The Lives of Animals: Lesson 5 English, Yr 10

Reflections

Information to Teachers

It is assumed that students have read the text prior to completing the suggested activities. 

Lesson Overview

This lesson focusses on reflection and requires students to consider the writer’s intentions, the protagonist’s aims, and the response of the readers. Through discussion, students will examine the nature of truth and question the validity of knowledge. Finally, they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding and interpretation of the text in an analytical essay writing task.

Time Allocation

50-100 minutes or 1-2 lessons.

Primary Resource

Voiceless Resources

Other Resources

Langston, Camille A. How to use rhetoric to get what you want, Ed.Ted.Com.

Inquiry Questions

  • Why do perspectives on controversial issues vary so widely?
  • What are the methods of persuasion used in oratory?
  • How do we know what is true, and what are some methods for ensuring the validity and accuracy of knowledge?

Suggested Learning Activities

1. STARTER

Discuss and reflect upon the representation of Elizabeth Costello.

a) Is she a reliable character? Why/Why not?

b) What is the aim/s of her lecture?

c) What oratory skills and/or rhetoric does she use?

Watch: How to use rhetoric to get what you want, by Camille A. Langston.

d) Are you convinced by her arguments? Why/Why not?

e) How do we know what is true and what are some methods for ensuring the validity of knowledge?

 

2.EXPLORE

J.M. Coetzee interview.

a) Students to read J.M. Coetzee Interview with Voiceless.

b) Students to identify the key argument (or point) Coetzee is making regarding the use of fiction texts to present factual arguments.

c) Ideas are shared with the class.

 

3.DISCUSS AND SHARE

The novella includes four reflections from various academics/experts (pg. 73).

A differentiated task is one suggestion for approaching these reflections.

a) Divide students into small groups of 3-4 and allocate them one of the following reflections. Groups could double up in classes with large numbers.

  • Peter Singer (7 pages + accessible language + ideas)
  • Marjorie Garber (12 pages + fairly challenging language + ideas)
  • Wendy Doniger (14 pages + challenging language + ideas)
  • Barbara Smuts (14 pages + accessible language + ideas)

b) After reading and annotating, students will present an analysis of the reflection to the other class members in a short presentation.

Presentations could include:

  • A brief overview of the writer;
  • Summarising of main ideas/points of view;
  • An analysis of tone (supported with evidence);
  • 2-4 key quotations which best demonstrate the point of view/ideas of the writer.

Alternatively, choose the reflection by Peter Singer, read, discuss as a class, and then complete the points above.

 

5.REFLECT

Students to conclude the lesson by composing an essay that responds to one of the following statements/questions:

  • The Lives of Animals, by J.M. Coetzee, explores the complexities of animal rights.
  • “There, there. It will soon be over.” The Lives of Animals is an exploration of one woman’s deep personal concerns. (see pg. 69)
  • “We have closed our hearts to animals”. Discuss. (see. pg. 4)

 

  • Note that these essay questions give students choice and work well for differentiating.
  • Students should aim to support ideas with textual evidence as well as identifying and explaining the effect of literary devices.
  • A standard essay structure is recommended (introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion).
  • Independent thinking should be taken into consideration when marking.
  • This task would work well as a summative assessment task that could be performed under timed conditions to prepare students for Year 11 examinations.

Up next, Assessment Tasks. 

We hope that you have enjoyed using our teacher and student resources for this APE on The Lives of Animals.

We are always looking to improve our educational resources, so please get in contact with us if you would like to provide some feedback on this APE, including how it was received by your students. Email us at: education@voiceless.org.au

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Australian Curriculum alignment

Learning Area: English
Year Levels: Year 10
General Capabilities:

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Ethical Understanding
  • Information and Communication Technology Capability
  • Personal and Social Capability
Strands:

Language: Language for interaction / Text structure and organisation

Literature: Responding to literature

Literacy: Interacting with others
Content Descriptions: 

Understand how language use can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people (ACELA1564)

Understand that people’s evaluations of texts are influenced by their value systems, the context and the purpose and mode of communication (ACELA1565)

Reflect on, extend, endorse or refute others’ interpretations of and responses to literature (ACELT1640)

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to influence a course of action(ACELY1751)

Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756)
Elaborations:

(ACELA1564)

  • Identifying language that seeks to align the listener or reader (for example of course, obviously, as you can imagine)
  • Identifying the use of first person ‘I’, ‘we’ and second person pronouns ‘you’ to distance or involve the audience, for example in a speech made to a local cultural community
  • Identifying appeals to shared cultural knowledge, values and beliefs

(ACELA1565)

  • Considering whether ethical judgments of good, bad, right or wrong are absolute or relative through consideration of texts with varying points of view and through discussion with others

(ACELT1640)

  • Presenting arguments based on close textual analysis to support an interpretation of a text, for example writing an essay or creating a set of director’s notes

(ACELY1751)

  • Using assumptions about listeners, viewers and readers to try to position them to accept a particular point of view

(ACELY1756)

  • Presenting a structured argument by providing a statement of the major perspectives or concerns relating to an issue; previewing the structure of arguments; structuring the text to provide a major point for each paragraph with succinct elaboration, and concluding with a summary of the main issues or recommendations in an argument
Cross-Curricular Priority:

Systems

OI.2 – All life forms, including human life, are connected through ecosystems on which they depend for their wellbeing and survival

World Views

OI.5 – World views are formed by experiences at personal, local, national and global levels, and are linked to individual and community actions for sustainability
Acknowledgments

This Australian Curriculum alignment statement is based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) materials, which are licensed under CC BY 4.0. The material has been modified from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed March 2020).

All activities have been created by educators for educators and are linked to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.4). We advise teachers to consult the ACARA website for the most up-to-date curriculum outcomes.

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