StudySync Lesson Plan
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Objectives
1.
Engage students in the history, language and themes of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle
Tom’s Cabin, so that they are prepared to discuss the excerpt and write in-depth, textually
rooted responses about the ideas within.
2. Practice and reinforce the following Grades 9-10 ELA Common Core Standards for
reading literature, writing, and speaking and listening:
READING: LITERATURE – RL.9-10.1-5, 10
WRITING – W.9-10.1-2, 4-10
SPEAKING AND LISTENING – SL.9-10.1-6
Time
140 minutes (with up to an additional 240 minutes of extension possibilities)
Materials
SyncTV Premium Lesson on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Overview
More than just a popular 19th century novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a phenomenon that swept
the nation soon after its publication in 1852, effectively spreading the gospel of the anti-slavery
movement in the years leading up to the U.S. Civil War. Its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a
white abolitionist from Connecticut; her novel presents the hardships of slavery through the
parallel stories of Tom and Eliza, two slaves from Kentucky who endure suffering and tragedy at
the hands of cruel slaveholders. Outraged by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which ruled that
runaway slaves were to be returned to their masters, Beecher Stowe’s novel fused political
purpose with narrative storytelling. Its stature as an anti-slavery text, however, has steadily
encountered attrition since the height of its popularity. Scholars have long questioned its literary
merit and lambasted it for popularizing negative black stereotypes. But its popularity and social
importance cannot be denied: it was second-best-selling book of the 19th century, next to only
the Bible, and it brought the issue of abolition to the minds of millions. Close examination of this
excerpt will offer students the opportunity to discuss and write in-depth responses to an
important 19th century text, consistent with the ELA Common Core Standards for Grades 9 and
10.
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Background (10 minutes)
1.
Watch the Preview (SL.9-10.1-2). As a group, watch the video preview of the premium
lesson. After viewing, use the following questions to spur a discussion:
a. Why was the United States in 1852 “primed for civil war”? Over what issues was
the nation so divided? Why were both sides unable to find compromise without
bloodshed?
b. What was an “abolitionist”? What did the abolitionists of the mid-19th century want,
and what stood in their way?
c. How can literature be “an agent of social change,” as the preview asserts? What
power do stories have over the populace that political leaders lack? Can you think
of any other books that had a profound effect on society and culture?
Extension (additional 60 minutes)
d. Research (W.9-10.7-9). Have students independently research the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1850, reportedly Harriet Beecher Stowe’s catalyst for writing this novel.
What was this law, and why was it so controversial, especially among abolitionists
like Stowe?
e. Context (SL.9-10.1-4). For further context, watch a series of short videos on the
history of slavery and the political climate of the 1850s that led the United States
into the Civil War: http://www.history.com/topics/abolitionistmovement/videos#america-divided. Discuss thoughts and responses to these
videos as a class.
f.
Discuss (SL.9-10.1-4). Harriet Beecher Stowe was a white woman. Ask: Does this
affect your reaction, in one way or another, to a text that is largely about slaves’
experiences? Why would some people say that the background of an author is
important to the story they’re telling? Is the telling of any kind of story ever “offlimits” to those that haven’t experienced it firsthand?
Engaging the Text (130 minutes)
2. Read the Text (30 minutes)
a. Read and Annotate (RL.9-10.1-5). Have students read and annotate the excerpt,
writing comments and responses to the action in the excerpt. If your classroom
has a projector, consider modeling annotating skills to the class using the first
paragraph. Have them write at least ten comments on the excerpt using the
annotation tool–these comments will be visible to you after the students submit
their writing assignments or beforehand if you use the “Mimic” function to access
the students’ accounts.
b. Discuss (SL.9-10.1-3). Have students get into small groups or pairs and briefly
discuss the questions and inferences they had while reading. As a class, discuss
the following: How are Eva and Topsy different? How are Miss Ophelia and St.
Clare different? What are the contrasts that emerge between the two pairs of
characters in this excerpt?
Extension (additional 20 minutes)
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
c. Listen and Discuss (SL.9-10.1-2). As a class, listen to the audio reading of the text.
Ask students to share how their understanding of the text changed after listening.
What additional images came to mind? What words did the author use to develop
the setting?
d. Comprehend (RL.9-10.1-5). Have students complete the multiple-choice questions.
Collect papers or discuss answers as a class.
3. Watch SyncTV (30 minutes)
a. Watch. Either watch the SyncTV discussion as a class or ask students to watch it
on their individual computers.
b. Focus (SL.9-10.1-3 and RL.9-10.3-4). Watch the portion of the episode from 1:523:22 as the SyncTV students compare and contrast the different characters in the
excerpt, starting with Eva and Topsy. Stress how the students use quotes and
passages from the text to support their observations.
c. Focus (SL.9-10.1-3 and RL.9-10.2, 4). Now watch from 3:50-4:36 as the SyncTV
students explore the deeper meaning of this “gradual hardening process” that St.
Clare talks about. Model how the students carefully analyze this concept and its
implications.
d. Focus (SL.9-10.1-3 and RL.9-10.2, 4). Next, the SyncTV students analyze St. Clare’s
statement that slave and master are “brutalized together,” from 4:50-6:05. Pay
attention as the students use this particular statement to arrive at deeper
conclusions about St. Clare’s character.
e. Discuss (SL.9-10.1-4 and RL.9-10.1-5, 10). After watching the model discussion,
have a conversation with the class about the ideas discussed in the SyncTV
episode. What new thoughts do they have after hearing the students' discussion?
Next, divide students into small groups (3-4 students). Move around the room
monitoring groups as students follow the SyncTV episode as a model to discuss
some of the following questions:
i. How are Eva and Topsy “the two extremes of society”? How does Harriet
Beecher Stowe characterize the two children in the first two paragraphs of
the excerpt? In what ways are they both products of their upbringing?
ii. Interpret the meaning of this quote: “The ear that has never heard
anything but abuse is strangely incredulous of anything so heavenly as
kindness.” Why is this quote significant to our understanding of the
excerpt?
iii. Consider the SyncTV students’ various reactions to Eva: how would you
characterize Eva’s nature? Is she sweet, innocent, out-of-touch? Do you
think her kindness towards Topsy is genuine? Why or why not?
iv. What do Miss Ophelia and St. Clare disagree about? What does this reveal
about their respective views of slavery? Of human nature?
v. What is the “gradual hardening process” that occurs, according to St.
Clare, when slaveholders physically abuse their slaves? Why does he feel
it is bad for both sides to engage in abuse?
vi. Consider the significance of Miss Ophelia’s statement, “It is your system
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
makes such children.” What does this reveal about her character and her
attitude towards slavery?
Extension (additional 60 minutes)
f.
Write Persuasively (W.9-10.1, 4, 9). Pretend you are a lawmaker drafting the 13th
Amendment, which outlawed the practice of slavery and granted freedom to all
slaves. In a short essay response, tell us why slavery should be abolished, using
three examples from this excerpt as a means of supporting your argument.
g. Write (W.9-10.1, 4, 7-9). Use the StudySync assignment creation tool to create a
“Writing” assignment that asks students to address the following prompt:
i. It is easy for one to look back into history and make judgments about a
society's lifestyle and decisions. Think about how people of the future
might view our society as a whole. What would they say about our
lifestyles or decisions? Is there an issue in today’s society that they will
look back on and criticize us for as we now criticize the injustices of
slavery? Write an essay of at least 300 words using your opinions and
examples from the text and other sources to support your ideas. Be
prepared to share your ideas with the class.
4. Think (10 minutes)
a. Respond (W.9-10.1-2, 4). Ask students to read the “Think” questions, watch the
corresponding video clips, and respond to the questions, either in class or for
homework.
5. Write (60 minutes)
a. Discuss (SL.9-10.1). Read the prompt you have chosen for students, and then
solicit questions regarding the prompt or the assignment expectations. Whichever
prompt you have chosen, make sure you are clear about the assignment
expectations and the rubric by which you and the other students will be evaluating
them.
b. Organize (RL.9-10.1-5, 10 and W.9-10.1-2, 5). Ask students to go back and annotate
the text with the prompt in mind. They should be organizing their thoughts and the
points they’ll address in their writing as they make annotations. If you’ve worked
on outlining or other organizational tools for writing, this is a good place to apply
them.
c. Write (W.9-10.1-2, 4-6, 8-10). Have students go through the writing process of
planning, revising, editing, and publishing their writing responses.
d. Review (W.9-10.4-6). Use the StudySync “Review” feature to have students
complete one to two evaluations of their peers’ work based on your chosen
review rubric. Have the students look at and reflect upon the peer evaluations of
their own writing. What might you do differently in a revision? How might you
strengthen the writing and the ideas?
Extension (additional 100 minutes)
e. Write (W.9-10.1-2, 4-6, 8-10). For homework, have students write an essay using
one of the prompts you did not choose to do in class. Students should publish
their responses online.
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
f.
Research and Write (W.9-10.1-2, 7-9). As a homework assignment, have students
research some of the criticism surrounding Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Assign an essay of
at least 300 words discussing the backlash this book has encountered in more
contemporary literary schools of thought, and whether this backlash can be seen
as valid criticism.
g. Write Persuasively (W.9-10.1, 4, 7-9). Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling book
of the 19th century next to the Bible, yet when most scholars discuss the greatest
novels of that period, Uncle Tom’s Cabin fails to make the cut. Have students
consider, in a 300-word essay, what ultimately determines a book’s value: is it its
popularity? Effectiveness of purpose? The judgment of the elite? Use real-life
examples in answering this question from any form of media (TV, music, film, etc.)
as well as direct examples from the case of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Key Vocabulary
1.
acute (adj.) – Sharp and quick; possessing the skills to understand something deeply and
clearly
2. eminence (n.) – The status of great rank, power, or well-regard
3. expatiate (v.) – To speak or write about something with great detail or effusiveness
4. incredulous (adj.) – Showing disbelief or doubt in reaction to something
5. callous (adj.) – Indifferent to the problems and suffering of others
6. laudanum (n.) – (old-fashioned) A widely popular drug, similar to opium, used in the 19th
century
7. vice (n.) – Morally bad behavior and/or habits
8. keen (adj.) – Intelligent, sharp; able to perceive things that are not immediately apparent
9. utterance (n.) – The act of speaking; something that is spoken
10. specimen (n.) – Something that can be used as a representative sample of a larger group
Reading Comprehension Questions
1.
The “two extremes of society” are represented by ________________ and
_________________.
a. Eva; St. Clare
b. Topsy; Miss Ophelia
c. St. Clare; Miss Ophelia
d. Eva; Topsy
2. Topsy doubts Eva’s genuineness because __________________.
a. Eva has a history of being deceptive
b. Topsy believes that all white slaveholders are liars
c. the abuse Topsy has suffered has made her distrustful
d. Eva is too young to clearly express her thoughts
3. “Miss Ophelia found the case a puzzler; her rules for bringing up didn’t seem to apply.”
(Paragraph 5)
The underlined text above most closely means means ___________________.
a. conversation
b. child-rearing
c. submission
d. disagreement
4. Topsy is being disciplined by Miss Ophelia in this excerpt for ____________________.
a. stealing
b. running away
c. being a slave
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
d. fighting with Eva
5. St. Clare believes Ophelia’s whippings “will have to be pretty energetic to make much
impression” (Paragraph 9) because _____________________.
a. Ophelia is not a strong woman
b. he feels whipping is the only way to discipline children
c. Topsy is accustomed to violence and abuse
d. all of the above
6. We can infer from this excerpt that St. Clare is a/an ________________________.
a. slave owner
b. abolitionist
c. former slave
d. teacher
7. Miss Ophelia and St. Clare are both _____________________.
a. sympathetic to the plight of slaves
b. unwilling to denounce the institution of slavery
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
8. St. Clare compares slave abuse to a drug because _____________________.
a. a tolerance for both builds up over time
b. both are against the law
c. both are expensive and dangerous habits
d. all of the above
9. Ophelia states, “It is your system makes such children.” The system she is referring to is
_____________________.
a. St. Clare’s policy of not whipping slaves
b. the institution of slavery
c. the educational system
d. the policy of racial integration
10. St. Clare implies that the consequence of his refusal to use violence is that his slaves
_____________________.
a. always disobey his orders
b. run away more frequently
c. don’t respect his authority
d. try to rise up and fight against him
Answer Key
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. A
5. C
6. A
7. C
8. A
9. B
10. C
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Further Assignments
1.
Read selections or the full text of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Have
students discuss and write about the book’s effectiveness as both a fictionalized narrative
and as a political, abolitionist text. Does the novel succeed as both? (RL.9-10.1-5, 10 and
W.9-10.9)
2. Is Uncle Tom’s Cabin still relevant today? In a short essay response, write about why
people should or shouldn’t continue to read Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Which is more important:
the story told within the pages of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or the phenomenon of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin as a novel? (W.9-10.1, 4, 9)
3. Go to http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/utc/ and learn more about the life and
work of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Discuss any surprising or relevant facts learned from this
website. (SL.9-10.1-4 and W.9-10.7)
4. Have students research important dates and events leading up to the U.S. Civil War and
use them in a classroom activity. Assign each student a paragraph on his or her own topic
of choice, but for a fun and collaborative class activity, make students to work together to
create a master timeline of all their dates and events. (SL.9-10.4-6 and W.9-10.7-9)
5. Another lasting influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the later spread of the term “Uncle
Tom” as a pejorative. What does this term refer to today, and why is this label considered
so offensive? Why did Stowe’s text lead to the creation of this (and other) black
stereotypes? (SL.9-10.1-4 and W.9-10.7, 9)
6. Re-write the discussion between Miss Ophelia and St. Clare, expressing their distinct
views on the issue at hand in contemporary dialogue. Simplify the dialect but make sure
the important parts of the speech remain intact. (ELL)
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Lesson Plan: Uncle Tom’s Cabin