Love him or hate him, it’s time to get to know Holden Caulfield!
Essential Questions:
1. In what ways do our experiences inform our identity?
2. How can we understand the relationship between the individual and society?
3. Which state is more desirable innocence or experience?
4. What does it mean to stay true to yourself?
5. What are the effects of alienation on the individual?
What you should be able to do after this unit:
1. Deepen your critical reading skills
2. Identify and discuss how motifs contribute to the theme of a work
3. Understand how experiences contribute to character transformation
4. Identify areas where a narrator may not be telling the whole truth and discuss how that contributes to the theme of a work and the power of storytelling
Final-Assignment Final Assignment:
Student Choice of Personal Narrative or Creative Piece (more details to follow…)
- We’ll be brainstorming and practicing with each kind
Mon 10/22
Intro to Catcher
- I say “we’re reading a book written in 1945, what images, thoughts, themes, etc. come to mind?
- Post war America
- NYC Images
Tues 10/23
Drop
Wed 10/24
Pick up with NYC Images
QW: Describe the social scene here at NCHS. Where do you fit in?
- Reading p 1 of Catcher together
- “all that David Copperfield kind of crap”
- Reading Journal Assignment
HW: Reading journal for chapters 1 & 2
Thurs 10/25
Reviewing Reading Pre-Assessment
Initial Understanding of Holden
Fri 10/26
QW: How can the feeling of alienation affect the individual? How might someone who is feeling alienated feel and behave?
- Where has Holden felt alienated?
- How has Holden felt and behaved in these moments?
- Is his feelings of alienation self-inflicted, caused by others, or a combination of both?
How does Holden modify events in his memory in order to suit his emotional needs?
(page 3 — unreliable narrator & denotation and connotation)
Holden so far
- What are his categories for people?
- Who and what are the people and things Holden likes so far?
Symbols and Motifs
HW: Reading journal for 4 & 5 — Include 1 motif & 1 symbol (at least!)
Mon 10/29
Reviewing symbols and motifs – what insight do they provide to Holden’s internal conflicts?
HW: Finish reading 6-7
Tues 10/30
What are Holden’s patterns of behavior established in the beginning of the novel?
- Patterns handout
Reading chapter 8 together and annotating
HW: Finish reading Chapter 8
Wed 10/31
Reviewing patterns and progression of details
Vernacular
Re-enacting the Mrs. Morrow Scene
- How Holden says it happened?
- How do you think it went down? What language suggests this?
- What does this reveal about Holden’s character and his internal conflict?
HW: Catcher Reading Journal Chapters 9-10
Thurs 11/1
Holden’s Reaction to Are You Popular?
- writing and submitting on classroom.google.com
Fri 11/2
Drop
Mon 11/5
Tracing Holden’s Saturday so far
- What emotional state is he in?
- What physical state is he in?
Reviewing the Are You Popular response
HW: Consider the pattern of details in the scene with the phone call with Faith Cavendish and the scene with the three witches and write a response to each of the following questions:
- What patterns do you see in these two instances that lead you to see inconsistency and unreliability in Holden? What insight does this give you to Holden and his internal conflicts and unresolved issues?
- Pick either Faith or one of the three witches and consider her point of view. How would their experience differ from Holden’s portrayal? How does he come across to them? Write from their perspective, describing the encounter?
Faith call (bottom of 63-66 & 3 witches 70-75)
Tues 11/6
No School – Election Day!
Wed 11/7
One pager
HW: Reading journal for Chapter 11-13
Thurs 11/8
One pager
Fri 11/9
Book talks in library
HW: HW: Chapters 14 & 15
Mon 11/12
Reviewing Chapters 11-15
Paying attention to Holden’s use of language
HW: Chapters 16 & 17
Tues 11/13
Choose one or more of the prompts below:
- Consider a time when you disagreed with a friend or a parent. If you were telling that story to another friend, how would you tell it with emotional embellishment? Write that version.
- Remember a time when you tried to impress someone you had your eye on at the pool/beach. At school? When you ran into them in town? At a party? Now pick one of those moments and write the story the way you wished it had happened.
- Think about a time in which you did or said something embarrassing in front of your friends or people you don’t know. Now tell that story but in a way that it wasn’t really your fault or that you come out not as embarrassing.
HW: Reading chapter 18 & 19 – pay attention to details where Holden may not be telling the whole truth.
Wed 11/14
Carl
- What would Carl say about his encounter with Holden?
- Identify 2 quotes that reveal Holden’s behavior and emotions during their meeting.
- What is Carl’s motivation for meeting with Holden?
- Identify 2 quotes that suggest Carl’s motivation for meeting up with Holden.
Visually mapping Holden’s emotional journey while leaving room for the end
- With your group, create a visual representation of Holden’s emotional journey. How you choose to represent this journey is up to you, but you must include the following:
- Include 6 stops/places/events/indicators with corresponding quote about his emotional truth at this moment
- Include also a prediction for the end – Remember his question he has in the back of his mind, is where will he go and you know that he ends up in a hospital in LA. What happens between being at home and getting to LA?
HW: Reading journal 20 & 21
Thurs 11/15
Drop
Reading Chapter 22
- What does this chapter reveal about Holden?
- What are the events that have shaped Holden’s emotional life?
- Tracking Holden’s emotional pain – what is the impact on him?
Visually mapping Holden’s emotional journey while leaving room for the end
- With your group, create a visual representation of Holden’s emotional journey. How you choose to represent this journey is up to you, but you must include the following:
- Include 6 stops/places/events/indicators with corresponding quote about his emotional truth at this moment
- Include also a prediction for the end – Remember his question he has in the back of his mind, is where will he go and you know that he ends up in a hospital in LA. What happens between being at home and getting to LA?
HW: Catcher 23 & 24
Mon 11/19
Reviewing 23 & 24
Presenting the visual maps of Holden’s emotional journey
Tues 11/20
Finish mapping emotional journey
Wed 11/21
Reading Day
HW: Have a Happy Thanksgiving and keep reading!
Mon 11/26
In class RTL
- What is Holden’s transformation from the beginning to the end?
- What are his key catalysts for change?
Presenting
HW: Read over assignment and choose option
Tues 11/27
Finish presentations on RTL
Overview of assignment
Narrative structure
Brainstorming &proposal
*Must conference with Writing Center on portion
HW: Writing intro and/or outline
Wed 11/28
Drafting day & conferencing
Thurs 11/29
Drop
Fri 11/30
Drafting day & conferencing
Mon 12/3
Drafting day and conferencing
HW: Draft due for tomorrow’s class
Arri Weeks 