This is a presentation outlining the standards for English Language Arts in the North American Common Core Curriculum. It's also an example of a text based lesson with critical literacy activities for a high school ELA classroom.

1. ELA Common Core

3. High School ELA Standards
(from National Council of Teachers of English)
• Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United
States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal
fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g.,
philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
• Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience,
their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies,
and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a
variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with
different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative
language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
• Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and
synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that
suit their purpose and audience.
• Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and
synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups,
geographic regions, and social roles.
• Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to
develop understanding of content across the curriculum.
• Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the
exchange of information).

5. AP Language Arts/Social Studies (Unit):
The Congo, Post-colonialism,
Racism, and Critical Literacy

6. Figure 1:
Synthetic Unit for Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad
To Hellholes and Back:
bribes, lies and the art of
extreme tourism
by Chuck Thompson
The Use of Conflict Minerals
Gets More Scrutiny from U.S.
Edward Wyatt, New York Times
“Conflict Minerals, Rebels
and Child Soldiers in Congo”
By VICE (documentary)
"An Image of Africa:
Racism in Conrad's
'Heart of Darkness'“
by Chinua Achebe

7. • …”[a] central text is necessary and essential to
any classroom unit, but auxiliary works – other
fiction, essays, speeches, images, videos-should
be chosen and implemented to add depth,
dimension, subtlety, and texture to a unit’s
fundamental investigation, to play off each other,
so to speak, to attain insights that a single-text
unit could never provide.”
*excerpt from
Opportunity Costs of the Common Core in High School ELA
by Eamon Cunningham

8. Lesson
Objective(s)
 Explore pertinent historical
and geopolitical issues of the
Congo from colonial times to
the modern day through
writings, readings and
discussions related to the
Heart of Darkness and other
supplemental articles, as well
as, develop an understanding
of the particulars of classic
and contemporary language
structure, literary devices,
author’s bias, etc. and their
contextual significance(s)
using meta-cognitive
strategies

9. Benchmarks
The student will be able to…
develop an understanding for the historical and
contemporary geopolitical issues of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Produce a brief expository
essay/presentation/video exploring the issues
affecting the Congo from both first-world and
third-world considerations.

10. Benchmarks (cont’d.)
The student will be able to…
understand and use target vocabulary correctly
develop an understanding for euphemistic
language, literary devices and creative means
of expression
produce a creative short story

11. Suggested Task Activities
Critical Literacy Consideration(s):
Question 1: What are the main themes, motifs, and literary devices
used by Conrad in telling this story?
Question 2: What are the historical and contemporary geopolitical
issues of the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
(activity(s): think>pair>share / journaling / class discussion)
Cross-cultural/global awareness and discussion:
Contact a high school in the Congo via Skype and facilitate a cross-
cultural conversation regarding natural resources (conflict minerals)
and modern technology and have students become aware of the
contemporary geopolitical situation.
Create an expository essay exploring the historic and contemporary
geopolitical issues of the Congo.
.

12. Pre-reading Consideration(s)
 Heart of Darkness (1899) is a classic novel by Anglo-Polish novelist Joseph
Conrad, written as a frame narrative, about Charles Marlow's experience as
an ivory transporter down the Congo River in Central Africa…
…"a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake
uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country,
and its tail lost in the depths of the land."
 The story is a complex exploration of the beliefs people hold on what constitutes a
barbarian versus a civilized society and the stance on colonialism and racism that
was part and parcel of European imperialism.
 Heart of Darkness has been variously published and translated into many languages.
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Heart of Darkness as the sixty-seventh of
the hundred best novels in English of the twentieth century.
*excerpted from Wikipedia

13. Post-reading Consideration(s)
 Literary critic Harold Bloom wrote that Heart of
Darkness has been [arguably] analyzed more than
any other work of literature that is studied in high
schools and universities, which he attributed to
Conrad's…
"unique propensity for ambiguity."

14. Post-reading Consideration(s)
 Heart of Darkness is criticized in postcolonial studies, particularly
by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, who is considered to be
"patriarch of the African Novel".
 In his 1975 public lecture "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's
Heart of Darkness", Achebe described Conrad's novella as "an
offensive and deplorable book" that de-humanized Africans. Achebe
argued that Conrad, "blinkered...with xenophobia", incorrectly
depicted Africa as the antithesis of Europe and civilization, ignoring
the artistic accomplishments of the Fang people who lived in the
Congo River basin at the time of the book’s publication. Since the
book promoted and continues to promote a prejudiced image of
Africa that "depersonalizes a portion of the human race," he
concluded that it should not be considered a great work of art.

15. Post-Reading Summary
The story describes a journey up the river Congo in the jungle. The theme of the journey is a metaphor for the
journey inside man's inner self and human consciousness. An anonymous first-person narrator introduces
the story to give voice to Marlow, who is the actual narrator.
Five friends on board the sailing boat, Nellie, are at anchor on the river Thames outside London waiting for the
tide to turn. Marlow, who is one of them, is talking to the company about the journey around the African
coast when he worked for a Belgian company involved in the ivory trade. His task was to carry ivory from
the heart of the continent to the coast where it was loaded on European ships. In Africa, at the Company's
Outer Station he hears mentioned the name of Mr Kurtz , the company's best agent, a mysterious man who
set up his camp in the heart of ivory country. Marlow learns that Kurtz has been taken ill and he will have to
relieve him. From that moment on, Marlow's journey will become a sort of quest for Kurtz. As he gets
closer to Kurtz the voyage becomes like a nightmare, a sensation intensified by the surrounding forest and
its natives, which give Marlow a feeling of 'travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world'. His ship
is attacked by hostile tribesmen and a member of his crew is killed. Marlow encounters a young Russian
sailor whom he discovers is a devoted follower of Kurtz's teachings. The Russian tells him how Kurtz has
become like a god to the natives. Marlow understands that Kurtz, the sombre creature behaved like a
bloody, greedy tyrant, but he is also conscious of his charismatic power which is the link between the two
men, so that Kurtz can be considered Marlow's alter ego. Kurtz, who in Europe had believed in progress
and civilization is now a "hollow man", a shadow of his original self, his moral degeneration is due to his
ambition. He had enslaved the natives and even sacrificed them, since human heads are noticed by Marlow
on the river bank approaching to Kurtz's camp but at the same time he has become an idol. Marlow
attempts to take Kurtz back, but he is seriously ill and dies on the return journey. His last words are:
'The horror! The horror!'. Kurtz has seen into man's "heart of darkness" and the experience has destroyed
him. Yet he makes Marlow promise on his return to tell his girlfriend that the last word he spoke before he
died was her name.

16. Critical notes
The story we find in Heart of Darkness can be read as a denunciation of the
bad effects of colonialism and imperialistic policy on peoples. Conrad analyses
the conflict between personal feelings and professional duties. Throughout the
book he shows the destructive process of colonialism in Africa and advises the
reader against the idealistic view of colonialism shared by most of his
contemporaries, against the project of civilizing the primitive peoples. It is also
a journey within the self and the darkness of human nature. Kurtz, the civilized
man who has the duty to civilize the African natives, is at the core, as
instinctual and cruel as the natives and he realizes this after a process of self-
consciousness.
Heart of Darkness in not an adventure story but it is an analysis of
psychological insight, it shows how each man discovers his inner self after the
impact with unforeseen events. The journey into the unconscious leads to self-
knowledge and the realization of the evil done. The journey is a voyage
backwards into the savage state of man that civilization has succeeded in
repressing and keeping under control. The journey is for Marlow a voyage
from innocence to experience.

17. Suggested Task Activity
Class conversation:
The essential question:
Is it possible to convey an embarrassingly vulgar personal anecdote without
being overly vulgar or crude with euphemistic language?
Students are to take a position on this question of whether or not it is better to
refrain from telling such stories or whether the telling of such stories can be
enriched and augmented by the use of euphemistic language which heightens
the suspense, the literacy and the comedy of the story, while also effectively
disguising any explicit vulgarity.
(Activity(s): think>pair>share / journaling / class discussion(s))
Create a short story using euphemistic language to convey an embarrassing
(perhaps vulgar) personal experience and be ready to share with the class.
.

18. euphemism
(noun) eu·phe·mism ˈyü-fə-ˌmi-zəm
 a mild or pleasant word or phrase that is used
instead of one that is unpleasant or offensive
 the substitution of
an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one
that may offend or suggest something
unpleasant

19. Guided Reading Rubric: Essential Elements
Before the reading During the reading After the reading
•Selects an appropriate
text, one that will use
eloquent euphemistic
language
•Prepares an
introduction to the
story and setting
•Keeps in mind the
meaning, language, and
visual information in
the text and the
knowledge, experience,
and skills of the
reader(s)
•Asks questions so
students can apply self-
schema and meta-
cognitive strategies
while listening
•Attentive/active listening
•Observes the reader’s
behaviors for evidence of
strategy use
•Applies meta-cognitive
strategies while listening
•Interacts with text by
noticing effective use of
target eloquence and
descriptive language
•Makes mental notes about
the strategies used by the
author
•Review the story
•Invites personal response(s)
•Returns to the text for one or
two teaching opportunities
such as finding evidence or
discussing language choice,
etc.
•Assess student understanding
•Engage in a re-reading with
students exploring cadence,
tone, speed, inflection,
dramatic emphasis, etc.

20. Vocabulary Words
insistent splendiferous
dehydrating incontinence
impeccably voiding
shunned crass
slur constricting
luscious incidental
congealed degrading
tableau sluices
o

21. Word Predict ¶ Context Def. Def
tableau

22. tableau
noun tab·leau ˈta-ˌblō, ta-ˈblō
 a view or sight that looks like a picture
 a scene that typically shows an event in history or
literature and that is created on a stage by a group
of people who are dressed in costumes and who
do not speak or move
 rhymes with aglow, ago, airflow, although, below

24. KIRKUS REVIEW
Veteran travel writer Thompson (Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions
of a Rogue Travel Writer, 2007, etc.) faces personal fears and
journeys to places he has deliberately avoided his entire adult life.
• The author defines “extreme tourism” as travel that tests
personal boundaries—physical or emotional—and he chooses
four destinations simply because they are places he does not
want to visit: the Congo, India, Mexico City and Disney World.
Thompson claims that he has always been afraid of the Congo due
to disease; India because of the gastrointestinal peril that seems to
affect everyone who visits; Mexico City for its violent crime and
pollution; Disney World because it represents everything wrong
with America today. As he treks across the globe, his assumptions
and fears about each destination are addressed, if not debunked,
with wry, self-deprecating humor. The author was never robbed in
Mexico City; everyone he met was warm and hospitable. He put
himself in incredible danger while on safari in the Congo by
foolishly venturing off alone, but dodging deadly pathogens took a
backseat to his quest to discover the funniest joke in Africa. The
worst part of India were the cab drivers, and Disney World was not
the villainous cultural black-hole of his nightmares—a chat with a
former “Dream Squad” worker about a cancer-stricken family
member moved him to tears. Yet as Thompson deftly sums up in
his epilogue, “as my catalog of international experiences stacked
up against the Bush-Obama-Palin electoral circus and dissolving
economic fortunes in the States…I began to realize that my travels
had become less about surviving horrors abroad and more about
facing up to ones at home.” The author makes no bones about his
political or social views, from the Bush Administration to childhood
obesity, but his observations are sharp and honest.
• A witty, provocative tale that may not encourage extreme tourism
but packs in plenty of local flavor and amusing anecdotes.

25. Metacognitive Strategies
*from Keene and Zimmermann:
Connections
Questions
Visualizing
Inferring
Determining importance of text
Synthesizing

26. Pg. 106-109
Does the author effectively
demonstrate the creative
use of euphemistic
language to disguise
vulgarity, heighten
comedic value, and give
literary merit to an
otherwise crude
personal experience
with third-world
incontinence?

27. Vulgar Experience Euphemism

28. Conflict Minerals
• Conflict resources are natural resources extracted in a conflict
zone and sold to perpetuate the fighting. There is both anecdotal and
statistical evidence that belligerent accessibility to precious
commodities can prolong conflicts (a "resource curse"). The most
prominent contemporary example is the eastern provinces of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where various armies, rebel
groups, and outside actors have profited while contributing to
extreme violence and exploitation during wars in the region.
• The most commonly mined conflict minerals are cassiterite (for
tin), wolframite (for tungsten), coltan (for tantalum), and gold ore,
which are extracted from the Eastern Congo, and passed through a
variety of intermediaries before being purchased by multinational
electronics companies. These minerals are essential in the
manufacture of a variety of devices, including consumer
electronics such as mobile phones, laptops, and MP3 players.
*excerpted from Wikipedia

29. Conflict Minerals, Rebels and Child
Soldiers in Congo

30. Materials & Resources
Print Resources
 Achebe, Chinua. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of
Darkness'“ Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977.
 Gettleman, Jeffrey. “The Price of Precious: The minerals
in our electronic devices have bankrolled unspeakable
violence in the Congo.” National Geographic. October 2013.
 Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness.” NY, NY: W.W. Norton and
Company, Inc., 1988.
 Thompson, Chuck. “To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies and the Art
of Extreme Tourism.” NY, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.
 Wyatt, Edward. “The Use of Conflict Minerals Gets More
Scrutiny from U.S.” New York Times 19 March 2012:1 print

31. Materials and Resources
Internet Resources
 Supplemental pre-reading resource(s):
Joseph Conrad & Heart of Darkness at:
-http://wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/heartofdarkness.html
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Image_of_Africa
 Chuck Thompson’s homepage and excerpts:
http://chuckthompson.com/
 Vice documentary, “Conflict Minerals, Rebels and Child
Soldiers in Congo” hosted by Alison Suroosh Alvi |
Originally released in 2011

33. Generic questions from Keene and Zimmermann:
Connections: Is there a part of this story or piece that
reminds you of something in your own life?
Questions: Can you show me a part of the text where you
have a question? What were you wondering about when you
read this part? Can you show me a part where you were
confused? What was confusing about it?
Visualizing: Were there places in the text where you made a
picture in your mind? What images or pictures did you see?
What specific words helped you create that picture in your
mind?

34. Generic questions from Keene and Zimmermann:
Inferring: What do you predict will happen in this piece? Can
you show me a place in the text where you found yourself
making an inference? What do you think were the big ideas in
the story?
Determining importance in text: What was the story mostly
about? Can you tell me some of the important ideas that struck
you? Any important themes you noticed? What do you think is
most important to remember about this story/topic?

35. Generic questions from Keene and Zimmermann (cont’d):
Synthesizing: Can you tell me what the piece is about in just a
few sentences? Can you show me a place in the story where
your thinking changed? How did your thinking change? Do you
have some new ideas or information?

37. *source: Common Core Standards ELA Key Shifts
__
___
____
____
____

38. Vocabulary Words
insistent splendiferous
dehydrating incontinence
impeccably voiding
shunned crass
slur constricting
luscious incidental
congealed degrading
tableau sluices
o

39. splendiferous
(adjective) splen·dif·er·ous splen-ˈdi-f(ə-)rəs
 extraordinarily or showily impressive