Students identify and label characters as archetypes (e.g., Piggy=Mentor, Ralph=Hero, Jack=Villain, Littluns=Innocents) on the Recognizing Archetypes activity page and justify those labels with details about character actions and motivations. Students complete the Allegory Analysis page by describing what Ralph's tribe, Jack's tribe, Piggy, Simon, and the island might represent in society, connecting characters and setting to abstract ideas. The activities ask students to cite characteristics and plot details (e.g., Ralph calling meetings, Piggy's wisdom but lack of respect, Jack's desire for power, Piggy's glasses as a concrete symbol) to support their interpretations.

Students watch the 1963 film adaptation of Lord of the Flies and complete a "Movie vs. Book" chart that asks them to list specific similarities and differences in characters, setting, theme, and plot. Students answer journal questions that require them to identify omitted or added scenes they consider critical to the novel's major theme and to explain how a visual differed from their reading. The provided answer key and activity prompts ask students to point to concrete examples (e.g., Jack's early violence, Piggy's added comic scene, omission of Ralph's conversation with the officer) and to explain how those changes affect theme and meaning.

Students are asked to research the Magi, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon using provided links (including Biblical passages) and to take notes on their historical/literary significance. Students must write journal sentences explaining why O. Henry alludes to these figures and how knowledge of those references contributes to understanding the short story. The lesson explicitly defines allusion and directs students to connect those references to the story's meaning in homework and discussion prompts. The Parent Plan skills list explicitly includes analyzing how an author draws on and transforms outside material.

Students research Alice Walker using provided web links and complete an "Author's Biographical Data Sheet" to record parallels between the author's life and Everyday Use. Students identify and explain the story's first-person point of view (Question #1) and complete Activity 2 by rewriting a scene from Dee's or Maggie's perspective to show how point of view changes meaning. Students analyze symbols using the "Symbolism" activity page and are instructed in the Skills section to cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions.

Students read the original short story and then watch the 2081 film adaptation and complete a dedicated activity page that asks them to compare and contrast the printed word and the movie. The activity explicitly asks students to list 3–4 scenes the director added, altered, or deleted, to list character changes and to discuss shifts in emphasis and theme between the text and the film. Discussion prompts require students to analyze differences in Harrison's speech and the execution scene and to explain why the filmmaker might have made those changes.

Students are asked in Activity 2 to compare Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Counting-Out Rhyme" to traditional counting-out rhymes (questions 2–4 ask how the poem is similar to and different from the tradition and whether it should be called a counting-out rhyme). The introduction asks students to notice differences between the audio and printed versions of the folk ballad "Lord Randall," prompting students to explain why versions vary (addressing transformation through oral tradition). Multiple activities require students to identify and mark textual features (rhyme scheme, internal rhyme, alliteration, assonance) that they can use as evidence in responses.

Students map poem elements to historical sources when they identify the captain as Abraham Lincoln and the ship as the United States in "O Captain! My Captain!," linking Whitman's poem to the historical event of Lincoln's assassination. Students research and explain allusions in Roy Helton's "Old Christmas Morning," answering questions about Appalachian Old Christmas traditions and describing how those cultural references inform meaning. Students analyze authorial transformation in Carl Sandburg's "Grass" by considering the poem's personified speaker (the grass) and the poem's use of named battles to reshape historical material into metaphor and theme.

Students are directed to complete a "Symbols or Allusions" box on the Poetry Map and are explicitly told to look up the reference to Bluebeard in Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking." The lesson repeatedly lists allusion and layers of meaning as elements to examine (e.g., imagery, symbolism, and allusion) and provides a graphic organizer prompting students to identify symbols or allusions and summarize how they function in the poem.

Students complete an Ekphrasis Analysis chart where they read poems inspired by artworks (e.g., "The Dance," "The Great Wave: Hokusai," and "Ode on a Grecian Urn") and answer how each poem relates to, adds to, or changes the meaning of the visual source. Students analyze Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" against traditional sonnet forms by identifying its rhyme scheme and noting ways it differs from conventional sonnets. Students mark rhyme schemes and scan for iambic pentameter in multiple sonnets, then identify sonnet types and explain how poets follow or alter formal conventions.

The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly includes "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work," naming the exact skill from the standard. Students are directed to analyze poems using the "Poetry Map," annotating word choice, imagery, symbols/allusions, tone, sound devices, speaker, summary, and theme. Day 3 asks students to research cultural influences on a poet and to analyze how cultural references enrich a poem, which engages students in connecting texts to outside contexts.

The lesson's Skills list explicitly states that students will "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work," which names the targeted skill. In Choice 5 (Poetry Explication) students are directed to analyze symbols, allusions, and layers of meaning and to produce a focused presentation that highlights those features. In Choice 7 (Provide Your Opinion) students compare Bob Dylan's lyrics to other literary writers and review supporting and opposing articles, which requires comparing texts and locating literary connections.

Students are asked to watch a filmmaker's video and take notes comparing how the book and video differ in focus, emphasis, and portrayal (e.g., questions about the father's role, the filmmaker's focus, and impressions of Malala's mother). The lesson directs students to specific book pages and to note contrasts (top of p.75 and bottom of p.106; p.184) to support comparison between Malala's memoir and the documentary. Discussion prompts and guided questions explicitly require students to determine which details are emphasized in each account and how the media affect the story's impact.

Students read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and complete a "People of the Past" activity in which they identify the historical and religious figures King references (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego; the Apostle Paul; Socrates; early Christians) and match quotes to those figures. The parent notes and activity directions ask students to write brief descriptions of who the figures were and how the quote relates to the figure, and Option 2 requires students to supply information through their own knowledge or brief research. The lesson explicitly states that one rhetorical tool King uses is drawing comparisons between the civil rights movement and work of historical/religious figures and asks students to identify those references.

Students compare excerpts from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. in Activity 1, using a two-column table and a middle column to identify overlapping ideas and mark parallel phrases. In Activity 2, students read opposing quotes on America, the role of government, and voting and explain which thinker they agree with and why, citing text. The Parent Plan and wrap-up note that students will analyze similarities and differences between the two men's views and that King was inspired by Thoreau, and homework requires reading Thoreau excerpts and answering text-based questions.

Students read and annotate Elie Wiesel's speech "Hope, Despair, and Memory," answer text-dependent short-answer questions, and identify quotations and metaphors from the text. They use footnotes (e.g., Torah, Judas Maccabeus) and answer questions asking them to describe Jewish tradition and Wiesel's references to historical figures and historians such as Shimon Dubnov. Students are asked to find a universal truth in Wiesel's speech and to compare that statement with quotes from other human-rights advocates (Malala, MLK, Thoreau).

Students are asked to write a journal response about whether Beah exaggerated details or wrote others' experiences as his own, directly engaging with claims that events may have been borrowed. The "Different Accounts" activity has students complete book and video columns, comparing how topics are presented in the memoir versus a short interview. The Parent Plan skills also list analyzing various accounts told in different mediums and integrating/evaluating content presented in diverse media.

Students are asked to compare an allusion in A Long Way Gone to an allusion in The Gift of the Magi (the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon) and explain how the references differ, prompting cross-textual comparison. In Activity 2 ("Wiesel's Words") students must select a quotation from Elie Wiesel, relate it to Beah's memoir, and provide specific examples or quotations from the book or video to support their choice. The student activity pages instruct students to cite textual evidence when explaining how the quoted material relates to A Long Way Gone.

Students are asked to identify examples of allusion in two works (Part III, Q2) and to define allusion in the fill-in-the-blank section, which requires recognizing references to earlier texts. Day 2 and Part IV include prompts linking authors across time: students may be asked to explain how Thoreau's writing influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., and Part IV.A explicitly asks students to explain Thoreau's meaning and how King defined civil disobedience. Multiple questions ask students to find and explain literary devices and relationships among texts (e.g., allusion, influence).

Students are asked to read the author's introduction (pp. xi-xiii) and use Internet research to complete the "About the Author" page, including identifying historical context and influences. The activity explicitly asks "How was Ender's Game partially inspired by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov?" and the plan directs students to "Review the author's influences on the novel including works by writer Isaac Asimov and military stories and books."

Students are told that policies in Ender's world are based on real-world events and are prompted to research eugenics and record ten facts in Option 2 (Planned Procreation). The Planned Procreation activity directs students to investigate religious, environmental/ethical, personal/financial, and governmental/legal reasons for family planning and allows internet research for background. The introduction explicitly names eugenics and identifies Ender as a product of that practice, linking the novel to historical material.

Activity 1 directs students to read about John Locke and Demosthenes and to write a journal entry describing the links between those historical figures and the novel's pen names (Peter as "Locke" and Valentine as "Demosthenes"). The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Analyze how the author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work" and explains that students should provide a theory explaining why Peter chose the pen names. Activity 2 asks students to match leadership quotations to characters and explain why each quote fits, prompting students to apply information from informational texts to interpret characters.

Students are asked to complete Activity 2: "Lord of the Flies vs. Ender's Game," which directs them to compare and contrast the two novels using categories such as Setting, Leadership, and Theme. The activity prompts students to think about shared themes (innate savagery, fear), roles of leadership and power, responsibilities, and consequences, and provides a graphic organizer with hexagons labeled Power, Responsibilities, Fears, and Consequences. The Parent Plan supplies a sample comparison that contrasts settings, leadership selection, and themes between the two texts.

The Veni, Vidi, Vici activity asks students to identify that the chapter title is a Latin allusion to Julius Caesar and to write one to two paragraphs speculating why Orson Scott Card chose that phrase and how it foreshadows plot development. The activity prompts students to connect the allusion to specific moments (individual battles, conquering Battle School) and to consider where the phrase could have appeared in the text. The Parent Plan skill list explicitly names analyzing how an author draws on and transforms source material as a target skill.

Students are asked to compare Ender's Game to either the 2013 movie or Marvel's comic adaptation by re-reading a scene in the book and re-watching or re-reading the adapted scene and taking notes on differences, omissions, and changes. The Comic Adaptation activity page requires students to list specific narration or dialogue omitted or changed, judge whether pictures communicate the omitted material, and decide if omissions compromise the original novel. The Parent Plan skill explicitly directs students to analyze the representation of a subject or key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.

Students record the twelve steps of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey after watching a summary video and then choose six steps to map to events in Ender's Game using a graphic organizer. The activity sheet directs students to "provide examples from a novel that fit each step," and the teacher notes include specific mappings (e.g., Call to Adventure = Colonel Graff recruits Ender; Trials = daily tests in Battle School). The lesson also prompts comparative thinking about similarities between Ender and other characters (Spider-Man, Katniss) to highlight how authors reuse archetypal material.

Students research NATO and the 1955 Warsaw Pact and then list two similarities and two differences between the historical Warsaw Pact and the fictional Second Warsaw Pact, explicitly answering "Why might the author have used this historical reference?" (Box 8). Students choose six "hero's journey" steps and draw parallels between each step and Ender's Game, then create a storyboard illustrating how the novel adapts that mythic source (Box 6). The Skills section also requires students to cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking, supporting analysis drawn from the text.

Students watch Malcolm Gladwell's TED talk in which he takes the biblical story of David and Goliath and re-examines it. Students are asked to jot prior knowledge of the story and answer guided questions about why David is usually seen as an underdog, in what ways Gladwell argues David had the advantage, and what Gladwell means by the quote about Goliath's apparent strength being his greatest weakness. Students are prompted to use evidence from the story (e.g., details about armor, slinging skill, and the researchers' suggestion of acromegaly) to support discussion of Gladwell's reinterpretation.

Students are asked to locate and explain the Bible verse included under the chapter title (the origin of the phrase "Matthew Effect") in Homework Question #4, linking the biblical source to Gladwell's chapter meaning. Activity 1 directs students to explore how Gladwell uses analogy (the Roseto study) and other strategies to help the reader understand the term "outlier," including rereading specific introduction paragraphs and identifying the analogy. The Parent Plan and answer key prompt students to examine how Gladwell defines "outlier" (dictionary definitions, contextual definition on p. 7) and how he applies the Roseto study as an analogy to transform the study of success.

Students summarize and analyze Sections 1–3 of Gladwell's chapter and answer questions that point out that Section 2 consists of scientific studies and outside sources (Activity 1, Question 2 and the answer key). Students are asked to explain why Gladwell pauses the Bill Joy story to present research and then returns to Joy (Activity 1 Q2 and the Parent Plan explanation). The homework and Activity 2 require students to track The Beatles or Bill Gates examples and connect those examples to the chapter's larger claims, prompting students to trace how Gladwell uses examples and research to support his argument.

Students read Chapter 7 of Outliers and then read a critical blog post that challenges Gladwell's use of crash reports, transcripts, and cultural research (Activity 4). In Activity 5 students must identify the blog author's main objections (Option 1) or fill out a chart noting each criticism, how Gladwell responds, and whether the response is effective (Option 2). Discussion prompts and answer keys direct students to evaluate omissions, alleged misquoting of crash reports, selective quoting of cockpit transcripts, and Gladwell's use of Hofstede's cultural data.

Students are asked to identify literary devices in Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and to name the device and its intended effect on the audience. The activity and answer key explicitly identify an allusion to Matthew 7:1 ("...but let us judge not, that we be not judged.") and explain that the reference appeals to northern Christians. Students complete a chart that requires quoting the speech, labeling the device (including allusion), and explaining its rhetorical effect.

Students are directed to learn Aristotle's six elements of tragedy and then "apply Aristotle's six elements of tragedy as they watch and read the one-act play Trifles." The lesson includes an "Applying Aristotle's Six Elements of Tragedy" activity page that asks students to analyze plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle in Trifles. Discussion prompts ask students to consider whether "Aristotle's ideas from so long ago [are] still relevant today" and whether his elements could apply to non-tragic plays.

Students are told that Lorraine Hansberry got the title A Raisin in the Sun from Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem" and are asked to "Think of this as you read Act I," which explicitly links the play to a source text. Students are asked to consider thematic questions such as "What dreams do the characters hope to achieve?" that invite thinking about the poem's theme of a "dream deferred." Students are also asked to consider why Hansberry chose to tell her story on stage rather than in a book, which requires students to consider an author's formal choices.

Students read Act II Scene 1 which explicitly references Prometheus and are given a short background on that myth. Students are asked in the discussion questions to consider "Why does George call Walter Prometheus?", prompting interpretation of the allusion. The lesson also directs students to support answers with evidence from the play in the Reader Response Paragraph task.

Students read Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem" (the play's epigraph) and complete the "A Dream Deferred" activity that directs them to define "defer," identify five similes in the poem, and analyze the final line "Or does it explode?". The activity asks students to relate the poem's imagery and themes to characters in A Raisin in the Sun by choosing a character and explaining which poem comparison best describes that character's "dream deferred." The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill to "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work."

Students watch the 2016 movie adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences and are told to note that it is a play made into a movie, that the movie "focuses more on dialogue and less on action," and that "much of the dialogue is taken directly from the play." Students also watch an interview with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis comparing doing the play versus the movie and write at least three insights about characters. The parent plan and activities ask students to analyze representation of a subject or key scene in two different artistic mediums and to compare and contrast Fences with A Raisin in the Sun across theme, characters, plot, and setting.

Students read excerpts of Ovid's "Pyramus and Thisbe" (Metamorphoses) and Romeo and Juliet and complete a side-by-side activity sheet asking them to note similarities between the two texts. Activity 3 and the "Pyramus and Thisbe Excerpt" student page explicitly direct students to compare story elements (setting, plot points, and outcomes) between the poem and the play. The parent-plan notes that students will "compare this poem with Romeo and Juliet" and lists specific parallels (for example, forbidden parents, meeting at a tomb, mistaken deaths).

Students watch a modern film adaptation (Luhrmann 1996) and a Globe Theatre production and complete a "Two Versions" comparison chart that includes sections for "Major changes from the original play" and "How characters are portrayed." Activity 3 directs students to choose three specific areas of difference, craft a thesis, and write three supporting paragraphs using the APE method, requiring them to prove points with specific examples from both productions and explain the significance or effect of differences. The homework checklist requires each paragraph to contain specific information or examples from both productions and an explanation of the significance of those differences.

Students are asked explicitly to compare Romeo and Juliet and Pyramus and Thisbe (Multiple Choice Question 7), which requires recognizing a source relationship between Shakespeare's play and an earlier story. The discussion prompt (Part IV, question E) asks students to defend whether Shakespeare should be taught using specific details from their experience reading Romeo and Juliet, inviting comparative and evaluative thinking about the play. The activities also direct students to "scan each lesson to be sure you understand how the concepts are applied to plays, especially A Raisin in the Sun and Romeo and Juliet," which orients students toward applying play-related concepts to those texts.