CIt confuses Father Abraham with the narrator DIt gives far too many quotations to explain

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Text 5, sentence [5] says, "Everyone at the auction agreed with Father Abraham, so his argument must be correct." What is the main problem?

    AText 4 says the crowd refused to listen to Father Abraham at all BIt gives the wrong date for the speech and the auction CText 4 never says so, and agreement would not prove it sound DIt forgets to give a paragraph number for its claim

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Choose one Bible passage in Text 1. In four or five sentences, explain how Wilde draws on it in Text 2 and renders it new. Use a detail that the worked examples and Text 3 do not discuss.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite sentence [2] of Text 5 so that the quotation is introduced, cited and followed by at least one sentence of explanation.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Evaluate the reasoning in Text 4, paragraph 3: Father Abraham compares idleness with a government tax on "one-tenth part of their time." Is the reasoning sound? Explain one strength and one weakness.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Reflection: In two or three sentences, explain what reading Matthew (Text 1) showed you about The Happy Prince (Text 2) that reading the tale alone would not. Quote one phrase from each text.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Research: The Prince lived in "the Palace of Sans-Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter" (Text 2, paragraph 3). Name what you would look up, one reliable kind of source, and how the answer could strengthen a paragraph about the tale.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite sentence [6] of Text 5 so that its claim matches what Text 4 actually says, with a quotation and a citation.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to W.8.9: 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.