Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Lesson Title: The Allegory of it All

Lesson # 1 Length of Lesson: 45-50 minutes Grade Level of Class: 12
Rationale
This lesson is to establish a foundation for students to recognize allegory because it will help
them identify different layers of meaning within texts that they read.
Lesson Goals/Objectives
After class discussion, students will demonstrate understanding by writing 3 facts about the
literary device allegory with complete accuracy.
TEKS: 110.34. (b)
(1) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when
reading and writing. Students are expected to:
(E) Use general and specialized dictionaries, thesauri, histories of language, books of
quotations, and other related references (printed or electronic) as needed.
Students Prior Knowledge
Students are expected to have developmentally appropriate reading, writing, and analysis skills.
Students are expected to know how to use printed and electronic copies of various reference
sources.
Resources and Materials
Baldick, Chris. Allegory. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2008. 361. Print.
Computers with internet access
Give One, Get One worksheet
White board and Expo markers
Allegory PowerPoint Presentation
Teacher computer connected to overhead projector
Presentation Screen
Procedures
1) Pre:
a) The word allegory will be written on the board when the students arrive. Students will
be given the Give One, Get One worksheet, and instructed that they have 5 minutes to
write down what they know about the term allegory in the left hand column. Then the
students will be given 5 minutes to exchange information with their classmates to obtain
five pieces of information that is new to each individual.
2) During
a) Then I will ask the class if anyone would like to volunteer something they learned about
allegory, and I will write 3-5 responses on the board.
b) Explain we are studying this because it was common for Medieval literature
c) Students will then be shown The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms entry about
allegory
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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

d) PowerPoint Presentation on difference between allegory, metaphors, and symbols, and

allusion
e) Show examples and asked to identify what it is
f) Go into different types of allegory (personification and dream vision and others)
3) Post
a) Questions about it, concerns
i) Will someone define allegory in their own terms?
4) Closure
a) Tell students we will be reading Chaucers prologue tomorrow and will be identifying
and analyzing the allegories he presents
b) Write three facts about allegory with name on piece of paper as ticket out of classroom.

Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Name: ________________________
Date: ____________ Period: ______

Give One, Get One

Directions: In the first column, write down what you already know about the word Allegory. Then
visit with your classmates giving a piece of your knowledge and getting new knowledge. When
you have five pieces of new information, you may stop.

Give One

Get One

Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Lesson Title: Chaucers Prologue to the Legend of Good Women

Lesson # 2 Length of Lesson: 45-50 minutes Grade Level of Class: 12
Rationale
This material will show students how the English language has developed since the Medieval
Ages, and how gender issues and the question of authority is a universal theme. Students will
need to be able to recognize these issues during and after high school
Lesson Goals/Objectives
Within small groups after independent reading, students will be able to summarize the text with
complete accuracy.
TEKS: 110.34. (b)
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and provide evidence from
text to support their understanding. Students are expected to evaluate the changes in
sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure in poetry across
literary time periods.
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from
text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(D) Demonstrate familiarity with works of fiction by British authors from each major
literary period.
Students Prior Knowledge
Students are expected to have developmentally appropriate reading, writing, and analysis skills.
Students are expected to know how to use printed and electronic copies of various reference
sources.
Resources and Materials
Computers with internet access
NeCastro, Gerard, trans. Prologue. Legend of Good Women. By Geoffrey Chaucer. eChaucer:
Chaucer in the Twenty-First Century. U of Maine at Machias, 15 June, 2011. Web.
Kline, A.S., trans. Prologue. Legend of Good Women. By Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer: The
Dream Poems and Other Works (A modernization). Poetry in Translation. 1 January,
2008. Web.
White board and Expo markers
Anticipation Guide worksheet
Class set of: Chaucer, Geoffrey, and Kathryn L. Lynch. Dream Visions and Other Poems:
Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2007. 122-37.
Print.
Procedures
1) Pre:
a) Students will be given the Anticipation Guide and instructed that they have 5 minutes
to check the statements they agree with.
b) Students will have 10 minutes to discuss with the students next to them in groups of 3-5
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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

which statements they agreed with and why. Each student should tell the group about a
statement they checked that another member has not previously discussed. While students
are talking, I will walk around the classroom to listen to, prompt, and guide the
conversations to stay on track.
2) During
a) Students will be grouped into 3-4 and read the introduction to the text and the Prologue to
Chaucers Legend of Good Women (pages 117-137). Students are encouraged to divide
the text into sections and assign a section to each member to summarize to the group at
the end of class.
i) For differentiated reading levels, students may read one of the translation packets or
go to one of the two designated website translations to help them understand the text.
b) While reading, each student will write a reading journal entry in their spiral notebooks.
3) Post
a) Students will share a summary of the sections they read to the group.
b) Students that do not finish reading are expected to finish the reading and journal entry as
homework.
4) Closure
a) Students will be informed that we are going to look for allegories in the text in the next
class session.

Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Name: ________________________
Date: ____________ Period: ______

Anticipation Guide
Directions: Before reading the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women, check the statements below
that you would agree with. Be prepared to support your answers. At the teachers instruction, you
will discuss the statements you checked with your classmates next to you in groups of 3-5 for 10
minutes. Everyone is expected to contribute to the discussion.
_____ 1. Personal experience is the best way to learn life lessons.
_____ 2. Books can teach us everything we need to know.
_____ 3. A writer should try to please his audience.
_____ 4. Spring is the best season.
_____ 5. We should always respect our elders.
_____ 6. There are no consequences for writing lies.
_____ 7. When someone is abusive in a relationship it makes the other person not want to fall in
love ever again and discourages others from love.
_____ 8. Love is worth dying for.
_____ 9. Portraying love in a positive manner is more important than telling the truth.
_____ 10. We should always question the reliability of the source of information.
_____ 11. Men should respect nature.

Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Lesson Title: Hide and Seek: Finding and Analyzing Allegory

Lesson # 3 Length of Lesson: 45-50 minutes Grade Level of Class: 12
Rationale
Since students have finished reading the material and understand what an allegory is, now they
can review it for allegory with the whole story in mind.
Lesson Goals/Objectives
After reading the Prologue, students will be able to identify the allegories in the text and interpret
the meaning with 80% accuracy.
TEKS: 110.34. (b)
(2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make
inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical,
and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their
understanding. Students are expected to:
(C) Relate the characters, setting, and theme of a literary work to the historical, social,
and economic ideas of its time.
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and provide evidence from
text to support their understanding. Students are expected to evaluate the changes in
sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure in poetry across
literary time periods.
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make
inferences and draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery
in literary text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students
are expected to analyze how the author's patterns of imagery, literary allusions, and
conceits reveal theme, set tone, and create meaning in metaphors, passages, and literary
works.
(26) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams.
Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are
expected to participate productively in teams, offering ideas or judgments that are
purposeful in moving the team towards goals, asking relevant and insightful questions,
tolerating a range of positions and ambiguity in decision-making, and evaluating the
work of the group based on agreed-upon criteria.
Students Prior Knowledge
Students are expected to have developmentally appropriate reading, writing, and analysis skills.
Students are expected to know and recognize an allegory.
Resources and Materials
Computers with internet access
White board and Expo markers

Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Procedures
1) Pre:
a) Students will get in their Literature Circle groups, and spend the first 15 minutes of class
reviewing the Prologue and sharing their journal entries.
2) During
a) Read and find allegory
b) Short answer responses
c) Class discussion

3) Post
a) Questions or comments
4) Closure
a) On a piece of paper, students will write down one allegory and its meaning in the text to
turn is as a ticket out of the classroom

Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Lesson Title: Performing a Close Reading of the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women
Lesson # 4 Length of Lesson: 45-50 minutes Grade Level of Class: 12
Rationale
This lesson is the instructional piece on how to perform a close reading. Students need to learn
how to read and think critically about what they are reading.
Lesson Goals/Objectives
Students will be able to recognize that they use different levels of reading skills to comprehend
different types of texts. Students will be able to analyze literary devices for a close reading in
pairs, and write their analysis within a page.
TEKS: 110.34. (b)
(1) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when
reading and writing. Students are expected to:
(B) Analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to draw
conclusions about the nuance in word meanings;
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and provide evidence from
text to support their understanding. Students are expected to evaluate the changes in
sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure in poetry across
literary time periods.
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make
inferences and draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery
in literary text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students
are expected to analyze how the author's patterns of imagery, literary allusions, and
conceits reveal theme, set tone, and create meaning in metaphors, passages, and literary
works.
Students Prior Knowledge
Students are expected to have developmentally appropriate reading, writing, and analysis skills.
Students are expected to know how to use printed and electronic copies of various reference
sources.
Resources and Materials
Anticipation Guide
Notes Handout
Class wiki: http://performingaclosereading.wikispaces.com/Close+Reading
Pens/pencils
Class copy of Beowulf
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
Computers with internet access
White board and Expo markers
Teacher computer connected to overhead projector
Presentation Screen
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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

A hard copy of and/or internet access to: Oxford English Dictionary. OED Online. Oxford
University Press, March 2014. Web. 21 April 2014.
Procedures
1) Pre:
a) Students will be given the Anticipation Guide and instructed that they have 3 minutes
to check the statements they agree with.
b) Students will have 5 minutes to discuss with the students next to them in groups of 3-5
which statements they agreed with and why. Each student should tell the group about a
statement they checked that another member has not previously discussed. While students
are talking, I will walk around the classroom to listen to, prompt, and guide the
conversations to stay on track.
c) Ask 1-3 students to volunteer one of the statements they agreed with and share why. Ask
the students Why do you think we did this warm-up activity? Then go straight into
teaching about performing a close reading.
2) During
a) First, the teacher will hand out the Close Reading Instruction sheet, and instruct the
students to fill in the blanks during the lecture. The handout is a fill-in the blank
worksheet for students to fill out while the teacher gives a 10 minute lecture defining a
close reading. It explains what a close reading is, why it is important, and the steps in the
process. The handout focuses on creating a basic definition of what a close reading is as
an action of analysis, and the expectations of close reading as a short writing
assignment.
b) Perform Guided practice using an excerpt from Beowulf. The teacher would select a
passage, and point out a literary device. Then the teacher would discuss how the literary
device builds the theme in the text.
c) Read the excerpt out loud and project onto screen for entire class to see and follow along
with, in addition to the textbooks. Go back to statement selected in anticipation section c
and pull that example from the excerpt. For example, showing students rhyming in the
text and telling students how it influences the meaning.
3) Post
a) Students will practice in groups using an excerpt from Beowulf. Students will group up in
pairs and the teacher will provide another passage from the text for the students to use
and point out a literary device. This allows students to practice on their own before
receiving feedback from the teacher. Students may brainstorm or write down
observations about the text on the white boards as another platform for them to work
together or present to the class during the closure.
4) Closure
a) The teacher will call on groups to present their findings and discuss how the literary
device builds the theme in the text. Then other students may offer suggestions for
improvement. Students will be given an opportunity to ask any last second questions
before the teacher proceeds with asking closing questions and providing more
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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

information about the individual practice for homework.

i) Who will restate the instructions in their own words?
ii) How could you extend the close reading? (By making it relate to the whole story
through theme.)
iii) In what ways has the author employed literary devices?
iv) Generalize the importance/significance of close reading as a skill that can be used
outside of school.

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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

Lesson Title: Group Close Readings

Lesson # 5 Length of Lesson: 45-50 minutes Grade Level of Class: 12
Rationale
This lesson is designed for students to perform independent practice since close readings are a
new concept for the students.
Lesson Goals/Objectives
Students will create a group close reading of one page in length in order to demonstrate
understanding of the close reading process and the choices of the author.
TEKS: 110.34. (b)
(1) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when
reading and writing. Students are expected to:
(B) Analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to draw
conclusions about the nuance in word meanings;
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and provide evidence from
text to support their understanding. Students are expected to evaluate the changes in
sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure in poetry across
literary time periods.
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make
inferences and draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery
in literary text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students
are expected to analyze how the author's patterns of imagery, literary allusions, and
conceits reveal theme, set tone, and create meaning in metaphors, passages, and literary
works.
(26) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams.
Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are
expected to participate productively in teams, offering ideas or judgments that are
purposeful in moving the team towards goals, asking relevant and insightful questions,
tolerating a range of positions and ambiguity in decision-making, and evaluating the
work of the group based on agreed-upon criteria.
Students Prior Knowledge
Students are expected to:
Have developmentally appropriate reading, writing, and analysis skills.
Know how to use printed and electronic copies of various reference sources.
Use WikiSpaces and create a wikipost

Resources and Materials

Computers with internet access
White board and Expo markers
WikiSpaces: http://performingaclosereading.wikispaces.com/Close+Reading
Pens/pencils
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Kaitlin Sharp: Chaucer/Close Reading Unit

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
A hard copy of and/or internet access to: Oxford English Dictionary. OED Online. Oxford
University Press, March 2014. Web. 21 April 2014.
NeCastro, Gerard, trans. Prologue. Legend of Good Women. By Geoffrey Chaucer. eChaucer:
Chaucer in the Twenty-First Century. U of Maine at Machias, 15 June, 2011. Web.
Kline, A.S., trans. Prologue. Legend of Good Women. By Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer: The
Dream Poems and Other Works (A modernization). Poetry in Translation. 1 January,
2008. Web.
Class set of: Chaucer, Geoffrey, and Kathryn L. Lynch. Dream Visions and Other Poems:
Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2007. 122-37.
Print.
Procedures
1) Pre:
a) Students will work in Literature Groups to brainstorm what they want to write about for
group close reading for 10 minutes. They are to select an allegory for their class wiki.
2) During
a) The students will work collaboratively to write a close reading and publish it on the class
wiki. Students are expected to use reference books and the original text to help them
write it.
b) I will walk around the classroom to help the groups, and prompt them with questions.
3) Post
a) Students will visit the other groups wikis and comment on them. Students are expected
to comment on 3 other group pages with ways to improve the wiki and mention things
they did well.
4) Closure
a) Students unable to finish commenting on other groups wikis are expected to complete
them as homework. I will also remind students that the wiki contains detailed instructions
and an example if they need help.

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