TeachThought Curricula: Analyzing An Author’s Position
Relevant Content Areas
English-Language Arts; Other: World History, Social Studies, Religion
Learning Approach
Game-Based Learning merged with traditional academic analysis
Grade Levels
8-12 (Standards below listed for Grade 8; new texts may need to be selected based on interest, reading level, etc.)
Suggested Learning Bundle
Assassin’s Creed Full Movie (from the video game, shown below), The Song of Roland, Secret Societies of the Middle Ages, Technology, Culture, and Virtue
Sample Project
Infer what the game developer’s (Ubisoft, of Assassin’s Creed, shown in the video below) position is on religious tolerance in a modern society should be, then compare or contrast (one or the other) it to another author’s position from the given bundle above. Note, nowhere is it explicitly stated what the author of any media’s position would be. That is the point of the assignment–close reading and analyzing of various media in order to infer implied critical positions.
Project Details
The product should start out academic, then gradually be revised and repackaged to accommodate a variety of authentic audiences.
Your analysis should be packaged as follows:
- 1 essay of no fewer than 850 words in MLA format which is then turned into…
- 1 mini-documentary with voice-over (5 minutes or fewer) which is then turned into…
- 1 blog post with a shortened version of the essay repackaged for blog format and coupled with the video, which is then distributed by…
- 1 relevant and compelling method of digital distribution (e.g., social media “@” tweet to an expert from a related field in an attempt to start a conversation)
- 1 reflection of no fewer than 500 words that reflects on the relationship between audience, purpose, and tone in regards to the above.
Note: Use extensive use of evidence from both media (text, video, etc.) in to support your claim.
Related Academic Standards:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.9 Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
Rubric
Forthcoming
Note that all mentions of and images depicting Assassin’s Creed are property of Ubisoft.
