Catcher 12-19

Three Catcher Lessons

1) Pulling Quotations

Choose two of the ideas below and find quotations that reveal them in these chapters. Be prepared to explain your thinking.

Beauty, Ugliness, Innocence, Terror, Loneliness, Manhood, Cowardice

HW) Analytical Paragraph: Take a quotation you found related to the ideas of beauty, ugliness, loneliness, manhood and cowardice in chapters 12-14 (see worksheet) and write an analytical paragraph. (Use graphic organizer before writing)

2) Holden and Girls and Dating in the 1950s

“I mean most girls are so dumb and all. After you neck them for a while, you can really watch them losing their brains. You take a girl when she really gets passionate, she just hasn’t any brains” (The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 13)

Discussion Question: So…have you been surprised or possibly offended by Holden’s view of women at any particular point in the text. If so, what part of the text was this and what was it that offended you or surprised you?

Holden and Jane, Holden and Sally?

Dating in the 1950s:

Q: What do you think dating was like in the 1950s?

Viewing Activity: View Video on Dating: Dating Do’s and Don’t and use organizer to identify one of the following:

1. The rules of the time?
2. Male and female stereotypes?
3. The values of the times?
4. Do's and Don't?

Exit Ticket/Notebook Entry:

What did you learn about dating in the 1950s. Which era would you prefer to date in, now or then?

Or

What mistakes did Holden do wrong on his date, AND based on your newfound understanding of dating in the 50s, should he know better?

OPTIONAL: In-Class Skit Assignment (last 35 minutes of class)

· First half of the class are to create their own short skit (5 minutes.) of Holden Caulfield’s point of view of an ‘unconventional’ date in the 1950s.

· Second half of the class are to do a skit (5 minutes.) of what they think a ‘conventional’ date would be like in the 1950s.

Homework: Finish skits, present in class tomorrow. Students are to submit a handwritten dialogue of their skit, and will present their skits in the next clas

3) The Catcher and the Rye and Slang

Guiding Questions: How does slang help us understand Holden’s struggles and the time he lives in? What does the use of slang add to this novel?

Overview: In groups you will investigate the use of slang in The Catcher and the Rye.

Students will be broken up into the following groups:

1. Group 1 Chapters 1-4
2. Group 2 Chapters 5-7
3. Group 3 Chapters 8-12
4. Group 4 Chapters 13-16

Directions:

• Each group is to find five slang words from assigned chapters and write them down on a piece of chart paper.
• Beside each slang word, come up with a definition of the word-- without consulting the dictionary!
• Once you are finished writing your own definitions, you will consult a dictionary and find out the true meaning of the slang words.

Sharing and Activity: Read out your slang words, what you thought the words meant and what you discovered the word to actually mean.

Using at least 2 of the slang words, answer the guiding questions.

• How does slang help us understand Holden’s struggles?
• How does slang help us understand the time he lives in?
• What does the use of slang add to this novel?

Share and your ideas

My Notes:

• Slang conceals meaning (from older or unhip people)
• Slang identifies one as part of a tribe
• It defies authority
• It makes one feel special
• It excludes
• Slang changes quickly, it’s used by the young, it identifies what’s important to young people. Why does it change? Too much mainstream use?

Introduce Being Holden activity and Holdenspeak Worksheet

HW: Plan and begin a short story that emulates Salinger’s style and shows Holden in modern Winchester. Go over sweeping generalization and emphasis

Optional Activity: Your Slang

• Students will brainstorm and write slang words on the board that they feel represents their generation.
• Once the modern slang words are written down, flip to any section of The Catcher in the Rye and copy out a short passage from the text, leaving some blank spaces (for adjectives mostly?) in between words.
• Insert your own words into the blank spaces that they left to refresh the old text with some new slang.

Share work (if time)