Madison A.

Fox
Intertextuality Lesson
English Methods
12/13/2016

Essential Question

What is more important, the reality (what is actually show to us) or imposed realities of a
photograph? Or do we need to accept both in order to understand and appreciate a
photograph?

Students would have been expected to have read On Photography in order to be prepared for
the days reading and classwork. Along with their reading they would have been prompted to
come to class with a written response to the following prompt:

What makes a photograph influential? (Consider Sontags perspective on the the reality
-what is actually shown to us- or the imposed reality of a photograph.)

Before Instruction (20 minutes)

Students participate in a fishbowl discussion. The small group of students (6) sitting in
the middle would discuss their take on both Sontags article and their responses to the prompt.
The students sitting around the circle would be taking notes on the discussion (important points,
questions that they have based on the discussion, etc.).

Before Reading (25 minutes)

Students analyze the photograph of Omayra Sanchez. They will be given a notecard and
will be asked to label one side literal and another implied. They will be asked write what they
actually see in the image (descriptive adjectives, objects in photograph, etc.). On the other they
will analyze and speculate as to what the photographer's purpose and write any questions they
might have about the photograph.
(Think-Pair-Share) Students will have 10 minutes to analyze the photograph and write
down all of their notes on the notecard provided to them. Once the 10 minutes is up, the
students will have a chance to talk with their partner about the things they wrote down on their
notecards for 5 minutes. Following this, the photograph will be analyzed by the whole group in a
discussion about both the literal and implied aspects of the photograph for 10 minutes.
This allows students to explore and explain their perspective while interpreting and
considering those of others.

During Reading (50 minutes)

Introduce students to And of Clay We Are Created. Explain the context of the novel and
how the photograph is the embodiment of Azucena. Also, implore them to consider the implicit
and imposed realities we discussed while analyzing the Omayra Sanchez photograph during
their reading.
 Students will partner read the text, annotating for important information (contextual) and
where they see realities being construed by reporters (who choose what is being shown to the
world). During this portion, students will be handed a copy of the text from the Holt Interactive
Reader and will be expected to answer all indicated questions that are in the packet.
Students will be working at a level two partner voice and will have 50 minutes to
complete the story and the questions on their packet. During this time, I will circulate the
classroom to ensure that all students are on task and utilizing their time appropriately.

After Reading (20 minutes)

Once students have finished the text, they will be asked to answer the following prompts:

Drawing from the writings of Allende, Sontag and the photograph, what do you think is
more valuable, implicit realities or imposed realities of a photograph? Or do we need to
understand and accept both in order to understand and appreciate a photograph? While
writing, consider how Azucena was used by Colombia as a posterchild for the natural
disaster.

Have your feelings about the photograph changed since the before we read the story? In
what way?

The next days lesson will start with a fishbowl, considering the essential question and student
responses.