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Teacher's Guide for COBBLESTONE ® Literary Ladies of the 19th CenturyMarch 2002
Teacher Guide prepared by: Linda Johns, a children's book author and editor in Seattle, WA.
The following suggestions are for a pre-reading class discussion and two post-reading activities based on articles in this issue.
Objective:
After reading articles from Literary Ladies of the 19th Century, students will revisit specific articles to gather information on what motivated noted writers of the 19th century. Students will look at topics these "Literary Ladies" addressed and how their writing reflected the people and concerns of the 1800s and early 1900s. The information will be used to compare and contrast two writers and to write a newspaper editorial.
Skills: - Relating prior knowledge related to the reading
- Knowledge
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension
- Analysis
- Synthesis
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
Materials: COBBLESTONE ® Magazine: Literary Ladies of the 19th Century (March 2002 issue)
Student writing materials (paper, pens)
Chart paper
Literary Ladies BLM (provided here)
Letter to the Editor BLM (provided here) Pre-Reading:
Distribute copies of the magazine to the students. Invite them to look at the cover, the article titles, and illustrations and photographs. During a class discussion, record the students' thoughts and impressions about "Literary Ladies of the 19th Century" on chart paper.
Ask the students: - Why do you think this issue is called "Literary Ladies of the 19th Century"?
- What does "literary" mean?
- What types of things do you think these women wrote? (newspaper articles, magazine articles, nonfiction, adult fiction)
- What kind of things do you think they wrote about? What topics would have been of interest to women in the 19th century? What issues would have been important to all people in the 19th century?
- How common do you think it was for women to pursue careers like this in the 19th century? What kind of opposition might working women encounter in the 1800s and early 1900s?
READING ACTIVITY 1: Comparing and Contrasting Literary Ladies
Assign students one of these three articles to read: - "Tales of Truth" on pages 7 - 9
- "Worthy of Study" on pages 10 - 14
- "Motherhood, Slavery and the Civil War" on pages 26 - 30
After they've read the assigned article, ask students to revisit the text to find information on two different writers. The students will then compare and contrast the subjects and issues each writer covered. - For "Tales of Truth," students will concentrate on:
- Catherine Maria Sedgwick and Mary Jemison.
- For "Worthy of Study," students will concentrate on:
- Sarah Josepha Hale and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
- For "Motherhood, Slavery and the Civil War," students will concentrate on:
- Harriet Beecher Stowe and either Harriet Jacobs or Julia Ward Howe.
Ask the students to complete the Literary Ladies blackline master with facts about each of their chosen writers. (You can access the Literary Ladies BLM at the end of this lesson plan.)
Post-Reading:
Gather as a class and discuss the students' findings. Revisit the pre-reading questions. Ask the students: - Why do you think this issue is called Literary Ladies of the 19th Century?
- Has the term "literary" changed in meaning for you now?
- What types of things did these women write?
- What kinds of topics did these women cover? What issues did they write about?
Take a look at the students' pre-reading thoughts. Are there any differences in what the students thought these "Literary Ladies" would be writing about and what the women actually wrote? Were the issues and topics a surprise? Why or why not?
READING ACTIVITY 2: Writing a Letter to the Editor
"Ida Tarbell: Investigative Journalist," pages 37 - 39
Invite the students to look at the article "Ida Tarbell: Investigative Journalist." Before reading, go over the highlighted vocabulary words in the story. (monopoly, boomtown, conglomerate, stranglehold, muckraker) Ask the students why Ida Tarbell is called an "investigative journalist" instead of "journalist" or "reporter." What does it mean to investigate something? Discuss how an investigative journalist must dig deep, unearth new facts for the public, and double-check all factual information.
Ask the students to read the article. After reading, lead a brief group discussion on what it means when one business has a monopoly on an industry. Possible discussion questions might include: - Is this fair to other businesses?
- Should a business be able to do whatever its owners want, without people outside the business telling them what to do?
- What might happen if one company controlled how much people paid for something? Why do you think people care about issues like this?
After reading and discussing, the students will write a letter to the editor of McClure's Magazine. Ask the students to put themselves back in time during 1903. Ida Tarbell's articles on the Standard Oil Company have been appearing in McClure's for a few months. The public is suddenly very interested in how John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil monopolize the oil industry. Students will write a letter to state their opinions on whether it is fair for one business to have so much control. Is this a fair way to do business?
Access the blackline masters for: |
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