IntroductionIntroduction
Essential Question: Why declare independence?
Sentences can be written in a variety of ways and still come out with the same meaning. When writers use complex sentences, phrases, or clauses, they are using sentence structure to their advantage. By deconstructingto take apart or examine complex sentences, we can better understand how sentences are put together, and how expert writers and speakers use complete sentence structures to convey meaning in an unambiguousclear, precise way.
Study the following example:
The alligator, who was quietly scouting her prey in the swamp, noticed a log drifting swiftly by her.
The deconstruction of that sentence would look like this:
-
The alligator was quietly scouting her prey.
The alligator noticed a log.
The log drifted swiftly by her.
Here's another example:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
The deconstruction of that sentence would look like this:
-
Sometimes it's necessary for people to break up political groups.
Sometimes it's necessary to be separate but equal.
To be respectable, people must give reasons for the separation.
By deconstructing the text, you are able to build a deeper understanding of how the language creates meaning, especially in the harder texts that were written hundreds of years before you were born.
|
Lesson Objectives
Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts, Grade 10 objectives: 37, 37b, 38. |
 |