Students will read a well-known author's autobiographical essay. 
- Talk about the fundamental components of a personal essay.
- Examine how the author's aim is furthered by literary devices in a personal essay.
- Compare and contrast the components of a personal essay with those of literature.

- In what ways does text interaction encourage thought and action?

- Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words. 
- Flashback: A device used in literature to present action that occurred before the beginning of the story. Flashbacks are often introduced as the dreams or recollections of one or more characters. 
- Foreshadowing: A device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments. 
- Irony: The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or usual meaning; incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the expected result. 
- Literary Devices: Tools used by the author to enliven and provide voice to the writing (e.g., dialogue, alliteration). 
- Metaphor: A figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object. Metaphors suggest the essence of the first object by identifying it with certain qualities of the second object. An example is “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun” in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Here, Juliet, the first object, is identified with the qualities of the second object, the sun. 
- Personification: An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form (e.g., Flowers danced about the lawn). 
- Satire: A literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness. 
- Simile: A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used (e.g., She eats like a bird). 
- Symbolism: A device in literature where an object represents an idea. 
- Syntax: The pattern or structure of word order in sentences, clauses, and phrases. 

- Ralph Ellison. (2003). February. Modern Library.
- Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. (2009). What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers. Longman, 2009.
- student copies of the Elements of Fiction chart (L-L-5_Elements of Fiction_student)
- Elements of Fiction chart, teacher copy (L-L-5_Elements of Fiction_teacher)

- Make sure that the lesson's main focus is on analyzing personal essays. In a personal essay, students should be able to recognize the five components of fiction.
- Gather the completed Elements of Fiction charts for individual evaluation.
- If necessary, offer further practice and give feedback.

Explicit instruction, active engagement, and scaffolding 
W: Make a connection between nonfiction and fiction elements, particularly the personal essay. 
H: Give students a Ralph Ellison essay to read so that they can observe how his nonfiction writing style functions. 
E: Assist students in evaluating Ellison's essay and reflecting on their work. Draw attention to the distinct order of the characters, setting, and plot events. 
R: Have students work in small groups before having them review the material in larger ones. 
E: Assign students to complete a chart that reviews the components of fiction in a personal essay. 
T: Allow students to look over more examples of the application of fiction elements in both large and small groups.
O: Ask students to compare their personal writings with those of professional writers.

Focus Question: How does the incorporation of literary elements improve a personal essay?

Part 1

Ask, "Does your essay resemble the work of any well-known writers?" Ask students to read Ellison's essay, "February." 

Once they've finished, pose the question, "How does Ellison's essay compare to a story?" to the class. Draw attention to the fact that a personal essay is typically a brief composition in which the writer expresses a central idea using fictional elements. It is structured like a story, with characters, a setting, and a central idea or theme that is disclosed through a plot, and it is typically less formal than other kinds of essays. A personal essay is nonfiction, but because it can read like a story, it might be hard for the reader to tell if the events are real or imagined unless they are familiar with the author's biography. The difference between a personal essay and a story is the way the author considers the significance of the event or topic.

Ask, "How does Ellison's essay differ from the essays you completed in class?" Students will likely connect between the writing read aloud in class and Ellison's narrative style and structure.

Assign students to small groups so they can examine the essay in greater detail. Spread out the (L-L-5_Elements of Fiction_student) Elements of Fiction chart. Say, "Name the fiction-related devices Ellison employs in his essay. For every element of fiction, find at least one piece of evidence from the essay. " During small group work, evaluate the students.

Students will eventually fill in all of the blanks on their charts for fictional elements. Motivate students to update or add data to their charts.

Note: The instructor's copy of the Elements of Fiction chart (L-L-5_Elements of Fiction_teacher) has a long list of specifics and supporting information.

Talk about these questions. Ask your students, "Why did the author choose to use a story to express his main idea?" 

Examples:

greater impact
intriguing aesthetic
innovative approach
simpler to comprehend the pivotal moment.
an engaging kind of writing is a story.
one by one, events are visible to the reader.

Ask, "What literary techniques may be used in a personal essay?" 

Examples:

literary devices like personification, alliteration, metaphor, simile, symbolism, satire, flashback, foreshadowing, and irony
good syntax, proper grammar, and a variety of sentences
humor and imagery

Say, "Look for instances of Ellison's essay using the following literary devices: alliteration, metaphor, imagery, flashback, and sentence variety."

Examples:

Alliteration:

“I broke the brook to drink..."
'... with distant Dayton . . .”

Metaphor:

“ghost of quail tracks..."
“. . . Dayton drowsing wavery to my eyes . . .”

Imagery:

“a park-like grove, the tall trees stark..."
"…traces of gold leaf clinging to its flaking wood.”

Flashback:

“And I recalled the valley..."

Sentence variety:

“And now in this place of hidden fruit and bird-tracked snow..."
Collect elements of fiction charts to evaluate students' work.

Part 2

Instruct students to complete a first draft of a personal essay using one of their Lesson 2 story starters. Give students ten minutes to write. Next, assign homework that requires students to write a complete second draft, adding details, expanding or condensing ideas, utilizing a variety of sentences, proofreading for accuracy, and incorporating the literary devices covered in Part 1.

Ask students to attend the next class with their revised drafts. Have students evaluate their essays using the following checklist: Say, "You will perform one self-critique and one peer critique today."

Checklist

___ I recognize a few characters in my essay.
___ My writing has a setting.
___ My essay has a core idea or theme.
___ To make my essay interesting, I employ a few of the literary devices we've covered in class.
___ My story has a plot (a conflict, a turning point, a climax, and a resolution).
___ I have evidence to back up my claims.

Extension:

Give students another essay to read and evaluate how the writer used the elements of fiction for extra practice.