Name: Laura Sheldon Title/Topic: Unreliable Narrators in Short Stories

Grade Level: 8th Grade Time needed: 90 min Day: 1 of 2

Standards Addressed:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader
(e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

Guiding Question(s):
What is an Unreliable Narrator? How does it influence the way you read a story?
Rationale/Purpose:
In literature, sometimes the author creates an unreliable narrator in order to force the reader out of his
or her comfort zone, or to explore themes or ideas that are otherwise extremely difficult. By learning
about the unreliable narrator, students learn to question the author and think critically about information
that they share
Context/prior knowledge assumptions:
This lesson would occur near the end of the year, after a unit on Figurative Language and one on Short
Stories and during a learning segment on Authors Purpose as you near the final exam. At this point,
students have learned about point of view too, and explored stories that have multiple points of view.
Goals:
Students will be able to:

 Determine whether a narrator is reliable

 Identify biases that the narrator may have towards a situation

 Discuss the way that unreliable narrators shape the reading experience.

SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-oriented) Objectives:

Students will be able to:

 List three biases that each narrator has that relate directly to the murder

 Identify 3-5 pieces of textual evidence that support their position

Resources:
“In a Grove” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Before class, print enough copies that each student may have
a copy, but print each section of the short story separately so that students only get to see one narrator
at a time before you move on to the next.

Instructional Procedures
Warm-up (if applicable): Warm up every class period with vocabulary words. Today, we will use
the words evanescent, notorious, providence, plausible, and dejectedly.
Students will use a dictionary to copy down the definition, the part of
speech, and write their own example of using the word in a sentence.
These words will be seen later in the short story, and will help students to
understand the story better. 10 min

Hook: Tell the class that today they are going to help solve a mystery. A mystery
of murder. They will serve as detectives, trying to determine who
committed the murder and what the motive was. This intrique of murder
will pique their attention, and the “who done it?” atmosphere will lead to
discussions about author’s purpose, as well as point of view for the
characters in the story. Explain that this story isn’t technically solved, so
the students will need to evaluate what they think happened. 5 min

Content Instruction I prepare the materials ahead of time for the class period.
I introduce the short story, and lead the class in discussion about each
“I do” section of the story.
I divide them into groups for debate, and facilitate their debate
preparations if they are struggling.
Guided Practice We review together the importance of point of view, and the different
kinds that there are.
“We do”
We read each section together as a class in “popcorn” style. After reading
each section, we discuss it as a class and what new information this
section bring to the mystery. We start to evaluate our characters/narrators
for bias.

Discussion questions:
 Who might the comb belong to? Why was it left there?

 Do you think the High Police Commissioner knew about her

horse from another witness? Is that why he asked the woodsman?

 How many arrows did the man have in his quiver according to the
Buddhist man? How many did Tajomaru have? Where would the
missing ones be?

 Tajomaru murdered a woman last year? Do you think he has

 murdered the man’s wife?

 What kinds of bias could the Old Woman have?

 The dead man was a samurai, contrast this with the woman
description of him

 How does Tajomaru not know where the wife is if his whole goal
was to capture her?

 Why didn’t Tajomaru choose to capture her?

 Compare/Contrast killing the samurai with violating the samurai’s

wife

 Why does Tajomaru sound so defiant?

 Do you believe he is telling the truth?

 Why doesn’t the samurai’s wife talk about the events before she
was violated? How it happened?

 What do you think about the fact that she passed out and that she
stabbed her husband and that she passed out again?

 Why would she untie her husband?

 Do you believe that she tried to kill herself?

 Do you believe that she is telling the truth?

 The murdered man “speaks” through a medium. Could this

medium have any reason to lie?

 Do you believe the murdered man? Does he have any reason to

lie?

 Why would he kill himself?

Independent Practice You think critically about each character and contribute to the discussion
about the different characters in the Grove.
“You do”
Work in one of three groups to determine why their character did not do
it, and why they are accusing another. This will be presented to the High
Police Commissioner who has to determine what happened.

The first group defends Tajomaru and accuses the murdered man of
killing himself. The second group defends the murdered man and accuses
 the man’s wife. The third group defends the wife, and accuses Tajomaru.

You use 3-5 pieces of textual evidence to support your claims. You make
inferences about the characters based off of what you know.

Closure: Wrap up class by telling the students to continue their debate preparations
at home and outline the next class period (in which the students will have
time to actually do the debate). Tell them to remember to think critically
about their narrators in the future.

Transition Notes: Formative Assessments/Tasks:

 The warm up involves vocabulary words
pulled from the short story
 The hook will serve as an adequate
transition between the warm-up and the
reading.
 For the transitions between narrators, I
have a single student hand out copies of
the next narration.
 For the transition between the last
discussion and the debate preparation,
Students will need highlighters and
maybe a sheet of paper to do notes on.
Students are assigned groups based off
of the number (1, 2, or 3) written at the
top of their page on the last section. This
way, they don’t have time to switch
papers with others so they are all with
their friends.
Literacy Strategies:
By having students define some of the more
difficult words from this short story as a warm
up, and using other words from the story for
the same activity the next class, students are
better able to comprehend the story and learn
how to use those words in their own writing.
The main way to judge comprehension is based off
of student discussion answers. This allows them to
think for themselves and explore together as a class.
The instructor will be able to encourage them to stay
open minded in this discussion, and make sure they
don’t get too off task.
Also, by the instructor rotating between the groups
for the debate preparation, they can assess to make
sure the groups are on the right track for each kind of
argument and are finding good textual evidence.
Differentiation Strategies:
I will try to accommodate all disabilities in my
classroom. For students who are slow at reading, I
will have a short summary of the section before each
discussion, and try to give them the most amount of
time to read everything. However, for students who
are significantly slower, I will have to move on after
a point.
Fostering Positive Physical and Emotional Environment:
In order to foster a positive learning environment for students, the instructor will have established rules
in my classroom that everyone is to be treated with respect and that it is a “safe space” to share thoughts
and ideas in. Since there is mention of both murder and rape in this story, an instructor prefaces this
lesson with the explanation that neither of those things is okay, and to be sensitive to those who have
experienced. Also , though we must be sensitive to issues like that for life, it is okay to question the
honesty of the samurai’s wife in this story for the sake of exploring the unreliable narrator.
Homework (if applicable):
Students will complete the warm-up if they were not able to do that earlier. Also, they will finish
compiling their debate material if that was not completed in their groups.

Attached materials:
https://mrdylitcirclestories.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/in-a-grove.pdf
Reflection on ECI 204 Midterm

This lesson plan, which would be taught near the end of the year to my eighth grade

students, was extraordinarily enjoyable to write. I definitely plan on using this lesson plan, or

something similar, in my own classroom. The process of creating the lesson plan was very

helpful in confirming my pedagogical knowledge, and quite honestly helped confirm that this is

the right life choice for me.

The topic of unreliable narrators can be a dull and confusing topic for students, who

expect the ability to trust the narrators in stories that they read. Therefore, it was important to me

during the planning process to make sure that this was an enjoyable lesson, especially because

the ability to question and judge your narrator is an important skill for students to have.

Therefore, I want to ensure that students learn it well and can become proficient in the skill. By

using progressive pedagogical techniques, PCK, and a fun activity, students can really connect to

the material. I believe that this is progressive because of the use of group work and a student-

centric learning method. The discussion questions prompt students, and help lead them towards
making their own conclusions. The “who done it?” atmosphere surrounding the lesson adds to

the fun of it, and will keep students motivated and interested. By incorporating vocabulary into

the lesson, disciplinary literacy grows and gets established more than if students weren’t able to

associate the words with anything.

This lesson also helps teach other skills to my students, which is my favorite part of the

lesson. The debate teaches students teamwork, as well as how the format for debate and the art of

evidence based argumentation. Also, the debate encourages students to participate in public

speaking. These several skills, as well as the content specifically, make this lesson a very

informative and important lesson.

10____10 points all necessary components of lesson plan template completed

10____10 points the lesson plan attempts to be ambitious but it is still practical (i.e.,
you
are shooting for ideal but not expecting students to create mini-
documentaries in 10 minutes)
10____10 points all components offer clear and sufficient detail so that the lesson
could
be easily picked up and enacted by a competent educator
8____10 points disciplinary literacy is showcased in the lesson purposefully
10____10 points PCK is clearly evident in more than one area (i.e., the lesson moves
beyond superficial strategies)
10____10 points the lesson has a clear structure and flow (i.e., activities are not
disconnected from the guiding question)
5____5 points the lesson plan has a clear purpose and is age appropriate
5____5 points the lesson plan is professionally written (i.e., free of grammatical
errors
and colloquialisms)
9____10 points reflection explains the context in which the lesson will take place
using
specific details
19____20 points reflection justifies your decisions and showcases deep
understanding of
course concepts

TOTAL: 96/100 or 144/150