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TitleTheme and Universal Theme in This Year’s Class Picture by Dan SimmonsSkillMaking a Basic ArgumentEBA ActivityClaim Warrant GameClaims and/or WarrantsClaim-Warrant Game I: Do Now Activity, Reviewing Genres and Theme.Claim: Student states the name of a work and states that it is a typical example of the genre. (Example: Dawn of the Dead is a movie that is in the typical zombie genre.Warrant 1: I agree/disagree because... (Dawn of the Dead was one of the first and most popular zombie movies. Many other movies have imitated it. It was recently redone.)Claim 2: Student states a theme of the work.(Example: The theme of Dawn of the Dead is survival.)Warrant 2: I agree/disagree because... (the essential conflict of the film is about not being eaten/killed.)Claim 3: Student states the universal theme of the work.(Example: The universal theme of the work is around the nature and value of consumerism and materialism. It points out America’s obsession with material goods and malls.Warrant 3: I agree/disagree because... [the entire movie is set in a mall, in defense of a mall, as if a mall is the most valuable place in America.])Claim-Warrant Game II: Do Now Activity, Reviewing Genres and Theme using Text.Claim 1: The theme of This Year’s Class Picture was...Warrant 1: I agree/disagree because...Claim 2: The universal theme of This Year’s Class Picture was...Warrant 2: I agree/disagree because...Procedure Modified Claim Warrant Procedure:Seat the students in a circle. Each student is given an oversized post-it note. Typically the large lined ones do nicely. At each pass announce the directions. Don’t try to announce them all up front, it’s too much to keep track of. Instead, pass out the notes and say, “Choosing from the examples and excerpts we have reviewed in class, write a claim that (blank) is a work that is a typical example of the (fill in your genre) genre. Pass the note to your right. Now, on your new note write a warrant beginning with the words I agree (or disagree) because.... Now, pass this to your right. On the note, observe the work being discussed. Now write, the claim, The theme of this work is.... Pass to your right. Observe on the note what the stated theme is. Think about if this seemed to be the main idea, if the main conflict was tied into this main idea. Then write your warrant, I agree/disagree because.... Pass the note to your right. Now observe the stated claim and warrant regarding the theme. Think about the author’s lesson and what predictable patterns of human behavior he was relying on when he/she wrote this story. What typical human qualities is he exposing? Now write your claim as to what the universal theme of this work was. Pass to your right. Finally, observe the stated claim regarding universal theme in this work. Write your warrant, stating I agree/disagree because....Now we will all read our post its to the class.Then, start a new game dealing only with This Year’s Class Picture. On your post it, write your claim “The theme of This Year’s Class Picture was...” then pass it to your left. When you get the post it, observe the claim and then write a warrant. I agree/disagree because.... When you are done, pass it to your left. The next person should observe the thoughts written on theme and consider how that differs from the universal theme of This Year’s Class Picture. Then, write the claim, “The universal theme of This Year’s Class Picture was... then pass to your left. Observe the claim and write your warrant, I agree/disagree because.... Finally, all students read their post its to the class and then post them on a central board marked Theme and Universal Theme in This Year’s Class Picture. Naturally, students will have different thoughts and this exercise is intended to initiate a whole group discussion on how the theme and universal theme of This Year’s Class Picture help to make it genre-breaking.Timing/PacingPrior to doing this activity students should have read This Year’s Class Picture by Dan Simmons. I have selected this story as a genre breaking short story in the zombie genre. However, any short story that clearly breaks an expected genre could work for this exercise. They should have viewed and/or read excerpts or selected scenes from a variety of examples that typify the genre you are working in. They should be familiar with the difference between theme and universal theme. In some cases (a class in need of a lot of differentiation or accommodation) having previewed the theme and universal theme of these typified works will be necessary for the rotation to be in any way accurate.Modified Claim Warrant Game is approximately 40 minutes.The potential Themes and Universal Themes of This Year’s Class Picture can be placed on a central board for future reference. The claim warrant game exercise is intended to initiate a whole class discussion on what makes a story genre breaking. This excerpt from Dan Simmon’s website: be of interest: Introduction to “This Year's Class Picture”When first contacted about the possibility of doing a story for a zombie anthology my initial reaction was something less than wildly enthusiastic. I mean, what is there left to be said about zombies? What new insights could be gleaned by writing about the walking dead? I soon realized that I had—as usual—been asking the wrong questions. The story that announced itself ready and waiting to be written was about teaching and the faith and patience of teachers, not about zombies per se. And thus, Ms. Geiss.In my 18 years of teaching in the elementary public schools, I was honored to know more than one Ms. Geiss. These were the teachers for whom teaching remained an avocation even when the society changing around them had forgotten what the word “avocation” meant and implied. These Ms. Geisses were my colleagues around whom the riptides of educational fads and deteriorating working conditions and increased societal instability ebbed and flowed, surged and receded, while they stood as tall and solid as great rocks on the seashore. But even great rocks will be worn down eventually by tide and time. My daughter, Jane, was privileged to have at least one Ms. Geiss during her elementary-school years. To that Ms. Geiss—to all of the Ms. Geisses who remain warm and solid and supportive as the cold sea of the betrayal of childhood surges all about them—I respectfully dedicate this story.NotesThis activity reinforces the differences between theme and universal theme. This activity practices writing claims and supporting warrants and helps make these terms automatic. Proper theme analysis requires attentiveness to plot and conflict, so these elements can be incorporated easily into analysis.In my class, students follow up their genre breaking study by writing their own genre breaking short story. If you intend the same, it can be helpful to follow up this exercise with brainstorming on the theme and universal theme for their own story.Follow-up activitiesTo include an oral activity, follow up with a soapbox activity.TextThis Year’s Class Picture, by Dan Simmons can be found: Class:___________________ Date:______________Claim –Warrant GamePlease sit in a circle. Write down a claim in the left-hand column and then pass this sheet to your left, where the person next to you will supply a warrant explaining why that claim might be true. Topics for claims: _____________________ is a typical example of the genre _____________________. The theme of _____________________is _____________________.The universal theme of the work is _____________________The theme of This Year’s Class Picture was _____________________The universal theme of This Year’s Class Picture was _____________________ClaimWarrant ................
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