Unit Two -- Journal Accounts and Historical Narratives

Opening:
Please review the Georgia Performance Standards, Essential Questions, and Key Terms listed below.
ELAALRL1.2.c The student analyzes, evaluates, and applies knowledge of the ways authors use language, style, syntax, and rhetorical strategies for specific purposes in nonfiction works.

ELAALRL1.2.a The student analyzes and explains the structures and elements of nonfiction works of American literature such as letters, journals and diaries, speeches, and essays. 

Essential Questions:

1. How does someone's point of view affect how they portray events in a story?
2. What are the advantages of primary sources?  The disadvantages?

Key Terms:

1. Primary Source
2. Objective vs. Subjective
3. Writer's Purpose

On Your Blog:
1. After reading the standards, essential questions, and key terms, write a breif paragraph describing what you feel you will address and learn in this unit.  You may choose to rewrite the standards in your own words, or provide answers to the essential questions.  However you choose to respond, it should be around 3-4 sentences.
Mini-Lesson:

The European explorers who led expeditions to the new world did a very good job of keeping track of their day-to-day activities in their journals.  This was necessary so to keep the kings and queens who hired them informed of their progress and discoveries.

If you were responsible for keeping track of how good a job you were doing (evaluating your work) how honest would you be?  I doubt you would flat out lie, but you would likely do what you could to make your accomplishments look better, right?  The point it that you would be more subjective (biased by feelings and emotion) than objective (completely unbiased and factual).

These explorer journals are great sources, called primary sources because they originate from the event itself rather than someone else who was not there explaining the facts, but they can also be unreliable because it is clear that the explorers tend to embellish and exaggerate.

It only took Pocahontas one look to know this European guy was the sexiest thing she had ever seen, so she takes it upon herself to save him from having his head bashed in.  Yeah, I'm buyin' it.

Work Period:
You will be reading excerpts of journals from two different explorers, Captain John Smith and Christopher Columbus.  As you read, be on the lookout for ways these accounts may suffer from subjectivity, but also for how they are able to give a perspective that only someone who saw these events with his own eyes can deliver.

From "The General Historie of Virginia" -- John Smith
(Get a Copy from Me)

From "Journal of the First Voyage of America" - Columbus

 

On Your Blog:

2. As was discussed earlier, these journals are primary sources that are very valuable in that they provide eyewitness accounts, but they can also be unreliable becuase the writers are a bit biased because they are writing about themselves.  Post some evidence from each of the writings that illustrates valable eyewitness accounts as well as some evidence that shows how subjective the writers can be.

 

Guide:

• From "The General Historie of Virginia"
• One quotation ( a sentence or two from the journal) that you think is valuable to histrory because only someone who was there at the time could decribe the event that way
• One quotation where you feel he is stretching the truth
• From "Journal of the First Voyage to America"
• One quotation that you think is valuable to history because only someone who was there at the time could decribe the event that way
• One quotation where you feel he is stretching the truth

3. Evaluate what you have read.  Do you think the fact that these writings are biased in nature take away from their historical importance, or do you feel that the historical importance outweighs the way they were written?  Exlpain WHY you feel this way.

Closing:

4. Review the Georgia Performance Standards, essential questions, and key terms from the opening.  Once you have done that, spend some time evaluating your work. 

• Does your work address the standards and essential questions? How?  Give examples.
• Can you provide answers to the essential questions as they relate to the texts you read for this unit?

Once you have completed all sections of this unit, evaluate your work once more. When you feel you are done, leave me a comment on this post so I will know to check your work.