Lesson video

Hello everyone and welcome to this lesson.

Considering and analyzing the use of anecdotes in a non-fiction text.

My name's Dr. Clayton and I'm to guide you through learning today.

Now, today's lesson is all about anecdotes and an answer is a short narrative story.

You as part of your writing to communicate, connect with the audience.

So we're gonna spend a little bit of time reading and responding to the focus article, today's lesson, to begin to understand what the writer's trying to communicate to us as the audience.

Then we're gonna think about why they might use anecdotes to communicate that to us and then analyze what they're trying to tell us through their use of anecdotes.

So you ready?

Grab your pen, laptop, whatever you use of this lesson and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson you'll be able to identify and analyze the use of anecdotes for effect in a nonfiction text.

So we have four words today we're gonna be focusing on as our keywords.

They're identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll tried to point that to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

Our first keyword is personal essay, which means an autobiographical essay that relates to significant personal experience of the essay writer.

The text we're looking at today is a personal essay.

We're going to think about what the writer's trying to tell us through sharing their experience with us.

Our second keyword is anecdote, which means a usually short narrative, an interesting, amusing or biographical incident.

Today's lesson is all about anecdotes.

We go to think about why a writer might choose to use anecdotes in their writing.

As well specifically analyzing the anecdotes in the personal essay considering what they reveal to us.

Our third keyword is elicit, which means to evoke or draw a reaction, answer or fact from someone.

This is terminology that's particularly useful in writing about anecdotes 'cause they're designed to create an emotional response in the reader.

So we might talk about them as eliciting that reaction.

Finally, our fourth keyword is sympathetic, which means characterized by feeling or showing sympathy, understanding.

We're gonna be thinking specifically about how anecdotes might create this sympathetic response.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in the lessons a today.

Our first learning cycle, we're gonna spend some time thinking about how we might respond to a personal essay 'cause I really want to focus on how and why the writer is trying to create an emotional reaction in the reader throughout this lesson.

Then for our second learning cycle, we're going to consider what anecdotes Reedy has used in order to provoke an emotional reaction.

Then we're gonna analyze what emotions they create in the reader and why.

So as I said, we're gonna spend some time at the beginning of this lesson thinking about how we respond to the article.

So today we're gonna be considering Cara Reedy's "My Life's a Little Person".

Now this is an opportunity to practice how we might approach a text for the first time.

We're approaching a text, we might ask the following questions, who is the writer?

When was the text written?

What genre is it?

So but that to mean what type of text is it?

Is it a letter, an article, or a speech for example.

What can we predict about the text based on the title?

Who is the audience and where is it published?

Now I always like to approach text with questions, but I think it gives you an easy way to get into the text.

If you don't have all the answers, you can still start to form an opinion of text based on some of the answers you have.

So what I'd like you to do is look at the information I've given you about Reedy's article.

So we have Cara Reedy's "My Life's the Little Person" published September 12th, 2014 on CNN and answer the following questions.

So who is the writer?

When was the text written?

What genre is it?

What can we predict about the text based on the title?

Who's the audience and where is it published?

So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

The writer is Cara Reedy.

It was published in 2014.

Now the fact it says, my life gives us a good idea as a personal essay.

Now this is one of our key words means an autographic essay that relates to a significant personal experience of the essay writer.

In terms of the title, we might think it could be an exploration of for being a little personal effector.

Now the audience of the general public, since CNN is a national news network in America.

So now we've identified some information about the text.

I'd like to think about how this information might help us approach the text.

So the information we have is, it was written by Cara Reedy it's published in 2014.

We think it's a personal essay.

We think it's gonna be an exploration of how being a little person effects her.

We think the audience as the general public.

Now if we through someone else, you might talk about this together.

For those of you by yourself might just think where it is.

So pause the video.

Consider how this information might help us approach the text.

Welcome back everyone.

It was great to see people really zooming in and this a personal essay.

As Oak pupil Izzy says, "I think this helps to understand this text about someone trying to communicate with other people about their life and their experience.

" "So potentially to educate people but help 'em see how they might approach situations differently.

" So now we've asked some questions about the title and publication and that's given us an idea of what the text might be about.

I also think it's really important to think about how you respond to a text.

'Cause it helps you to gauge your connection with the text.

It's particularly important with a personal essay.

Now, typically we might ask the following questions, develop a personal response to a nonfiction text.

Now nonfiction designed to inform, persuade, or educate.

So I approach a response by asking what is the view of the writer?

Do I share the same view?

What ideas do I think are important to remember?

How does this text relate to my own experience in life and world events?

Does this text cause me to see the world differently?

However, rather than being broadly informative or factual, this text about someone's personal experience.

So what I'd like you to think about is which questions might we ask differently?

A response to a personal essay about someone's life.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Well welcome back everyone.

Now since this text about someone's personal experience, we might change the opening to questions.

So rather than asking what their viewpoint is, you might instead ask, what does the writer want me to understand about their life?

And then rather than ask if you share the same viewpoint, you might instead ask, what emotional reaction do I have to the text to really focus our response on how the writer wants to connect with us as the audience.

Now before we read the text, we're just gonna do a quick check for understanding what we think we know so far about the text.

So I'd like you fill in the gaps of following statements.

The word might just that Reedy's text is there.

From that we might be able to predict that Reedy wants to with other people about her life experience.

To approach the text we might ask ourselves what we think Reedy wants us to about her life.

So pause the video, complete the statements now.

Welcome back everyone.

They might have said.

The word my suggests that Reedy's text is a personal essay.

From that we might want to predict that Reedy wants to communicate with other people about her life and experience.

To approach the text we might ask ourselves what we think Reedy wants us to understand about her life.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Fantastic so far, Ron.

For the first task of the lesson, we're going to read and respond to Reedy's essay.

What I'd like you to do is read the text, then answer the following questions to develop a personal response.

So what does the writer want me to understand about their life?

What emotional reaction do I have to the text?

What ideas do I think are important to remember?

How does this text relate to my own experience in life and world events?

Does this text cause me to see the world differently?

So pause the video, read the article, answer the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

I think it's a really powerful article and I really hope you enjoyed reading it.

Now know your response is personal, but I would like you to share your thoughts with a peer and then consider the following questions.

A personal essay is all about sharing experiences, not to change people's perceptions.

I think part of how we change the world and social ideas to share our thoughts and responses.

So I'd like you to consider, did you both agree on what you think the writer wants to understand about her life?

Did you both have the same emotional reaction?

Did you both have the same information you felt was important to remember?

Did you have similar feelings about how the personal essay might relate to your life?

And did you have similar feelings about would the text cause you to see the world differently?

So pause the video, consider the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

As I said, it's a really powerful essay.

It was great to be able to approach it with such empathy and understanding.

Amazing work so far everyone.

For the second learning cycle, we're going to think about how Reedy has used anecdotes in order to create an emotional reaction in the reader.

So let's begin by thinking about anecdotes quite broadly before we move on to specific examples from Reedy's article.

So one method a writer might choose in a personal essay is anecdotes.

An anecdotes usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing or biographical instant.

What I'd like you to think about is why my anecdotes might be useful in a personal essay.

Remember of personal essays, an autobiographical essay that relates to a significant personal experience of the writer.

As ever if you're with someone else might talk about together.

If your just by yourself might just think about ideas.

So pause the video, consider why anecdotes might be useful in a personal essay.

Welcome back everyone.

It was great to see people thinking.

Back to the idea that a personal essay might be used to help people understand someone else better.

Therefore, as Oak pupil Laura says, "Anecdotes might be helpful in creating an emotional response with a reader, particularly sympathetic response.

" Now, sympathetic one of our keywords, means feeling or showing sympathy and understanding.

So by sharing a story for our own life might help other people to understand our lives better.

So now that we've defined an anecdote, a thought about why it might be useful, a personal essay, we're gonna start looking at why I read used anecdotes.

To do that, we first need to identify what the anecdotes are.

So I'd like you to reread the text now because it a way you can see examples of anecdotes in the text.

So with these examples of Reedy telling short stories about her experience.

Pause a video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now there are many examples you might have chosen as Reedy uses multiple anecdotes throughout her article.

Now, as I said, those were just a few examples of anecdotes you might have chosen since Reedy uses multiple anecdotes throughout the essay.

What I'd like you to take a moment to think about is why do you think Reedy specifically uses multiple anecdotes?

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

As our Oak pupil Izzy says, "I think it's because she really wants people to understand what her daily existence is like, and the best way to do that is tell stories of her experiences and interactions with others.

" I think the fact she's telling multiple anecdotes also really speaks to how common this experience of being treated as to others is for her.

She has so many examples to pick from.

I think that really highlights the level of sympathy that's evoked in the audience.

So now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that Reedy's anecdotes only focus on her own actions and not interactions with other people?

Pause the video, make your selection now.

The correct answer is false.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have said Reedy's anecdotes consider how other people have reacted to her as well as how the reactions of other people have made her feel.

So very well done if you've got those right.

So now that we've identified some anecdotes from Reedy's essay, we're going to think about how we can approach analyzing them.

Now the personal anecdotes to elicit an emotional reaction in the reader.

So elicit is one of our keywords.

Means to evoke or draw a reaction answer or fact from someone.

So anecdotes are designed to create an emotional reaction in the reader.

What I'd like you to think about is given this purpose, how do you think we might go about analyzing an anecdote?

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

And as Oak pupil Laura says, "I think we want to consider what emotional reaction we have to the anecdote, as well as thinking about how the writers craft the anecdote through word choices and methods not elicit that response.

" So we want to focus on choice of words and language devices that may be present in order to analyze them and think about how the writers craft the anecdote to create that emotional response in the reader.

So let's consider the first anecdote together.

What I'd like you to think about first is what emotional reaction does this anecdote elicit for you?

So what emotional reaction does the anecdote create for you?

Pause video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

As our Oak pupil Izzy says, "We might think the anecdote must feel sympathy towards Rudy and her experience.

" Now I'd like to think about is how Rudy has crafted the anecdote to create that response.

So what words or methods has she used to create that response and sympathy from the audience?

Pause video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

So by opening with from the moment I was born, Reedy's telling this is something she's experienced all her life.

The specific phrase, oh God, is one we associate with a negative, shocked reaction.

So we see that she experienced this type of reaction for her whole life.

Finally, the choice to reference the nurse heightens the shock because the reaction of a medical professional, which shows you has even had these negative reactions of people who would hope remain neutral to us and our situations.

So Reedy specifically chosen words that show us that everyone including professionals have had this negative reaction to her has enhanced our sympathy for her.

Now for your final task, I'm gonna ask you to write a paragraph that analyzes one of the anecdotes.

So let's take a look at what that might look like.

We might say by opening with a preposition from Reedy establishes this reaction has occurred since she was born.

The words, oh God, create the sensation of shock.

However, Reedy heightens this by having them delivered by a nurse who as a medical professional, we hold a high standard behavior.

In doing so Reedy elicits sympathetic response from the audience.

So helps 'em to understand what daily existence is like.

Here we've embedded quotations from the anecdote as evidence for our analysis.

We've zoomed on specific words to show the effect of those choices.

We've linked our ideas back to the emotional response and the effect these words have on the reader.

So try to keep those things in mind when you're writing your own analysis.

Now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So it's true or false, the specific use of nurse heightens a sense of shock that Reedy experiences from people.

Pause, video, make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have said, typically we expect medical professionals to be objective and not have emotional reactions.

Therefore, the nurse's reaction heightens a sense of shock.

This is unexpected.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Now before we move on to the final task, let's just remind ourselves the other anecdotes we identified in Reedy's essay.

Now, what I'd like you to do is consider what response do these anecdotes elicit in you.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have thought that the first anecdote, which she shows how cruel people were to as a child, might evoke those ideas of sympathy again, but also more specific anger at other people and how they've treated her.

In terms of second anecdote, you might have thought that her stories past certain teachers would make sure she could participate and make her feel included, would make us feel optimism and hope because not everyone has reacted in a negative way.

Finally, her stories for everyday activities might make her seem relatable to us and therefore create the impression that actually she's just a normal human being just like the rest of us.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

So by listing her daily activities, Reedy's arguably trying to show that A, she's different from other people.

B, she's the same as other people, or C, she feels saddened by other people's reactions.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now by listing her daily activities, Reedy's arguably trying to show her she's normal and therefore she's same as other people.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work everyone.

For the final task of the lesson where I'd like you to analyze one of the following three anecdotes and write a written analysis to show how Reedy's crafted it to elicit a particular emotional response.

In order to analyze the anecdotes you might consider what word choices the writer has made to elicit that particular response.

How the structure of the sentence or use of punctuation enhances that particular response.

And whether the writer is using methods not to have an effect on the reader.

So pause the video and write a written analysis of one of those other three anecdotes now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now I'd like us to consider Izzy's response to the first anecdote, and think about how she could extend her ideas by analyzing a repeated D sound in deeper darker.

So how could Izzy extend her ideas by analyzing a repeated D sound in deeper darker?

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

You might have thought she could extend it by adding.

Moreover, the repeated plosive D sound coupled with the fragmented nature of the sentences in deeper, darker alludes to the harsh treatment that Reedy endured and the effect it's had on her life.

I always think it's useful to look at other people's work 'cause it's easy for you to be critical of other people's work than your own.

But hopefully by seeing that other people can improve or extend their own work that can give you ideas, take back to your own work.

You all did amazingly well today everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

In responding to a personal essay, we might ask what it is the writer wants to understand about their lives.

So remember, personal essays all about relating significant personal experience of the writer.

Why have they done that?

What do they want to communicate to us through it?

And potentially how do they want us to change our behavior because of it.

Potentially writers might use anecdotes and personal essays to create an emotional reaction in the reader.

So writers might share a short story from their own lives to create that emotional connection to the reader and help them understand.

Arguably Reedy's use of anecdotes, a sympathetic response in the reader.

So Reedy's use for anecdotes helps the reader understand what data living is like for her.

We might analyze anecdotes by considering the writers specific use of words and methods.

So Reedy's example we might focus in on how her language shows us the level of scrutiny she receives is universal and socially accepted since happened in public places since she was a child.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson everyone from reading the article to considering the anecdotes.

And hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.