The Concepts of Good and Evil Are Subjective and Evolve Through Time
Unifying Concept: Individuality
Overview:In House of Purple Cedar by Tim Tingle, the protagonist reveals the good and evil that exists in the heart of man through a telling of a series of events that occurred in her childhood. The story depicts the quiet strength of humans who respond to violence in a non-violent way, explores how humans can transform and adapt to adversity,reveals the cultural complexities of the Choctaw Indians in Oklahoma in the late 1800s, and examines the role of Native Americans not as stereotyped victims but as humanbeings.
Purpose:
To analyze and understand the similarities and differences between the Choctaw culture and Western (“Nahullo”) culture as revealed in the novel.
To examine and respond to the depiction of Native Americans in the poetry of Walt Whitman and Sherman Alexieas compared to the novel.
To evaluate the transformative characteristics of man as evident in the novel and select poems.
To make an argument about whether any of the characters in the novel accurately depict the complexity of human nature.
Students will also analyze the history relevant to Indian Removal as illustrative of the setting and the propensity of mankind toward evil, and analyze rhetorical strategies used to influence human to do things that are ultimately wrong and self-serving.
Enduring Understandings:
- The concepts of good and evil are subjective and evolve through time.
- Effective writers use information from a variety ofsources to support their claims
- How does society develop and exhibit morality?
- What are the origins of evil?
- How do nature, nurture, and free will factor into human behavior?
- What role do compassion and empathy play in human nature?
- What are the consequences of evil in society?
Target Standardsare emphasized during the quarter and used in a formal assessment to evaluate student mastery.
Highly-Leveraged1are the most essential for students to learn because they have endurance (knowledge and skills are relevant throughout a student's lifetime); leverage (knowledge and skills are used across multiple content areas) and essentiality (knowledge and skills are necessary for success in future courses or grade levels)
12.RL.3 Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events andexplain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and developover the course of the text.
12.RI.6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text inwhich the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style andcontent
contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
12.L.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how languagefunctions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaningor style, and tocomprehend more fully when reading or listening.Vary syntax for effect, consulting references (e.g., Tufte’s ArtfulSentences) for guidance as needed; apply an understanding of syntax.
12.W.7Conduct short as well as more sustainedresearchprojectstoanswer a question(includinga self‐generated question)orsolve a problem;narroworbroadentheinquirywhen appropriate;synthesizemultiplesourceson the subject,demonstrating understanding ofthesubject under investigation.
12.L.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how languagefunctions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaningor style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.Vary syntax for effect, consulting references (e.g., Tufte’s ArtfulSentences) for guidance as needed; apply an understanding of syntaxto the study of complex texts when reading
Supporting are related standards that support the highly-leveraged standards in and across grade levels.
12.RL.6 Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what isdirectly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, orunderstatement).
12.RI.8 Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including theapplication of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g.,in U.S. SupremeCourt majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in worksof public advocacy (e.g., The
Federalist, presidential addresses).
12.RI.9 Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S.documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration ofIndependence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s SecondInaugural Address) for their themes,
purposes, and rhetorical features.
12.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s),distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing
claims, and create an organization thatlogically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevantevidence for each while pointing out the strengths and
limitations of both in a mannerthat anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of thetext, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships betweenclaim(s) and reasons, betweenreasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms andconventions of the discipline in which they arewriting.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argumentpresented.
12.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection,nd research.
a. Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., "Delineate andevaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the
application ofconstitutional principles and use of legal reasoning [e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court case majority opinions and dissents] and the
premises,purposes, and argumentsin works of public advocacy [e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses]").
12.SL.3Evaluatea speaker’spointofview,reasoning, and useofevidenceand rhetoric,assessing thestance, premises,linksamong ideas,word choice,pointsof emphasis,and toneused.
12.SL.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
12.L.5 Demonstrate understandingoffigurativelanguage,wordrelationships,andnuancesinwordmeanings.
a. Interpret figures ofspeech(e.g., hyperbole, paradox)in contextand analyzetheir rolein thetext.
b. Analyzenuancesin themeaningof words withsimilardenotations.
Constant Standards are routinely addressed every quarter.
12.RL.1,10
12.RI.1,10
12.W.4,5,6,10
12.SL.1,2,6
12.L.1,2,6
Selected Readings of Complex Texts
Multicultural Adoption:
House of Purple Cedar by Tim Tingle / Extended/Short Texts:
“America,”Walt Whitman
“Song of Myself,” Section 10, Walt Whitman,
“The Inca’s Daughter,”Walt Whitman,
Additional Instructional Resources
Electronic and Alternative Media:
Blasphemy, Sherman Alexie
(Some of the links below are for computer research alone and cannot be photocopied or reproduced.)
Andrew Jackson’s speech in support of Indian Removal
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s letter to President Van Buren against the Indian Removal Act
Alcoholism: A review of the role of alcohol on aggressive behavior.
Domestic Violence: A review of the facts relevant to domestic violence, to be used as a reference for an understanding of the characterization of the sheriff and the government agent.
Performance Assessments
Formative Assessments: On-demand writing and reflections on the text; Activating Prior Knowledge Assignment; Questioning and Student-led discussions on the novel, the history, the culture represented in the book, alcoholism, and domestic violence; Dialectical Reader Response Journals; Research Project and Presentation; Poetry Analysis and Argumentation Assignment; Writing Response Poems; Rhetorical Analysis Assignment; Cultural Exploration Assignment; Figurative Language Analysis Assignment; Vocabulary in Context Assignment; / Summative Assessments: Quizzes by section; Mid-unit Test; End of Unit Test; Final Argumentative Essay
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