Lesson 9 | Power, Justice, and Culpability: Of Mice and Men and The Central Park Five | 9th Grade English

Objective

Analyze the character of Crooks through the lenses of racism, loneliness, and power.

Readings and Materials

Book: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck pp. 66 – 76

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Target Task

Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved

Discussion & Writing Prompt

Why does Crooks tell Lennie that George might never come back? What does this reveal about his character and power dynamics more generally? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking.

Criteria for Success

Identifies that Crooks feels like he has power over Lennie because of Lennie's intellectual disability – and that because of his race, he usually does not feel powerful on the ranch.
Identifies that Crooks initially enjoys making Lennie upset and persists in doing so.
Identifies that people who feel powerless sometimes take the opportunity to feel powerful by targeting those less powerful than themselves.

Sample Response

An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.

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Key Questions

Questions about the text that will help guide the students understanding

Close Read Questions

How is Crooks characterized on pages 66–70? What do these pages reveal about his character and about race/racism during this time period? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking.
How and why does Crooks' attitude toward the "dream farm" change over the course of the chapter? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking.
What is the cause of Crooks' loneliness, and what impact does it have on him? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking.

Vocabulary

Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text

Literary Terms

sympathetic character

a character that the author intends for us to care about and relate to

Text-based

disarming

adj.

making someone feel less angry or mistrustful; charming

Notes

Suggestions for teachers to help them teach this lesson

The homework reading contains the N-word.

Homework

Reading and/or task to be completed at home in preparation for the next lesson.

Book: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck pp. 77 – 90

While reading, answer the following questions.

Who are the main characters in this scene?
How does Crooks respond to Curley's wife's treatment?
How does Crooks's perspective of the dream farm change by the end of the chapter?

Annotation Focus

Annotate for sections of text where Steinbeck characterizes Curley's wife.

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Standards

RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Reading Standards for Literature

RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Supporting Standards

Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit

L.9-10.1

L.9-10.6

RL.9-10.1

RL.9-10.2

RL.9-10.4

RL.9-10.10

SL.9-10.1

SL.9-10.6

W.9-10.1

W.9-10.9

Lesson 8

Lesson 10

Lesson Map

“Excerpt from John Steinbeck's The Harvest Gypsies”
Migrant worker on California Highway (1935)
Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936)
Dorothea Lange: Drought refugees from Texas encamped in California near Exeter. Seven in Family (1936)

Analyze depictions of migrant workers in an article by John Steinbeck and various photographs by Dorothea Lange, noting the similarities in their representation.

RI.9-10.2 RI.9-10.4

Of Mice and Men pp. 1 – 3

Explain how Steinbeck establishes the setting and introduces his main characters in Of Mice and Men.

RL.9-10.4

Of Mice and Men pp. 4 – 16

Analyze how Steinbeck develops the reader's understanding of the relationship between Lennie and George.

RL.9-10.3 RL.9-10.4

Of Mice and Men pp. 17 – 37 — Chapter 2

Analyze how Steinbeck develops social hierarchies on the ranch and introduces tension into the story.

RL.9-10.3 RL.9-10.5

Writing

Of Mice and Men — Chapters 1 and 2
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Paragraph Rubric

Write a strong topic sentence and select relevant textual evidence to support that claim.

RL.9-10.1 RL.9-10.3 RL.9-10.4 W.9-10.1.a W.9-10.1.b W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5

Writing

Of Mice and Men — Chapters 1 and 2
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Paragraph Rubric

Outline an analytical paragraph using the acronym T-E-A-L, and write a first draft.

W.9-10.1.a W.9-10.1.b W.9-10.1.c W.9-10.1.d W.9-10.1.e

Writing

Of Mice and Men — Chapters 1 and 2
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Paragraph Rubric

Write a strong analytical paragraph that effectively integrates textual evidence and argues for which person at the ranch poses the greatest threat to Lennie and George.

W.9-10.1.a W.9-10.1.b W.9-10.1.c W.9-10.1.d W.9-10.1.e W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5 W.9-10.5

Of Mice and Men pp. 38 – 65

Analyze how Steinbeck develops characters and explain what characters' actions and beliefs can reveal about human nature.

RL.9-10.3

Of Mice and Men pp. 66 – 76

Analyze the character of Crooks through the lenses of racism, loneliness, and power.

RL.9-10.3

Of Mice and Men pp. 77 – 89
“John Steinbeck's Letter to Claire Luce”

Analyze the character of Curley's wife through the lenses of sexism, loneliness, and power.

RL.9-10.3

Of Mice and Men pp. 84 – 93 — end after "much, much more than a moment."

Analyze how Steinbeck has used foreshadowing to develop tension leading up to the story's climax.

RL.9-10.5

Of Mice and Men — pp. 93–end

Analyze the structural choices Steinbeck has made in the final chapter of Of Mice and Men and how he works to shape the reader's perception of Lennie's murder.

RL.9-10.3 RL.9-10.5

Of Mice and Men — full text
“To a Mouse”

Analyze the Robert Burns poem, "To a Mouse" and draw conclusions about why Steinbeck chose a line from this poem for the title of his novel.

RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3

Assessment: Socratic Seminar

Of Mice and Men — full text

Take a position on one of three analytical prompts and gather textual evidence in preparation for a Socratic seminar.

RL.9-10.1 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 W.9-10.1

Assessment: Socratic Seminar

Of Mice and Men — full text

Engage in a Socratic seminar in preparation for crafting a literary analysis for Of Mice and Men.

RL.9-10.1 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 SL.9-10.1.a

Argumentative Writing

Of Mice and Men — full text
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Rubric 9-12

Write a strong thesis statement in response to an analytical essay prompt, and outline body paragraphs needed to support that thesis statement.

W.9-10.1.a W.9-10.1.b W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5

Argumentative Writing

Of Mice and Men — full text
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Rubric 9-12

Write the body paragraphs of an analytical essay in the literary present tense, using strong transitions within and between paragraphs.

W.9-10.1.a W.9-10.1.b W.9-10.1.c W.9-10.1.d W.9-10.1.e W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5

Argumentative Writing

Of Mice and Men — full text
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Rubric 9-12

Review the parts of an introduction, and write a strong introduction to an analytical essay using the acronym H-I-T (hook, introductory information, thesis statement).

W.9-10.1 W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5

Argumentative Writing

Of Mice and Men — full text
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Rubric 9-12

Review the parts of a conclusion, and write a strong conclusion to an analytical essay using the acronym B-A-M (refer back to thesis, analyze its significance, make it universal).

W.9-10.1 W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5

Argumentative Writing

Of Mice and Men — full text
Argumentative Writing: Literary Analysis Rubric 9-12

Revise and edit essay drafts either independently or using a peer review structure.

W.9-10.1 W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5

“Supreme Court Denies Stay of Execution for Marvin Williams”
“Supreme Court Bars Executing Mentally Retarded”
“Family of John Steinbeck 'deeply troubled' by Scheduled Execution of Marvin Williams”

Explain what the Atkins v. Virginia decision and the case of Marvin Wilson reveal about perceptions of culpability in the criminal justice system.

RI.9-10.2 RI.9-10.3 RI.9-10.4

Of Mice and Men — full text

Analyze how characters in Of Mice and Men view Lennie's culpability in different situations throughout the text.

RL.9-10.3

“What is Cognitive Bias and How Does it Contribute to Wrongful Convictions”
“Black People are Wrongly Convicted More Than Any Other Group”

Identify claims made about the relationship between racial bias and wrongful convictions, and analyze how structural choices help develop an author's ideas.

RI.9-10.2 RI.9-10.5

The Central Park Five — Preface

Identify Sarah Burns' purpose in The Central Park Five, and explain how an author's tone develops the reader's understanding of their perspective.

RI.9-10.1 RI.9-10.4 RI.9-10.6

The Central Park Five — Chapter 1

Analyze the structure of the first chapter of The Central Park Five and explain the purpose and impact of specific sections of the text.

RI.9-10.3 RI.9-10.5

The Central Park Five pp. 37 – 51

Analyze how Burns uses descriptive language and specific details to communicate her perspective.

RI.9-10.1 RI.9-10.4 RI.9-10.6 W.9-10.10 W.9-10.9

The Central Park Five — pp. 3–7, 21–27, 38–43
When They See Us — 00:00–07:32; 23:25–30:25

Analyze the choices director Ava DuVerney made in When They See Us and compare her portrayal of characters and events with Sarah Burns' text, The Central Park Five.

RI.9-10.1 RI.9-10.7 W.9-10.1

Of Mice and Men pp. 2 – 3
The Central Park Five — Chapter 3

Analyze how racism shaped media coverage of the Central Park Five, and explain the debate around blame and culpability in this case.

RI.9-10.3 RI.9-10.4 RL.9-10.4

The Central Park Five pp. 188 – 206
When They See Us — Episode 4, 1:01:00–1:12:50

Analyze the choices director Ava DuVerney made in When They See Us and compare her portrayal of characters and events with Sarah Burns's text, The Central Park Five.

RI.9-10.3 RI.9-10.4

Assessment: Performance Task

Of Mice and Men — full text
The Central Park Five — excerpts

Brainstorm, outline, and record a podcast episode that analyzes the power of language to construct meaning about a person's identity in both Of Mice and Men and Central Park Five.

RI.9-10.2 RI.9-10.4 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.4 SL.9-10.4 SL.9-10.5 W.9-10.4 W.9-10.6

Power, Justice, and Culpability: Of Mice and Men and The Central Park Five

Objective

Readings and Materials

Target Task

Discussion & Writing Prompt

Criteria for Success

Sample Response

Key Questions

Close Read Questions

Vocabulary

Literary Terms

Text-based

Notes

Homework

Annotation Focus

Enhanced Lesson Plan

Standards

Reading Standards for Literature

Supporting Standards

Language Standards

Language Standards

Reading Standards for Literature

Reading Standards for Literature

Reading Standards for Literature

Reading Standards for Literature

Speaking and Listening Standards

Speaking and Listening Standards

Writing Standards

Writing Standards

Lesson Map

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