Common Core Standards Concept: Epigraphs in literature Primary Subject Area: English Secondary Subject Areas: Creative Writing, History Common Core Standards Addressed: Grades 9-10 Grades 11-12 Key Ideas and Details Key Ideas and Details o Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. Craft and Structure o Analyze the impact of the author s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g. where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed). Craft and Structure o Analyze how an author s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g. parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g. pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. o Analyze how an author s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g. the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or traffic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas o Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g. how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare). : Common Core Standards 1
Lesson Plan Overview: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g. how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare). Objectives: Students will be able to: Define and identify the literary term epigraph. Recognize the textual markers that signal this concept. Articulate hypotheses for why an author would include an epigraph. Debate the pros and cons of using an epigraph. Materials: Copies of The House at the End of the Street Computer access for all students Eminent Epigraph worksheet Copies of Frederick Douglass address (optional) Other Resources: Key Vocabulary Terms General Discussion/Comprehension Questions Text References Useful for Analysis Assignments or Essay Questions Warm-Up Activity: Read aloud the following epigraph within The House at the End of the Road: The White and colored people of this country {can} be blended into a common nationality, and enjoy together under the same flag, the inestimable blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as neighborly citizens of a common country. I believe they can. Frederick Douglass, June 1863 Ask students what they know about Frederick Douglass. Ask students if they understand why W. Ralph Eubanks would include this quotation at the beginning of his chapter entitled Jim Richardson. : Lesson Plan 2
Lesson Plan Short Lecture & Partner Activities: Share the following definition with students: An epigraph is a quotation at the beginning of a poem, short story, book chapter, or other piece of literature. The epigraph introduces or refers to the larger themes of the piece: in a way, it may help draw the reader's attention to these ideas, setting the stage. The epigraph, unlike quotations that occur within a work, does not require quotation marks. Ask students the following questions: 1. What tone does the Douglass quotation strike? 2. What tone does the chapter, Jim Richardson, strike? 3. How does the inclusion of the Douglass quotation, used as an epigraph by Eubanks, advance the book s larger themes? Tell students that epigraphs are often taken from important literary texts. These external texts can help illuminate themes and theses within novels, poems, and chapters by creating an allusion to related concepts. W. Ralph Eubanks s use of Frederick Douglass s quotes suggests something important, something that requires close analysis. Instruct students to complete the following tasks/questions: 1. Have students read through the complete source material that the Douglass epigraph is gleaned from. 2. Ask students to locate the section either within the provided PDF or online if computers are available. 3. Tell students to consider what might be revealed about Eubanks s chapter in light of Douglass complete text. 4. How does knowing more about Douglass and his original text enhance the Jim Richardson chapter? : Lesson Plan 3
Lesson Plan Writing Activities/Evaluations: Analytical: Think about the role of epigraphs. Why would an author consider using an epigraph to introduce themes and topics? Do epigraphs lend an aura of mystery to a text? How might an epigraph be thought of as an extension of the text s title? Your analysis should be 500-700 words and include some references to The House at the End of the Street. The final draft should be thoughtful and well-edited. Creative: In 800-1000 words, write about a particular place that was important to you as a child. This place can be interior or exterior, but it should be a place from your distant past. Your narrative should be in the first-person, but your perspective should be of an older person looking back in time. Include an epigraph (not fictional!) to lead off your narrative. This epigraph should lend itself to the overall theme and tone of your narrative about place. Class Project Independent Analysis: Ask each student to select an epigraph from The House at the End of the Road. W. Ralph Eubanks has chosen some eminent authors to introduce his chapters. Thus, these epigraphs require closer analysis. Students should use the remaining class time to seek out information about not only the epigraph s author, but also the larger work that the quotation comes from. Students should be prepared to share a bit about their epigraph (and its author) either at the end of class or at another meeting. This analysis should also take into consideration the accompanying chapter. This assignment can also be completed in partners or small groups. Some of the following websites and web pages might be useful for student research: http://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/10/books/didion-calif.html http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmpid/66 http://www.olemiss.edu/`mwp/dir/faulkner_william/index.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/ellison_r_homepage.html http://muwriting.wikidot.com/ http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes#poet http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021 Students should collect this information on the worksheet. : Lesson Plan 4
Discussion & Comprehension Questions What is your opinion of epigraphs? Do they distract or enhance a literary work? What do you make of the fact that some famous writers (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Stephen King) use made-up epigraphs to begin their novels? Why would W. Ralph Eubanks choose to section off his text with such powerful epigraphs? Is this overuse, or does it only add to the overall theme? What do you make of Eubanks s beginning his literary journey with an epigraph/quotation from Joan Didion, a 20 th century female journalist? What do you think drove his arrangement? Would you have rearranged the chosen epigraphs? Why? What quotation would you have started with? Why? Eubanks uses epigraphs from two of the Harlem Renaissance s most eminent poets: Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes. a. Why would Eubanks allude to this era with his epigraphs? b. Do you think this inclusion detracts or enhances from Eubanks overall theme? c. What commonality do you see in all the epigraphs? Which epigraph is your favorite? Why? Conversely, which epigraph is your least favorite? Why? How do you see the epigraphs connecting with their respective chapters? Is there a link between these two? What is your reaction to the epigraph from Harper Lee s To Kill a Mockingbird: I think there s just one kind of folks. Folks.? Is this a good quotation to conclude the text with? How do the images at the end of The House at the End of the Road act as possible epigraphs? What other novels, poems, and memoirs use epigraphs? Which literary form might they work the best within? : Discussion & Comprehension Questions 5
Key Vocabulary Word: Eminent Sanction Definition: Towering or standing out above others; prominent; of high rank, station, or quality; noteworthy; outstanding, as in character or performance; distinguished To give official permission or approval for (an action); impose a sanction or penalty on. Annals Oblique Yearly records of events, generally in chronological order; history or records of history in general. Indirect or evasive; devious, misleading, or dishonest. Platitude A trite or banal remark or statement, especially one expressed as if it were original or significant. Amalgam A combination of diverse elements; a mixture. Incredulous Skeptical or disbelieving; expressive of disbelief. Shrewd Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical. Demarcate To set the boundaries of; delimit; to separate clearly as if by boundaries; distinguish. Deference Submission or courteous yielding to the opinion, wishes, or judgment of another; courteous respect. : Key Vocabulary 6
Key Vocabulary : Key Vocabulary 7
Text References (Pages 58-59): Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat. ~ Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Jim and Edna s world was one that strived to transcend race, but only within proscribed boundaries. They lived outside society s racial rules as well as within then. But somehow they instinctively understood that identity can be a trap as much as a source of pride, particularly if that identity requires concealing elements of one s race in a tightly wrapped secret. The Richardsons kept no secrets about racial identity, since masking one s identity could quickly become its own prison, creating emotions that swell into a realm of the unknown: confusion, self-hatred, fear of being found out. This made all the difference for the family, particularly as the children grew up. Their acceptance of themselves led them to feel secure in their black identity, without rendering them inferior to their father s identity and status as a while man in the South. It was a critical choice made for both personal and emotional survival. (Pages 2-3): A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his image. ~ Joan Didion The canopy of moss hanging from the old live oak trees gives this place a torrid primeval beauty. As I walk down the winding, sand-covered roads, I m overcome with a peaceful silence that s interrupted only by the soft murmur of the soles of my shoes moving through the sand. There s not a soul in sight. Then I turn a corner and see it: an abandoned church covered in vines of wisteria, the first sign that there was once a real community here. Around the next corner stands a trailer home with abandoned clutter in the yard. After a few more twists and turns there sits a white clapboard house at the end of the road that everyone around here will tell you was the home of the most important family in this now deserted town of Prestwick, Alabama. : Text References 8
Title Field: Class Handout Name: An epigraph is a quotation at the beginning of a poem, short story, book chapter, or other piece of literature. The epigraph introduces or refers to the larger themes of the piece. In a way, it may help draw the reader's attention to these ideas, setting the stage. The epigraph, unlike quotations that occur within a work, does not require quotation marks. Favorite epigraph: About the epigraph s author: Relationship between the epigraph and its respective chapter: Relationship between the epigraph and the whole text: : Class Handout