"Dark They Were and Golden Eyed" by Ray Bradbury
Before introducing the short story " Dark They Were and Golden Eyed" to the class, the teacher will pass out a letter that Ray Bradbury wrote to a fan in the early 1990's. The teacher will ask the students to read the letter silently, take in all of the details. Next, the teacher will simply ask the students what they notice about the paper, starting with the 5 W's.
-Who wrote the letter?
-What is it about?
-When was it written?
-Where was it written?
-Why was it written? What was its importance?
The teacher will use this letter as a diving board into non-fiction. After scrutinizing the letter the teacher will discuss the importance of primary source documents. The picture on the stationary that Bradbury used serves as a starting point for a class discussion of Science Fiction and therefore also a lead into Bradbury's story "Dark They Were and Golden Eyed." The letter is pictured to the left (via io9.com).
The class will then began to read Ray Bradbury's short story "Dark They Were and Golden Eyed." The class will pause and discuss literary elements at work in the text while reading students will be asked to speculate as to why Bradbury would "show rather than tell" details about the setting and character's feelings by using these poetic devices. Some of the elements discussed will be:
Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds in words in a series or sentence.
Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or end of words in a series or sentence.
Formative Assessment: Students will be given a literary elements test in which they will have to give an example from the text of each of the following literary elements at work within the text and explain their relevance.
-suspense
-personification
-assonance
-consonance
-tone
-sensory imagery
-alliteration
-conflict
-metaphor
-simile
-Who wrote the letter?
-What is it about?
-When was it written?
-Where was it written?
-Why was it written? What was its importance?
The teacher will use this letter as a diving board into non-fiction. After scrutinizing the letter the teacher will discuss the importance of primary source documents. The picture on the stationary that Bradbury used serves as a starting point for a class discussion of Science Fiction and therefore also a lead into Bradbury's story "Dark They Were and Golden Eyed." The letter is pictured to the left (via io9.com).
The class will then began to read Ray Bradbury's short story "Dark They Were and Golden Eyed." The class will pause and discuss literary elements at work in the text while reading students will be asked to speculate as to why Bradbury would "show rather than tell" details about the setting and character's feelings by using these poetic devices. Some of the elements discussed will be:
Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds in words in a series or sentence.
Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or end of words in a series or sentence.
Formative Assessment: Students will be given a literary elements test in which they will have to give an example from the text of each of the following literary elements at work within the text and explain their relevance.
-suspense
-personification
-assonance
-consonance
-tone
-sensory imagery
-alliteration
-conflict
-metaphor
-simile