View a FREE sample

Lesson 1 (from Chapters I and II)

Objective

Chapters I and II

Knowing about the author of a novel is key to understanding many of the finer details of the text itself. The objectives of this lesson are to learn more about Henry James as the author of "The American" and why it's important to learn about the author of a text.

Lesson

1) Focusing Exercise: Have students write for 5 minutes in response to the following prompt: "Why is knowing information about the author important when reading a text?" Collect responses.

2) Class Lecture: Lecture the class for 5-10 minutes with some information about Henry James. Who was he? What is he known for? What was his life like before he became a successful novelist (e.g., the son of a famous intellectual who withdrew from Harvard Law school)? What was his experience like as the child of a famous intellectual? What inspired him to write...

(read more Daily Lessons)

This section contains 9,668 words (approx. 33 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample