For this introductory lesson to Ray Bradbury’s science fiction short story, “A Sound of Thunder,” we read the first page of the short story aloud in class. The pre-reading semantic web prompts you to reflect on your own opinions about time travel. We later compared our opinions to the main character's opinions in order to assess both character believability and the extent of propaganda's effect on Eckels. Through a flow chart graphic organizer, we navigated the dense language and imagery of the Time Safari, Inc. advertisement to better understand Eckels's characterization and enable prediction-making. Looking into author's purpose through the acronym "PIE," we explored the general purpose of advertisements. We then merged that knowledge with how the specific language in the Time Safari, Inc advertisement - which we made more comprehensible through the graphic organizer - seeks to "persuade" - not "inform" or "entertain" - its readers to understand why Eckels's "idealizes" the past and the prehistoric hunts.
Reading Strategy Mini-Lesson: Vocabulary
"Tune In to Interesting Words" Before we read aloud the first page of Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," we looked at a vocabulary anchor chart and discussed what an "interesting word" would be. We ultimately classified "interesting words" into four categories:
After practicing the during-reading strategy, we introduced the strategy's extension activity, AlphaBoxes, in which you will record all of their circled "interesting words" after-reading, organizing them in alphabetical order. With the anchor chart sheet always available for reference, you will be circling and recording "interesting words" for every homework and in-class reading assignment for the rest of the unit. |
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Close Reading: Compare/Contrast Past & Present Time Safari, Inc. Advertisement After the teacher read aloud the first page of "A Sound of Thunder" and we practiced identifying the four classes of "interesting words," we reread the Time Safari, Inc. advertisement that Eckels recalls verbatim from memory. Demonizing one and glorifying the other, the advertisement's language and imagery portrays the past and present differently in order to entice potential consumers and increase the appeal of time traveling to the prehistoric age of the dinosaurs. On a graphic organizer, we recorded specific phrases - text details! - that described the present in the right column and their parallel descriptions of the past in the left column (explicit or inferred!). The advertisement is written below and its language is color-coded for convenience and readability. |
Eckels remembered the wording in the advertisements to the letter:
Eckels remembered the wording in the advertisements to the letter:
"Out of chars and ashes, out of dust and coals, like golden salamanders, the old years, the green years, might leap; roses sweeten the air, white hair turn Irish-black, wrinkles vanish; all, everything fly back to seed, flee death, rush down to their beginnings, suns rise in western skies and set in glorious easts, moons eat themselves opposite to the custom, all and everything cupping one in another like Chinese boxes, rabbits into hats, all and everything returning to the fresh death, the seed death, the green death, to the time before the beginning. A touch of a hand might do it, the merest touch of a hand."
Author's Purpose & Characterization:
The Effect of the Advertisement's Language on Eckels After mapping out the language in the Time Safari, Inc. advertisement and determining whether the past or present is portrayed more positively and which comes across as more negative, we took a look at "author's purpose." Authors often write for a reason: to persuade, to inform, or to entertain. The acronym, PIE, helps us remember these three reasons. After designing an anchor chart, we discussed the general purpose of marketing campaigns to classify the Time Safari, Inc. advertisement into one of the three PIE categories. Then by applying new vocabulary – “idealization” and “propaganda” – onto the language of the Time Safari, Inc. advertisement, we discussed how the advertisement influenced Eckels's current attitude toward time travel. Short response questions helped us understand how these new vocabulary words, author's purpose, and characterization interconnect for to disclose the purpose of the advertisement in the text. |
Idealize: To consider,
present, or envision someone or something as being more perfect than it really
is and refusing to see, or think about, its possible flaws. To glorify or
romanticize someone or something.
Author's Purpose: remember the acronym PIE to identify the reasons why an author may write: to persuade (to convince reader to believe something), to inform (to teach or give the reader information), or to entertain (to hold attention of reader through enjoyment).
Propaganda: Information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
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ANCHOR CHART: Author's Purpose - PIE