Racial Prejudice and Sexism in Short Stories

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview

This activity can be used in the middle of a lesson about the theme of racial prejudice and sexism as depicted in the short story “Desiree’s Baby” (1894) by Kate Chopin. Students will read and discuss the biography of Kate Chopin before they read the short story. Students will complete the Foreshadowing Graphic Organizer as they read the story for group discussion and a writing activity involving an alternate ending for the story.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 12

ELA21.12.6

Analyze a text’s explicit and implicit meanings to make inferences about its theme and determine the author’s purpose.

UP:ELA21.12.6

Vocabulary

  • Analyze
  • Explicit
  • Implicit
  • Inferences
  • Theme
  • Author's purpose

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Strategies to comprehend explicit and implicit text meaning.
  • Inference skills.
  • Methods to identify the theme and purpose of a text.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Making inferences about the theme and purpose of a text by analyzing a text's explicit and implicit meanings.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Text often has an explicitly stated meaning and an implied meaning.
  • They can combine their explicit and implicit understanding to infer the theme and the author's purpose for writing the text.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 12

ELA21.12.11

Compose, edit, and revise both short and extended products in which the development, organization, and style are relevant and suitable to task, purpose, and audience, using an appropriate command of language.

UP:ELA21.12.11

Vocabulary

  • Compose
  • Edit
  • Revise
  • Short products
  • Extended products
  • Writing development
  • Writing organization
  • Writing style
  • Task
  • Purpose
  • Audience
  • Command of language

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Writing products can be short, such as a paragraph, or extended, such as constructed responses and essays.
  • The skills required by the writing process.
  • The development, organization, and style of writing will change depending on the writing task, the purpose of the writing, and the intended audience.
  • Formal academic writing should demonstrate an appropriate command of language.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Compose, edit, and revise short and extended writing products.
  • Identify the writing task, the purpose of writing, and the intended audience in order to appropriately adapt the development, organization, and style of the writing.
  • Demonstrate command of the written language.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There are different genres of writing that serve various purposes.
  • The writing process is a series of steps that improve writing over time.
  • The writing task, purpose, and audience should be considered in the development, organization, and style of the writing.
  • Formal academic writing should display their command of the English language.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 09-12 - Human Geography

SS10.HG.11

Interpret human geography as it relates to gender.

UP:SS10.HG.11

Vocabulary

  • human
  • geography
  • gender

Knowledge

Students know:
  • How gender dynamics are changing in various parts of the world.
  • How issues related to gender affect power relationships and culture.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Understand how roles related to gender are changing.
  • Compare and contrast roles of men and women around the world.
  • Recognize how gender affects power relationships between men and women.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Gender plays a role regarding human geography.

Learning Objectives

  • The students will cite textual examples of the author's use of foreshadowing.
  • The students will examine an author's biographical information and determine how time and place affect the writer's textual decisions related to gender.
  • The students will interpret what an author states directly and indirectly about issues like racial prejudice and sexism.
  • The students will compose an alternate conclusion to the short story.

Activity Details

1. Review the terms foreshadowing, racial prejudice, and sexism:

     a. Foreshadowing: a warning or indicator of a future event

     b. Racial Prejudice: The fourth edition of the American Heritage College Dictionary provides four meanings for the term—from “an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts” to “irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race or religion.” Both definitions apply to the experiences of ethnic minorities in Western society. Of course, the second definition sounds much more menacing than the first, but prejudice in either capacity has the potential to cause a great deal of damage.

     c. Sexism: prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, based on sex.

2. Examine the Kate Chopin in the South Web Page and engage students in a brief, whole-group discussion:

     a.  What is one unusual piece of biographical information that intrigues you about this author from this website?

3, Examine the Kate Chopin Biography Web Page and engage students in a brief, whole-group discussion:

     a. This website features more information about Chopin. Identify one piece of information that helps you understand the author better.

     b. How could one of the concepts of foreshadowing, racial prejudice, or sexism possibly connect the biographical information about Chopin and her writing?

4. Explain to students that it is important to learn information about an author before you read his or her work and that we will return to the author discussion after reading this short story and completing the graphic organizer.

5. Create small groups of three students; direct student groups to read the story "Desiree’s Baby"(1894) and complete the Foreshadowing in Desiree’s Baby Graphic Organizer as they read.

6. Instruct student groups to discuss their results and compose an “alternate ending” to the short story. (If students need a brief refresher about alternate endings, see this Alternate Ending Prezi.)

7. Each group will present their findings to the class and share their alternate endings. Use the rubric for scoring: Rubric for Alternate Ending Paragraph   

8. After all groups have presented their ideas for alternate endings, discuss whether the author’s background information is connected to her writing style or descriptions of settings, characters, or events. Return to the question:      

     a. How could one of the concepts of foreshadowing, racial prejudice, or sexism possibly connect the biographical information about Chopin and her writing?

Assessment Strategies

Direct students to submit the graphic organizers, so the teacher may assess, specifically for their understanding of textual evidence citations.

Each group will present their findings to the class and share their alternate endings. Use the rubric for scoring: Rubric for Alternate Ending Paragraph   

Variation Tips

The lesson could be used in conjunction with any of Kate Chopin's short stories. A variation would be for students to read "The Story of an Hour" by Chopin as an outside activity and compose an essay about how the elements of foreshadowing, racial prejudice, and sexism are featured in the story.

Background / Preparation

The teacher needs to make sure the web page links are available before class and students have access to the materials via Google Classroom. 

Foreshadowing in Desiree's Baby Graphic Organizer
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xtoMDGSwDMKGNX6zdApTqtrFFRCIBfJLI_XnJyalkLI…

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

tcook1
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