"The Moths" and Short Story Activities on Identity

The following assignments go along with our reading of "The Moths" by Helena Maria Viramontes. You can find a link to her story in my sidebar.

Please understand that this blog format does not allow for the proper formatting that I have on my assignment sheets in class.

# 1 A Pre-learning Activity

Our identities have many sides, the way we perceive ourselves, how others perceive us and how we want to be perceived.

The goal of this first assignment is to take note of what we know about identity and how we respond based on the criteria given. This is a preunit awareness activity.

Look at the picture above. It is the cover from the book where our story, “The Moths” comes from. I’d like you to generate ideas, thoughts and predictions about the story based on this image and the topics listed.


Identity – How she sees herself:

How others might see her:


Reputation - How she sees herself:

How others might see her:

Impression - How she sees herself:

How others might see her:

Character - How she sees herself:

How others might see her:

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#2 Creating Reading Notes

Next up we have a chart that we will fill in as we read the story. You will have to copy and paste this information into your own chart in order to do the assignment at home. You'll need to make a chart with six columns and six rows. Here are the categories:

Structured Notes on Identity & Events from the Story

Summarize the Event

Who She Interacted With Her

Response to Them

Their Response to Her

What That Person
Might Think About Her

Why Might This Be Important?

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#3 Structured Notes on Identity & Interactions

Now we have a chart that we will fill in after we read the story. You will have to copy and paste this information into your own chart in order to do the assignment at home. You'll need to make a chart with three columns and six rows. Here are the categories:


Column Categories:

Person/Relationship

Example / 2 +Quotes
from the Text

Explanation of How This
Impacts Her Identity

Row Categories:

Abuelita

Ama

Apa

Teresa

Narrator

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Before we started reading, we completed a chart about identity. We are doing the same chart a second time with the idea that with more information from our reading we will have more to say. Some of our ideas might even have changed.

#4 Elements of Identity

Directions:
At the beginning of this unit we made predictions using a similar chart to the one below. Now fill in the chart with information you know from having read the story.
Be sure to be very specific in your responses.

Identity – How she sees herself:

How others might see her:


Reputation - How she sees herself:

How others might see her:

Impression - How she sees herself:

How others might see her:

Character - How she sees herself:

How others might see her:

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#5 On to Writing

Identity: Considering Perspective, Purpose and Message

Directions:We will use the notes you will create below to write two different letters from two different perspectives. Understand that each person’s perspective and purpose will change how the message is written. Please follow the following guidelines.



Part A

• Review the information that you recorded in the charts we completed during our reading of the story. Look back at the story and copy down some of the specific lines from the text that seem important and useful in communicating the narrator’s perspective, purpose and message that you think she would wish to communicate. Her letter can be intended for any of the main characters in the story. Consider what she might want to say to her mother or grandmother. Would she want to explain, defend or justify her actions? Would she want the reader to understand her motivation, her feelings or her response?

• Review the information that you recorded in the charts we completed during our reading of the story. Look back at the story and copy down some of the specific lines from the text that seem important and useful in communicating the Abuelita’s perspective, purpose and message that you think she would wish to communicate. Her letter can be intended for any of the main characters in the story. Consider what she might want to say her grandaughter. Would she want to explain, defend or justify her actions? Would she want the reader to understand her motivation, her feelings or her response?


• Review the information that you recorded in the charts we completed during our reading of the story. Look back at the story and copy down some of the specific lines from the text that seem important and useful in communicating Ama’s perspective, purpose and message that you think she would wish to communicate. Her letter can be intended for any of the main characters in the story. Consider what she might want to say her daughter. Would she want to explain, defend or justify her actions? Would she want the reader to understand her motivation, her feelings or her response?

Part B
Think about the details you will use in the two letters you will write. Think about similes, metaphors or figurative language you can use to enliven your writing.

Use these notes to write two letters.
• They may be from the narrator, Abuelita or Ama.
• Be sure to address at least two of the following topics: reputation, impression, character or intent/purpose.
• Be sure to use at least two direct quotes (with citation) from the story.
• Be sure to write it as if it were a real letter. Be sure to include at least two similes, metaphors and/or other figurative language.
• Be sure each letter is clear and distinct. Each should have its own voice.
• Proof read your final copy before turning it in.

Quotes on Identity

Here are the quotes that we used in class as part of our preunit learning activity:

An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his experience.
James Baldwin

As a young teenager I looked desperately for things to read that might excuse me or assure me I wasn't the only one, that might confirm an identity I was unhappily piecing together.
Edmund White

First of all, what happens is, when you're good at something, you spend a lot of time with it. People identify you with that sport, so it becomes part of your identity.
Mike Krzyzewski

Human identity is the most fragile thing that we have, and it's often only found in moments of truth.
Alan Rudolph

I have done everything I can to make sure my daughter knows her father because you form your own identity by rebelling against your parents - but first you have to know them.
Greta Scacchi

Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one's identity as a being of worth and dignity.
Rollo May

Strengthening our identity is one way or reinforcing people's confidence and sense of citizenship and well-being.
David Blunkett

The firmest friendship is based on an identity of likes and dislikes.
Sallust

We don't need a melting pot in this country, folks. We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in the different things. You want the vegetables - the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers - to maintain their identity. You appreciate differences.
Jane Elliot

Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self.
B. R. Ambedkar

You have your identity
when you find out, not what you can keep your mind on, but what you can't keep your mind off.
A. R. Ammons

Your life will be a blessed and balanced experience if you first honor your identity and priority.
Russell M. Nelson

You manifest based on who you are already - so you must own the identity of the dream in order to manifest it.
Joy Page

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~Epictetus

You cannot belong to anyone else until you belong to yourself. -Pearl Bailey

Telling others about oneself is...no simple matter. It depends on what we think they think we ought to be like—or what selves in general ought to be like. Nor do our calculations end when we come to telling ourselves about ourselves. Our self-directed self-making narratives early come to express what we think others expect us to be like. Without much awareness of it, we develop a decorum for telling ourselves about ourselves: how to be frank with ourselves, how not to offend others....
-Jerome Bruner

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
-Buddha

A verse from the Veda says, 'What you see, you become.' In other words, just the experience of perceiving the world makes you what you are. This is a quite literal statement.
-Deepak Chopra

Always be a first rate version of yourself, and not a second rate version of someone else.
-Judy Garland

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.
-Nathaniel Hawthorne

If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasures of illusion.
-Aldous Huxley

"We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves."
-François de La Rochefoucauld

Beware of no man more than yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.
-C. H. (Charles Haddon) Spurgeon

“Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” ~ Kevin Arnold

“If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?” ~ Chuck Palahniuk

The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.” ~Richard R. Grant

“Identity is such a crucial affair that one shouldn't rush into it.” ~ David Quammen

“Identity is theft of the self” ~ Estee Martin

“The identity of one changes with how one perceives reality” ~ Vithu Jeyaloganathan

~ I think history is inextricably linked to identity. If you don't know your history, if you don't know your family, who are you? ~ Mary Pipher

~ Integrity simple means not violating one's own identity. ~
Erich Fromm

A people must have dignity and identity. ~Andrew Goodman

A racial community provides not only a sense of identity, that luxury of looking into another's face and seeing yourself reflected back, but a sense of security and support.
Wentworth Miller

Welcome to My English 10 Class

Welcome to my class. I truly hope you will enjoy what we do. I am working hard to make sure that we satisfy all our requirements in an interesting manner. My class has four main components:

1) Writing Skills (Including Grammar) and Editing Skills: Is that a groan I hear? Hey, communication is very important in EVERY part of your life. I want to make sure you know how to express yourself in a clear, thoughtful and well-presented manner.

2) Looking at Literature: It is through literature that we can gain an appreciation of other people/cultures/time periods.

3) Study Skills: Good organizational skills, study skills and time
management skills are all qualities I want to help you develop. It will make your life easier.

4) Poetry Appreciation: We will be working with poetry in order to help you have a better understanding of good writing and the tools authors use to achieve excellence in text.

5) CSAP Preparation – we will combine our study of the texts with
skills practice that will get you ready and accustom to CSAP-style exams.

I want you to succeed in my class. Even if you don’t feel like you’re “good” at writing or reading, you can still get a good grade in my class. So, you say, how do I do that? Here’s the drill:

• COME TO CLASS EVERYDAY! Having an interesting mix of students makes the class more fun. I want to see your smiling face every school day.

Absences & Tardies: I will be enforcing the school attendance policies. Unexcused absences will hurt your grade. When you have an unexcused absence you cannot get points for the work you are required to do. This includes tests. Also, if you ditch class because you do not have a major assignment done on the due date, I will know! This may result in “0” points for that assignment

• BE PREPARED! For my class you will need your brain, a well fed body, a good attitude, respect, and the following supplies:
• Pens: All assignments must be done in pen or typed/word processed.

• Paper: You need to have loose leaf paper to use for your assignments. Spiral bound paper should be used for items such as class notes.

• Your Time Tracker: This should be used to record assignment, especially homework due dates. It also serves as your hall pass.

• Markers or Colored Pencils that have been sharpened: We will be doing some fun things in class that you require a nice visual presentation. Be sure to put your name on your markers or colored pencils. (optional)

• A Highlighter: These will also be used to enhance your study skills. (optional)

Grading Criteria:
All assignments are given points. Grades are awarded based on points earned.

90% = A 80% = B 70% = C 65% = D

How do you earn points?
• Major Projects (these will usually be essays) and Tests

• Quizzes

• In Class Work

• Homework: The amount of homework you get depends on how fast you work in class and the grade you want to earn. Some homework will be given independently of class work. Work is due at the beginning of class on the day it is due. All work completed on a computer must be printed out. I do not accept discs. Do not procrastinate on your homework, especially the reading assignments. Procrastination is a tempting mistress that will ditch you like a dog when you need her! Don’t get stuck in her trap!

* Extra Credit Work: This is readily available for students who are passing the class.
Students who are not passing must do the regular class work before extra credit can be earned. See me for
more specific details. These opportunities are announced in class.

• Resubmitting Work: If you turned your work in on time you will be allowed to redo it and resubmit it for a better grade. In order to do this, you must attach your old copy to the new copy and write “Resubmit” on the top of the assignment.


Okay, enough said? Feeling overwhelmed already? Stop and breathe. I am strict, but also fair. It is important to me that you know what is going on and expected in my class. I hope to see your face beaming with pride in your own excellent work and feel good about how well you have prepared yourself. Need help with any of this stuff? See me. I am always here before school, during the access period or you can schedule time with me as well.