First period worked on improving their diction. The first time we did this, we worked on specific nouns; this time we worked on including action verbs.

Second period looked at three questions:

1. What is Calpurnia’s purpose in the novel? In order to answer that question, you need to think about the attitudes the townspeople of Maycomb express about African Americans. Then ask yourself why Harper Lee places an African American inside the Finch home. Her role there is traditional: she is a servant. But what else is Calpurnia? What is the significance of her taking the children to her church? Share your thoughts about Harper Lee’s purpose in creating Calpurnia for the novel. Include quotes from the text to support your points.
2. Aunt Alexandra represents another segment of Southern society in the 1930s; the interview with three women who “grew up white in the South” during the ’30s represents another expression of this demographic’s view. Compare what Aunty is trying to teach Scout and Jem with what we read in the interview. Is there an overlap?
3. Atticus’s decision to represent Tom in court begins to have a negative impact on his family. In other words, his decision to represent a black man angered the entire community, and his children suffer from the racial unrest generated by the trial. Did Atticus make a poor decision to represent Tom in such an emotionally charged trial? Was it the right decision? What does his decision reveal about the society he lived in?

Working in small groups, students discussed the questions and began preparing oral presentations.

Fourth and sixth periods looked at showing versus telling in writing. We examined a few examples, then worked together as a class to tease out some less-than-descriptive passages:

Example 1

Telling (Loaded passage)

I misbehaved.

Showing

My grandmother told me not to get into the cookies, but I love anything and everything sweet: I couldn’t resist. I climbed onto the counter, reached for the cookie jar, and just as I had the sweet treasure in my grasp, I lost my balance. Everything crashed to the floor, leaving crumbs and shards of glass all over the floor.

Example 2

Telling (Loaded passage)

I was nervous.

Showing

My heart was beating so fast, so hard, I was sure the judges could hear. My palms were slick with sweat, and I knew there were beads on my forehead.

Example 3

Telling (Loaded passage)

He was a good swimmer, but a little weird.

Showing (To a degree)

He was a good swimmer, but he had odd ideas about what to eat before a meet and how to act before a race. He said we should…

Showing (Developed as class)

He was a good swimmer, but he had odd ideas about what to eat before a meet and how to act before a race.

“Before every race,” he told us one day, “you should eat green apples, bologna skin, and cereal with water.”

He announced, “Before we began a race, we jumped around.”

Students then worked in pairs, looking for examples in their own memoirs where details are lacking and where the author told instead of told.

Homework

• First period: third draft.
• Second period: discussion forums.
• Fourth and sixth periods: second draft.