The Flowers

TITLE

Guiding Question: How do literary devices help guide a theme

throughout a story?

DURATION
TEXT(S)

1 Class (75 minutes)

The Flowers by Alice Walker

LES
LEARNING & EVALUATION
SITUATION
MATERIALS

7 Bristle Boards

7 Copies of Appendix 2 (cut up and placed in separate envelops)

Appendix 3 List of Literary Device Definitions

7 Glue Sticks

7 Bells

1 Trophy

6 Gold Medals

The Flowers PowerPoint presentation

McGill University
Supervisor: Barry Mooney

SUBJECT AREA
LEVEL

PROGRAM CONTENT

Second Field Experience

Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Patterson

English Language Arts

Secondary
Cycle One

<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 1 (Gr. 7)
Year 2 (Gr. 8)

Secondary
Cycle Two

Year 1 (Gr. 9)
<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 2 (Gr. 10)

<INPUT TYPE=\ Year 3 (Gr. 11)

Competency 1 Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn:

Collaborates with peers to construct knowledge about how things are done

Applies procedural and meaning-making strategies to achieve a purpose

Contributes to team efforts as an interactive and critical listener

Competency 2 Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts:

Talks about own response to a text within a classroom community

Deepens own meaning(s) of a text in discussion with other readers

Situates meanings within own experiences and the world of the text, in order to
transform initial reading into more conscious interpretations

Integrates reading profile, stance and strategies to make sense of a text in a specific
context

Interprets the relationship(s) between reader, text and context in light of own
response(s)

Explains the impact of a text on self as reader by returning to its social functions, as
well as the way meanings and messages are constructed

Competency 3 Produces texts for personal and social purposes:

Constructs a relationship between writer/producer, text and context

Understands that all texts are constructed in specific context for specific audiences
and purposes

Students will be able to:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to interpret a text

Students will be able to identify the theme of the text
Students will be able to collaborate with other students in order to complete a task
Students will be able to identify literary devices in the text
Students will be able to link the theme with the literary devices and analyze how the author
uses literary devices to transmit a message to the reader
Students will produce a literary response to the text

Secondary
Cycle One
SUBJECT-SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 1. Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 2. Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 3. Produces texts for personal and social purposes
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 1. Uses information
Competency 6. Uses ICT
Competency 2. Solves problems
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 7. Achieves his/her potential
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 8. Cooperates with others
Competency 3. Exercises critical judgment
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 9. Communicates appropriately
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 4. Uses creativity
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 5. Adopts effective
work methods
Secondary
Cycle Two

CROSS-CURRICULAR COMPETENCIES

Competency 1. Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn

Competency 2. Represents her/his literacy in different media
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 3. Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
Competency 4. Writes a variety of genres for personal and social purposes

BROAD AREA OF LEARNING

Health and Well-Being

Personal and
Career
Planning

Environmental Awareness /
Consumer Rights and
Responsibilities

Media Literacy
<INPUT TYPE=\ Citizenship and
Community Life

The Flowers

CLASS PERIOD & DURATION

How do literary devices help guide a theme throughout a story?

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1: How has Myop changed? Reading and Identification of Theme

Introduction/Warm-Up
Introduce the students to Alice Walker; use the power point slide three as a point of reference. Emphasize
the following:

Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia.

She worked as a social worker, teacher and lecturer, and took part in the 1960s Civil Rights
Movement in Mississippi.

Walker won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1982 novel, The Color Purple, and is also an
acclaimed poet and essayist.

Show slide four of the PowerPoint, which is a Calvin and Hobbes comic. The comic is foreshadowing
the theme of loss of innocence in The Flowers. Read the comic aloud and indicate there is a link to the
story and that you will come back to it afterwards. This is to get the students thinking about the theme in
advance. The comic also hints at the theme they need to be looking for as the students are reading and
analyzing the story.
Development
20 Min. for Activity

It is now time to read Alice Walkers short story The Flowers. Ask students to volunteer to read aloud and
change readers after every paragraph. There are a total of eight readers needed in order to complete the
reading.
Closure/Wrap-Up
Once the reading is complete, have a class discussion. Cover the following topics in the discussion:

Briefly summarize what happens in the story.

Ask what is the theme of the story (loss of innocence). If the students are having trouble coming
up with the theme, guide the students with prompting questions such as:
1. What is the significance of the flowers in the story?
2. Why did she put the flowers down?
3. What happened to the man?

Extension/Whats Next?
When the theme has been identified, move onto Activity TWO: Literary Device Mash Up
Multi-level Modifications

Some students may have trouble reading out loud. If students are struggling with oral reading you
may choose to take over the reading to alleviate the student of his/her reading task.

Another issue that may arise is the lack of volunteers. If that is the case you can randomly select
students or read the text aloud yourself.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 2: Literary Device Mash Up

Introduction/Warm-Up
Divide the class into seven groups of four to five students. Once the groups are formed, hand out the
bristle boards, bells, and group envelopes that contain the cut up quote strips. Go through the instructions
with the students.
Development

30 Min. for Activity

Each group has an envelope containing quotes from Alice Walkers The Flowers

As a TEAM, students will glue the quote that matches up to the appropriate device to the bristle
board (devices are listed on the bristle boards).

When the students are finished they will ring the bell and wait for the other groups to finish.

When all groups are finished, the instructor will go through the answer with the class using the
PowerPoint presentation (slides eight to fourteen).

The group that got all the answers correct or most correct in the fastest time will receive the
Literary Device Trophy and each student will receive a Winners gold medal.

Closure/Wrap-Up
Go through each answer and allow the students to discuss and defend their choices for placing each quote
in the specific literary device. Ask the students how each quote and literary device links to the theme of
loss of innocence. Emphasize how each literary device transitions from innocence to experience.
Some examples:

The flowers, when picked are innocent. When Myop puts them down she looses her innocence.

The descriptive tone and mood of the story shifts from happy go lucky to dark and damp,
foreshadowing Myops loss of innocence.

Extension/Whats Next?
This activity will help the students prepare for writing a literary response in their performance task.
Multi-level Modifications
Though some students might struggle with connecting the quotes with the literary devices, the fact that this
is a collaborative groups activity will allow for the weaker students to ask for help from the stronger
students.
If students get too heated over disagreements over the right answers, the instructor should step in and
manage the students emotions.
If one group is struggling, the instructor can walk over and offer guiding questions to help them come to the
right answer.
If the students have issues with remembering the literary devices the instructor may allow the students to
use a dictionary to define each device.

PERFORMANCE TASK: Literary Response/Paragraph Three

25 Min. for Activity

For the remainder of the class, students will focus on writing paragraph three of literary response. This will
be done individually. The instructor will be readily available to answer any questions the students may
have.
Students will take home their responses and complete it for homework to be handed in for next class.
Assessment
Competency 2: Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts

Adjusts reading strategies and stance to build and sustain meaning

Draws on discussions with peers to extend, reshape and clarify own responses

Makes connections between reader, text and context to justify own interpretations

Applies research and organizational strategies appropriate to context

Evaluates own growth as a reader of spoken, written and media texts

Competency 3: Produces text for personal and social purposes

Integrates elements of communication context

Applies codes and conventions of different modes and genres

Collaborates with peers to produce media texts

Adapts process and strategies to the writing/production context

Self-evaluates growth as a writer/producer

Evaluation Criteria
Students paragraphs will be evaluated based on the literary response rubric (Appendix Four). The
instructor will correct and give feedback to each student. This will help them see where they need to
improve and what to prepare for in the upcoming government exam.

APPENDIX #

Please see attached documents for the following appendices:

Appendix 1: The Flowers Story

Appendix 2: Literary Device Mash Up Quotes
Appendix 3 Literary Device Definitions
Appendix 4: The Flowers PowerPoint Presentation
Appendix 5: Literary Response Rubric