Unit 2 Standards

"ELAALRL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation."

"ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding."

I have addressed this by my analysis of Rip Van Winkle.

Example: "The story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be."

"ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods."

I identified the historical context of Rip Van Winkle here:

Chiefly; the story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be. This glorification was very popular at the time because of the oppression of the colonists by the seemingly rich and powerful English.