HBEL3403 | TEACHING OF LITERATURE

Section A
Refer to the short story given in Appendix I and answer the questions below. You may refer to
Gillian Lazars book, chapters 4 and 5 as a guide.
(i)

Identify and describe ONE cultural aspect in the short story that you want Form Five
students to be able to recognize and understand.

Slaveholding as a Perversion of Christianity

Over the course of the Narrative, Douglass develops a distinction between true Christianity and
false Christianity. Douglass clarifies the point in his appendix, calling the former the
Christianity of Christ and the latter the Christianity of this land. Douglass shows that
slaveholders Christianity is not evidence of their innate goodness, but merely a hypocritical
show that serves to bolster their self-righteous brutality. To strike this distinction, Douglass
points to the basic contradiction between the charitable, peaceful tenets of Christianity and the
violent, immoral actions of slaveholders.
The character of Thomas Auld stands as an illustration of this theme. Like Sophia Auld, Thomas
undergoes a transformation in the Narrative from cruel slave owner to even crueler slave owner.
Douglass demonstrates that Aulds brutality increases after he becomes a pious man, as Aulds
show of piety increases his confi-dence in his God-given right to hold and mistreat slaves.
Through the instance of Auld, Douglass also demonstrates that the Southern church itself is
corrupt. Aulds church benefits from Aulds money, earned by means of slaves. Thus Aulds
church, like many Southern churches, is complicit in the inhuman cruelty of slavery.

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(ii)

Identify and discuss ONE theme of the short story that you want these students to
understand.

Knowledge as the Path to Freedom

Just as slave owners keep men and women as slaves by depriving them of knowledge and
education, slaves must seek knowledge and education in order to pursue freedom. It is from
Hugh Auld that Douglass learns this notion that knowledge must be the way to freedom, as Auld
forbids his wife to teach Douglass how to read and write because education ruins slaves.
Douglass sees that Auld has unwittingly revealed the strategy by which whites manage to keep
blacks as slaves and by which blacks might free themselves. Doug-lass presents his own selfeducation as the primary means by which he is able to free himself, and as his greatest tool to
work for the freedom of all slaves.
Though Douglass himself gains his freedom in part by virtue of his self-education, he does not
oversimplify this connection. Douglass has no illusions that knowledge automatically renders
slaves free. Knowledge helps slaves to articulate the injustice of slavery to themselves and
others, and helps them to recognize themselves as men rather than slaves. Rather than provide
immediate freedom, this awakened consciousness brings suffering, as Hugh Auld predicts. Once
slaves are able to articulate the injustice of slavery, they come to loathe their masters, but still
cannot physically escape without meeting great danger.

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Section B
Identify ONE problem that you anticipate these students may have in understanding
(i) the cultural aspect you have mentioned in Section A. Why would students

have

problems? Justify your answer.

Slaveholding as a Perversion of Christianity , this is because we are in a country where , the
students majority are Islam in their religion , and to understand the Christianity concepts may
anticipate students and have problems in understanding the cultural aspect that have been shown
in the short story given.
(ii) the theme you have mentioned in Section A. Why would students have problems? Justify
your answer.
Slavery is not common in Malaysia. Eventhough we do have "Hamba" as in our
"Kesultanan Melayu" age , the slavery and the system of "hamba" in our country is not
the same. Thus this two differences might have confusing the student to understand the
short story theme.

Section C
Design ONE activity you would use while teaching this short story that would help students
understand
(i) the cultural aspect you have mentioned in Section A.
(ii)

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The student reads the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In class, the student reads one
chapter and completes the lesson template guide. In class, each day a (15 minutes) dialogue is
devoted to the lesson template discussion, either in small groups or entire class. For homework,
the student reads another chapter of the novel and completes the corresponding template.
Sample 1 (Activities)
Frederick Douglass
(Expository Reading Guide)
Chapter Summary (use the following when appropriate):
1) Who: (Major Character[s])
______________________________________________________
2) What (Plot):
_______________________________________________________
3) When (Time Frame):
______________________________________________________
4) Where (Setting):
_______________________________________________________
5) How (Theme [s]):
_______________________________________________________
6) Summarize Chapter:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

J Discuss the following:

Authors purpose: _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
J Vocabulary: Write five vocabulary (unknown) words from the chapter,

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and use a dictionary and thesaurus to define the words.
Word Dictionary Definition Thesaurus Definition
1) ________________ __________________ _________________
2) ________________ __________________ _________________
3) ________________ __________________ _________________
4) ________________ __________________ _________________
5) ________________ __________________ _________________

Assessment for the activities on Lesson Plan

Assessment

Student describes what a character is like by what he or she does in a familiar narration,
dialogue, or drama using simple sentences.

Student analyzes and traces an authors development of time and sequence, including the
use of complex literary devices (e.g. foreshadowing, flashbacks).

Student identifies several literary elements and techniques (e.g. figurative language,
imagery, and symbolism).

Student revises own writing to improve the logic, coherence, organization, controlling
perspective, precision of work choice, and the tone by taking into consideration the
audience, purpose, and formality of the context.

Evaluation

The teacher will develop an action plan (Rubric) for determining if the essay writing
assignments are well organized to help the student achieve the reading, writing, and
critical thinking goals outlined in this Standards-based Lesson Plan. link Rubric

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Essay Rubric Scoring Guide:
Basic Descriptors (0-4)
Score (0): For an F on this assignment (50-59 points)
a) No comprehensive storylines.
b) Response is minimal, fragmented, consisting of isolated words.
c) Lots of MUGS (mechanics, usage, grammar, spelling) errors.
d) No response; blank.
Score (1): For a D on this assignment (60-69 points)
a) Incoherent sentence structure.
b) Does not follow the requirements of the prompt.
c) Merely copies prompt.
d) Lots of MUGS errors.
Score (2): For a C on this assignment (70-79 points)
a) Incomplete understanding of the prompt.
b) Few details about human rights issues.
c) MUGS errors.
Score (3): For a B on this assignment (80-89 points)
a) Clear coherent picture of the Human Rights issues.
b) Sensory images with supporting details.
c) Minimal MUGS errors.
Score (4): For an A on this assignment (90-100 points)
a) Well organized Expository essay, paragraphs clearly stated, and appeals to sensory.
b) Compelling details.
c) The response to the Essential Question flows.
d) Reader thinks about his/her own Human Rights development.
e) No MUGS errors.

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(iii) the theme you have mentioned in Section A.

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The students pair-&-share, and work in groups on the dialogue exercises, and uses their lesson
templates to guide their dialogue discussions. To complete the lesson, the students will complete
a final essay examination (response to the essential question).

The student reads the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and completes any
template not completed in class.

The student selects a minimum of five new vocabulary words from the readings, and
defines the words using a standard dictionary and thesaurus (Frankin Speller).

Sample 2 (activities)
Student Name _____________
Date _____________
Frederick Douglass
Essential Question: Write a (5) paragraph essay in response to the
following:
In the Narrative of the Live of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, how
is education related to freedom?

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