Lesson 3: The Glass Menagerie” Impact of Expressionism

Students will need their completed versions of Worksheet 2. Extending Analysis. They will also need instruction or reminders about how to gracefully incorporate examples from the play and cite them properly, according to your expectations.

Activity 1. “The Glass Menagerie”: Impact of Expressionism

Students should select a complete row from Worksheet 2. Extending Analysis, and incorporate notes from the previous class discussion and analysis to render this content as a thesis-driven essay. Students should do this activity independently rather than in their pairs or triads.

As students begin to organize and outline their essay, have them pay close attention to the need to provide supporting evidence from the text in their arguments. Make sure they correctly incorporate and cite textual support. They should progress to a concluding statement that extends the thesis.

When they’re ready, ask students to share their thesis statements, perhaps by writing them on a black or whiteboard. As a class, engage in a critique of theses, discussing their strengths and weaknesses in terms of precision, generalizations, originality, and any other characteristics you have emphasized as important for effective thesis statements.

Next, ask students to share their concluding statements (which should be different from their theses, as they should articulate an evolved comprehension). Engage in class-wide critique as above.

Finally, ask students to share a model sentence in which they have incorporated textual support. Ask them to write those sentences on the board exactly as they have written them. As a class, provide any feedback on their work, including suggestions for smoother or more graceful incorporation of text, corrections to punctuation, etc.

Assessment

Ask students to revise their essays and submit for your feedback.