Teaching 'Setting' with Holes

Setting/Characterisation is one of the criteria assessed in NAPLAN for the years in which creative writing is prompted. In fact, in comparing the Persuasive and Creative options for the NAPLAN writing section, this is the only real point of difference that comes up in the criteria. Without getting too much into it, Setting and Characterisation are conflated on the understanding that both of these textual elements require sufficient detail and a sustained approach across the length of the student's writing. 

I think there's something in this definition.

For example, if a student introduces their setting at the start of their piece, then we want to see them remember that this is the setting right until the end - and the writing should reflect this. If it's a freezing tundra then we want to see constant and varied reminders of this throughout the text, and we also need to see that events and characters within the text interact with this setting appropriately. 

The same is said for characterisation. If a character is dressed in a cumbersome pizza slice suit, then we  need to read about them sweating throughout the story, or the way in which the suit restricts their movements, and that other characters comment on the bizarre appearance of this pizza slice protagonist.

In Stage 4, I have on occasion used the novel Holes by Louis Sachar to teach the literary concept of setting. This can be done across the first 45 pages in relation to the story being set in Texas's Chihuahuan Desert. Before I demonstrate some of the ways this can be explored, here's a quick paraphrasing of what Stage 4 English says about setting:

• EN4-1A contains a content point that asks students to recognise and analyse the ways in which setting interacts with events or characterisation. 
• EN4-2A contains a content point in which students are encouraged to use textual evidence related to setting when justifying a point of view.

So, as we can see, by the time students are in Years 7 and 8 they should be looking at the more complex ways in which setting operates as an element within a text and be able to use their knowledge about this when analysing said text. Here are three ways in which this can be addressed in relation to Holes:

Activity 1 - Stretching Our Creative Muscles

1. Before the students even have a chance to read Holes, I ask them to spend 10 minutes writing about their own setting for a story. Free reign is given here, students can set their story anywhere, anytime. I usually walk around the room and give students a range of options to prompt their imagination - do they like the beach? Bushwalking? Perhaps they'd like to go to an alien world, or a frozen wasteland? Haunted houses, grimy cities, and ancient civilisations all get a look in as well.  
2. Then we go off and do something else for the bulk of the lesson. I like to let their descriptions sit for a little bit, perhaps while the class does one of the other setting-related activities.
3. At the end of the lesson, for about 20 minutes, I then direct students to read through their descriptions and monitor how they used vocabulary to build a setting. This means highlighting any adjectives they've used, and circling any imagery that relates to four of the major senses (sight, smell, sound, touch). Students then come up with an additional 5-10 adjectives or sensory imagery that could have been used in their description.

Activity 2 - Purpose and Complexity

1. Read the opening chapter of Holes as a class and then discuss what sort of setting this is. Students collect together any details that let them know what this setting is, and reflect on what impression Sachar wants the reader to get.
2. Then we read on until we get to Chapter 3, where the protagonist Stanley Yelnats is travelling to the Juvenile Correction Facility at Camp Green Lake via bus. There is a part in this chapter where Stanley thinks about where he is going and expresses gratitude that he will at least be able to go for a swim in the 'Lake'. 

Stop here and explain what irony is. I look at three types of irony and usually a little bit of discussion will get students to recognise that sarcasm is one of these - this is a good way of starting off.

• Verbal Irony: Also known as sarcasm, this is when someone says something that is the opposite of what they mean.
• Situation Irony: This is when we expect something to happen in a story only for it to be subverted or flipped by the writer.
• Dramatic Irony: This is when there is a disconnect between what the audience knows and what a character knows. When the audience knows more about something than a character this can create tension or humour.

    3. I ask students here to consider how Sachar has used dramatic irony. The answer is the bit where            Stanley thinks he is going to be able to swim at Camp Green Lake. Thanks to the opening chapter         (which features no characters and only focuses on setting), the reader is aware that this lake is                 completely dry - although Stanley is not. We see now how setting interacts with character and                 the novel's structure in a more complex fashion than students perhaps realised, and the teacher can         help make it clear here that the entire purpose of the opening chapter was to allow the reader to            know about the setting before Stanley does.

Activity 3 - Textual Evidence

1. Students read Chapters 5 to 7. If you wanted to do this in the classroom, I find that this will take about half an hour. This works well if you read to the students (which is valuable for a whole range of reasons) because the second half of the lesson then has the students working more independently. 
2. After finishing Chapter 7, we look at Reinforcing Setting. That is to say, how has Sachar continuously made references to the setting and shown how this setting impacts on the characters? Students will at this point be asked to gather 8 quotations from Chapters 5 to 7 that demonstrate this.
3. For some students, this could be the first time they've been asked to identify quotes as a form of textual evidence. With that in mind, I think it's useful to give students the page numbers so they don't waste time aimlessly flipping through pages and disengaging altogether. I do the first one for them so they can see exactly what they need to do (NOTE: the page numbers refer to the edition of Holes pictured above. Even though the cover may be the same, be aware that some page numbers may differ a tiny bit due to different printings having slightly different font size):

• P.17, "They were dripping with sweat", this shows the way in which the setting is affecting the characters.
• P.19
• P.21
• P.26
• P.28
• P.32
• P.35
• P.36

What I find interesting about this last activity is that some students will pause and ask how a character being thirsty relates to the setting, and this allows for discussions of more subtle uses of setting beyond "It was dry and hot". 

 

The above activities can of course be adapted for use with a variety of other novels too.

Disclaimer: The above activities were adjusted specifically for this blog. 

The Use of Rhetoric in Documentaries

The explicit teaching of rhetoric can provide a useful framework through which students can better understand persuasive texts. In the case of documentaries, narratives are constructed with the express purpose of manipulating an audience. It is via the major modes of persuasion that this is best facilitated, often referred to as the 'rhetorical triangle'. The use of the rhetorical triangle is perhaps relevant in some way for all texts but, in the case of the documentary, it is hardwired into the very fibre of the genre. 

Your mileage will vary in terms of which cornerstones of rhetoric you want to touch on. The most popular approach is to teach the aforementioned rhetorical triangle - Ethos, Logos, Pathos - but this isn't necessarily where things need to end. If we think of communication as a rhetorical process, you can quite easily stretch this to six cornerstones - making space for Kairos, Telos, and Topos (a rhetorical hexagon, I guess) 

This will require the teacher to have an awareness of their class and which persuasive element might be a Greek word too far. At the moment with Stage 5 I tend to stop at four (Ethos, Logos, Pathos, Kairos) but will always re-assess depending on the cohort being taught and how enthusiastic they are about rhetoric. I'm unlikely to ever teach all six, I think.

Some useful definitions:

• Ethos - Appealing to an audience through the use of authority, ethics, and credibility.
• Logos - Appealing to an audience through the use of logic, evidence, and factual-sounding claims.
• Pathos - Appealing to an audience through the use of emotion, particularly through triggering an emotional response.
  
• Kairos - Appealing to an audience by picking the best time and place to make an argument.

Today's activity is designed for use with the documentary Blackfish. 

1. I would project this document onto a board for students to see. 
2. Students draw up a table and sort the examples into whether they work as examples of Ethos, Logos, Pathos, or Kairos. 
3. Come together as a class to discuss which rhetorical cornerstones students matched each of the examples to.
4. Students can then be given a paragraph prompt - Account for Blackfish's ability to challenge the beliefs of audiences. This question essentially requires students to discuss the way in which rhetoric has been used to convince or persuade the audience, I would give a Year 9 or Year 10 class eight to ten minutes to complete the paragraph - this time limit will keep them focussed, and also works as the average amount of time it should take students to write ONE essay body paragraph in timed conditions. 

(The answers for the sheet are, with the key reasons underlined...)

Ethos

• An official from the Occupation Safety and Health Administration provides opinions that contradict SeaWorld's official lines regarding the lifespan of Orcas.
• A police report is included near the beginning of the documentary.
• A whale expert explains that Orcas have never harmed any humans in the wild.
• Many official news reports are shown in regard to some of the events that happened at SeaWorld.

Kairos

• Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite filmed and released Blackfish just 2-3 years after Orca trainer Dawn Brancheau was kileld.
• First screened at a variety of American Film Festival ahead of the international 'award-giving' season.

Logos

• Computer simulation is used to recreate the strategies used to hunt and capture Orcas. 
• An incredibly lengthy autopsy report is shown, including factual explanations of many specific details of Dawn's death.
• A graphic of Tilikum's family tree demonstrates how Tilikum is responsible for the breeding of 54% of the SeaWorld franchise's Orcas.

Pathos

• Quote about Orcas, "When you look into their eyes you know somebody is home."
• Dramatic, sad-sounding music in a 'minor key' is often played at key moments.
• Whale Hunter remorsefully describes what he did as being "like kidnapping a little kid away away from their mother."
• Details of death by Orca are explained in graphic and gruesome detail.
• The former trainers talk about crying upon seeing Orcas in the wild for the first time.
• Trainer, talking about an Orca being separated from its child, "That is heartbreaking. How can anyone look at that and think is is morally acceptable? It is not. That is not okay."

Disclaimer: The above resource was created specifically for this blog.