Page 115 - ELA_CA_HighSchool_Sampler_Flipbook

Perception Is Everything
ACTIVITY 1.2
ACTIVITY 1.2
Learning Targets
• Examine the concept of perception as it applies to literary analysis.
• Interpret and explain a quotation in discussion and in writing.
Literary Theory
Until we realize the world is full of ideologies, theories, and biases through which we filter our understanding of our own and others’ experiences, we are blind
to much of the world. As we read or react to the world around us, competing perspectives color the way we interpret literature and life.
Literary theory is a study of ways to analyze texts by thinking about them from different perspectives. Studying literary critical theories can help a reader become aware of competing perceptions of truth, to learn that a text, like life, is seen through a filter of ideologies, theories, and perspectives. Being able to apply different theories to a text expands the limits of a reader’s worldview and adds dimensions to reading and understanding a text. Critical theory highlights the fact that there is no one simple vision of the truth. Truth is a complicated product of multiple perspectives.
1. Examine the perception puzzles provided by your teacher, and reflect on how one image can be perceived in two ways.
2. After examining the perception puzzles, discuss with a partner how your perception changes as you continue to look at the image. What makes your perception change?
3. An aphorism is a short statement, usually one sentence, that uniquely expresses an opinion, perception, or general truth. From the following list, choose three to five aphorisms that you especially like. With a group, paraphrase the aphorisms you have chosen, and explain how they relate to the idea that seeing and understanding are always shaped by how we perceive the world.
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”—Anonymous
“Until lions tell their stories, tales of hunting will glorify the hunter.” —African proverb
“Theory is subversive because it puts authority in question.” —Stephen Bonnycastle
“What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.”—C. S. Lewis
“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”—Marcel Proust
“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.”—Tom Wilson
“All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”—Richard Avedon
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”—Aldous Huxley
My Notes
PLAN
Materials: perception puzzles Suggested Pacing: 1 50-minute class period
LEARNING STRATEGIES:
Think-Pair-Share, Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Sketching
TEACH
1 Introduce students to the idea of literary theory by having them read the Literary Theory section with a partner. Use think-pair-share to activate students’ prior knowledge of the concept of perception.
TO TEACHER
Listed below are two suggested online resources for perception puzzles:
www.kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/ illusions
www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/illusions
2 Once students understand that what we see is a product of our experiences, biases, and prejudices, introduce the aphorisms on the student page. Place students in small groups, and ask them to choose one quote (a different quote for each member of the group) and paraphrase them in the margin. In a group discussion, determine what idea the quotations share
about perception.
Literary Terms
Literary theory is a systematic study of literature using various methods to analyze texts.
Unit 1 • Perception Is Everything 5
9781457304682_TCB_SE_G12_U1_B1.indd 5
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
writing, speaking, and listening at the college
and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary 10/2/15 11:08 PM knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Additional Standards Addressed:
W.11–12.2a; W.11–12.2c; W.11–12.5; W.11–12.6; SL.11–12.1a
Focus Standards:
W.11–12.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
L.11–12.6: Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading,
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
A perception is one person’s
TEACHER
interpretation of sensory or
conceptual information.
Unit 1 • Perception Is Everything 5
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.