Short+Story+Unit+Plan

= (ETS4U) Short Story Unit Plan: Diverse Voices =

[[file:Short_Story_Unit_Plan.pdf]]
__**Course: ETS4U - Studies in Literature**__

Unit Summary - Diverse Voices: Making Sense of the Short Story
In this unit, students will be asked to read, analyze, and write several short stories that feature the voices and experience of marginalized characters and communities. Because this unit is for an elective, university level course, our approach is both broad and in-depth, with the hope of preparing students for studying literature at the post-secondary level. The unit is made up of ten lessons, divided into four sections of either two or three lessons each. In the first section, students will be introduced to the short stories we will be reading (a photocopied package) and examine the form of short fiction, considering its unique conventions and attributes. In the second section, students will become literary critics. After reviewing the main schools of literary theory, students will analyze two stories through a critical lens of their choice: feminist, queer, new historicist, Marxist, or reader response. This section focuses on understanding how power is used to silence difference and how literature can act as a form of resistance. In the third section, students will have two periods to examine the similarities and differences between short stories and television sitcoms. The student’s literacy can be enhanced, supported, and extended by using this disposition as a frame for teaching the common themes found in literature. In the fourth section, students will spend four periods working towards and on the culminating task, which involves writing a short story and critically analyzing the short story of a peer. Scaffolding and review exists throughout the unit, but the final section in particular draws together the elements of formal analysis and critical theory students have been working on with a social justice theme that resonates in their own lives.

The culminating task will be introduced early, with each of the four sections building on the last, allowing students to practice the elements of the culminating task.

Description of the Culminating Task
Students will write a critical analysis of a short story written by a peer. Students will have written their own short stories, using the techniques they have been studying. They will have had an opportunity to have their story proofread by a classmate, and the teacher. The purpose of this assignment, however, is not focused on the creative writing of the story, but the critical analysis they will write in response to another student's short story, which will be distributed anonymously. In writing the story, students will be assessed on their use of the literary elements studied (setting, plot, conflict, character, point of view, theme) which they will identify on worksheets before the final story is handed in (see appendix) and the appropriate use of a critical lens(es) that they have employed previously in the unit (see appendix for rubric).