Common Core Standards
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Concept: Literary Imagery in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”
Primary Subject Area: English
Secondary Subject Areas: N/A
Common Core Standards Addressed:
Grades 9-10
Key Ideas and Details
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and
analyze in detail its development over the course
of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped
and refined by specific details; provide an
objective summary of the text.
Grades 11-12
Analyze the impact of the author’s choices
regarding how to develop and relate elements of a
story or drama (e.g. where a story is set, how the
action is ordered, how the characters are
introduced and developed).
Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with
multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over
the course of a text, interact with other characters,
and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Craft and Structure
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how
to structure a text, order events within it (e.g.
parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g. pacing,
flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension,
or surprise.
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how
to structure specific parts of a text (e.g. the choice
of where to begin or end a story, the choice to
provide a comedic or traffic resolution) contribute
to its overall structure and meaning as well as its
aesthetic impact.
Grades 9-10
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Acquire and use accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the
college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge
when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Grades 11-12
Acquire and use accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the
college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge
when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Common Core Standards
1
Lesson Plan
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Overview:
Students will analyze the images within Glenn Blake’s short
story, “Old River,” from his collection Drowned Moon to
investigate how these images operate within the text.
Students will build upon these discussions to make
predictions about the stories trajectory and outcomes.
Students will also draw upon their understanding of
“image”, as it relates to literature, in order to discern greater
meaning in the text.
Materials:
•
•
•
Copies of Drowned Moon
Whiteboard
Notebooks/paper
Other Resources
•
Supplementary Materials Chart
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
Define “image” as it relates to literature and literary
works.
Identify specific images that Glenn Blake utilizes in
the story “Old River”.
Discuss how these select images function within
Blake’s short story.
Use “image” to draw greater meaning from Blake’s
short story.
Understand how “image”, “symbolism” and “theme”
work together and relate to one another in a literary
text.
Warm-Up Activity:
First, define “imagery” as it relates to literature. The
following lesson plan will flow from an acute understanding
of this literary device, so please feel free to spend as much
time on defining “imagery” as you and your students need.
To start, you can write the following definition on the white
board in front of the class:
Imagery:
Imagery is another word for ‘sensory details.’ Writers
employ imagery so that readers can visualize what they are
reading by means of these sensory-based descriptions.
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Lesson Plan
2
Lesson Plan
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Short Lecture & Partner Activities:
Part I
Allow students to identify moments in the text in which the
author uses imagery of the natural world. (This could
include, but is not limited to, animals, foliage, weather, and
landscape.) Give your students 10 minutes to search through
the text independently and mark these moments. Once
students have spent time identifying select images in the
text, convene as a class to discuss your student’s findings.
Part II
Ask your students to share the passages they marked that
contain natural imagery. Each student should read their
selected passages and then give a short explanation for how
their image embodies the literary definition of “imagery”.
Next, compare your students’ answers. What do these
passages have in common? In what ways do they differ? If
there are common images that are chosen and discussed,
spend some time analyzing these passages. Lead a classwide discussion of 2-3 passages (depending on length) in
which the students answer the following questions:
•
What kind of language is the author using to describe
nature?
•
When does Blake give you the best sense of what he’s
seeing? How does he do this? What language or
images are used?
•
What kind of mood does the author create by
employing these natural images?
•
What kind of overarching theme is suggested in this
story? How do the images relate to that theme?
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Lesson Plan
3
Lesson Plan
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Discussion Wrap-Up:
End the class by asking your students to share their favorite passages from the short story. What
draws them to these passages? What role does imagery play in their selection of these passages?
If there is time, spend some time theorizing on what similarities these images have in common.
For instance, is there a common theme that you can draw between the images? If so, what is it?
How does the natural imagery in Blake’s short story “Old River” help express or articulate that
theme?
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Lesson Plan
4
Lesson Plan
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Writing Activities/Evaluations:
Analytical:
Select a paragraph from Glenn Blake’s short story “Old River” that contains what you believe to
be an effective usage of natural imagery. In an argumentative essay, answer the following
questions: 1) explain why you chose the passage, 2) what, in your opinion, is effective about the
passage, 3) how does the author use descriptive language to construct that particular moment,
and 4) how does the passage you selected relate to the short story as a whole. Student responses
should range between 500 - 750 words.
Creative:
Think of an outdoors location that holds a significant or particular meaning for you. Write a
short scene—approximately 500 words—utilizing natural imagery in the style of Glenn Blake,
that describes this place. What is unique about it? What makes it meaningful? How can you use
imagery to express the larger feelings/moods you have about this place. Consider these
questions when constructing your scene.
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Lesson Plan
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Discussion & Comprehension Questions
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Questions for Discussion
•
Define “imagery” as it pertains to literature.
•
Define “mood” as it pertains to literature.
•
Define “motif”. Provide an example from one of Glenn Blake’s short stories.
•
Name specific instances of natural imagery you find in the text of Blake’s short story “Old
River”.
o How do these images function in the story?
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What impact do these images have on the overall theme of the work?
•
How does imagery function in this text?
o Can you relate it to other literary devices—such as metaphor, symbolism, and motif?
•
What role does weather play in the text? How does the weather contribute to the mood that
Blake sets in his story “Old River”?
•
What is the meaning of the scene in which Jessie rescues all of the animals from the
impoundment?
o How does this scene (pp. 17-18) reflect some of the larger themes conveyed in the story?
•
How does Blake use nature, and images of nature, to evoke Jessie’s memories of Travis?
o Do these images suggest that Travis is living or dead? Explain your answer.
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Discussion & Comprehension Questions
6
Text References
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Word:
Bateau
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Definition:
A light flat-bottomed riverboat used in eastern and central North
America.
Pileated
A large, North American woodpecker
Bream, Sacalait, Gar,
Varieties of freshwater fish
Gaspergou
Imagery
Imagery is another word for ‘sensory details.’ Writers employ imagery
so that readers can visualize what they are reading by means of these
sensory-based descriptions.
Mood
The emotional attitude the author takes towards his/her subject.
Symbolism
The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities; symbolic meaning
attributed to natural objects or facts.
Theme
Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary
work that may be stated directly or indirectly.
Motif
A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work; A dominant
theme or central idea.
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Text References
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Text References
Images of Nature in Glenn
Blake’s “Old River”
Book: Drowned Moon
Author: Glenn Blake
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Type: Literary Imagery
Textual References
“Every night since the old storm, a tug pushes a barge loaded with hurricane debris down Old River
and into the bay to an island where the trees, limbs, and branches will be burned. Every night, the tug
blows its low whistle above the wooden drawbridge, not too far from the bay.” (p. 3)
“At dusk, the swamps east of Old River are a dark green. The water is the color of coffee, deep
enough to pole a bateau through. Some of the trees in these swamps are dead, bearded with Spanish
moss.
Some have fallen over, leaving broad-based stumps sticking out of the backwater.
There is little noise until just dark. The whispered flight of a white egret through the cypresses. A faroff pileated drums rotten wood. Crickets. Every now and then, a bass bursts the surface of the water.
The tidal surge from the storm has pushed salt water into these swamps. The freshwater fish have
left. They have gone up Old River for a while, where it is safe. The bream and the sacalait. The gar,
the gaspergou.” (p. 7)
“He rented a brush hog and cleared the brush. He thinned out some of the trees, cutting down the
mimosa and sweet gum, leaving the large live oak. He used a chain saw and cut the trees off about
three feet from the ground. He cut the trees, made a pile, made a big bonfire.” (p. 19)
“Jessie walks over, with the receiver, to the back door and looks across Old River. It is the moon, a
late moon rising, large at the horizon, shining through the trunks like a fire in the trees.
‘Hello?’ she says. There is a quiet sound blowing through the lines, like a message carried by the
wind from far away, as if someone’s whispering to her, saying her name.” (p. 20)
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Text References
8
Title Field: Class Handout
Name:
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FILL AT YOUR DISCRETION WITH RELEVANT CLASSWORK
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Class Handout
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Supplementary Materials Chart
Category of Resource
Website
Description of Resource
Potential Educational Uses of Resource
Literary Devices—a web
site that explains different
conventions of literary
devices.
This web site contains a number of
literary devices and their descriptions,
as well as useful examples for each.
There is a good resource for imagery,
and any others the students might draw
upon in their discussions.
Link to Resource
http://literarydevices.com/content/imagery
Images of Nature in Glenn Blake’s “Old River”: Supplementary Materials Chart