Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur

COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

Academic Year 2016-2017

DETAILED LESSON PLAN IN ENGLISH 114

Literary Criticism
July 18, 2018

I. OBJECTIVES
At the end of the 45-minute discussion, at least 85% of the students are expected to:

A. Describe the story; “Hills like white Elephants by Ernest Hemingway”

B. Enumerate the steps on how to analyze the text using Deconstructive Criticism
C. Critic the story Hills like White elephants using Deconstructive Criticism.

II. SUBJECT MATTER

A. Topic: Deconstructive Criticism
B. References: http://deconstructive.org/wiki/World literature book.
` C. Materials: Power Point presentation and worksheets
D. Concepts: Deconstruction is a critique of the relationship between the text and meaning
originated by the philosopher Jaques Derrida.By deconstructing a text, you learn to read beyond
a text’s straightforward content and uncover new meanings and truths. It is also inspired in
architecture and remains important within art, music and literary criticism.
E. Skills: Speaking, listening, writing, analyzing, teamwork and questioning
F. Values Integrated: Cooperation and respect to individual differences
G. Strategy: Content-based Instruction
H. Time Frame: 45 minutes

III. PROCEDURE

Time Instructional
Frame TEACHING HINTS TEACHER’S ACTIVITY STUDENTS’ ACTIVITY Materials
(in min.)
3 A. Preliminaries

1. Greetings Good morning, class! Good morning, Ma’am!

2. Prayer Please stand for the Opening (students stand for Opening
Prayer. Prayer)
3. Securing
cleanliness and Before you sit down, kindly (students pick up papers and
orderliness of the pick up the pieces of papers plastics and arrange their
classroom and plastics that you may chairs properly)
see on the floor and arrange
4. Checking of your chairs properly.
attendance

5. Checking of Kindly check the attendance

Assignment of the class Ms. Secretary. (the class secretary checks
the attendance)
Did I give you an
assignment?
No Ma’am!
6. Recall
Who can share what we Yes Ric?
have discuss last meeting?
 In our past discussion, we
have learned about what is
structuralism, primarily
focused on the meaning of
the language used rather
than it means.

Very Good Ric!

We also have have these

typical questions:
1. What are the elements of
the work-word, stanzas,
chapters, parts for example
and how can these be seen
as revealing difference.?
2. How do the characters,
narrators, speakers or other
voices heard in the work
reveal difference?
3. How are the work’s
primary images and events
related to one another
?What elements of
differentiation exist ,and
what do they signify.?

These are the some

questions that will guide us
to really understand the
structuralism criticism. Yes Ma’am!

10 B. Pre reading

1. Motivation Have you ever been

Question pressured to do something? (Students will answer the
And how does it feel? question?

I asked you that question

because it has something to
do with the topic that we are
going to discuss this
afternoon.

2. Presentation of the Who can guess what is our (Student B will answer the
lesson topic is this afternoon? question) Power Point
Yes ! Students B. presentation
3. Presentation of the As we go through with our
objectives 45-minute discussion, we
shall be guided by a specific
set of objectives.

A. Discuss Deconstructive (students will read the

Criticism objectives)
B. Enumerate the steps on
how to analyse the text
using Deconstructive
Criticism
C. Critic the story Hills like
White elephants using Yes, Ma’am
Deconstructive Criticism.

Power Point
We will be working hand in Presentation,
hand in order to attain all of Visual Aids
these.

4. Motive Question This morning, we will be

discussing the literary piece
entitled Hills like white
elephants by Ernest (students write the
Hemingway. But before immediate questions on a
that, let me give you guide piece of paper)
questions in critiquing a
literary piece using the
deconstructive criticism.

(the students will be given a

copy of the literary piece
and questions for analysis)

1. How does the diction and

syntax reflect the underlying
meaning of the piece?
2. What do the character’s
names (or lack thereof)
signify?
3. What do the colors
symbolize?
4. Does the tone suggest
underlying tension?
5. What are the connotations
for the words used?
7. Is the accepted norm of
social behavior true for
everyone or is it relative to
the individual?
8. What about the purpose
of repetition?
9. How does juxtaposition
influence the underlying
meaning?
10. What is the purpose of
having the setting where it
is? (Would it change the
 meaning if it took place
elsewhere?

20 C. Lesson Proper

Let us begin our discussion

with a short background of
the author.
Ernest Hemingway was one
of the most influential
American authors in history.
Born in Oak Park, Illinois,
in 1899, Hemingway began
his writing career in
journalism. Rejected by the
army during World War I,
Hemingway volunteered (students listen intently)
with the Red Cross as an
ambulance driver in Italy.
After being wounded during
the war, Hemingway had a
difficult time readjusting to
civilian life and began to
travel as a foreign news
correspondent to places like
Paris and Spain, and then as
a war correspondent during
World War II. Hemingway
is best known for A
Farewell to Arms, For
Whom the Bell Tolls, and
The Old Man and the Sea.
After a long battle with
depression, Hemingway
committed suicide in 1961.

But before we proceed with

the story we should know
the steps in analyzing the
text using deconstructive
criticism. Here are the 12
steps that will help you to
deconstruct the text.

1 .Look for the assumptions. (students listen intently)

2. Look for the tension
between the spirit and the
letter of the text.
3. Consider the dynamic and
static elements of meaning.
4. Consider how the text is
made irrelevant.
5. Consider the individual
elements of the text.
6. Look for puns and words
with double meaning.
7. Hunt for overlooked
explanations or definitions.
8. Push back against the
authority of the author.
9. Embrace ambiguity,
playfulness, and
contradictions.
10. Examine the text in
another order.
11. Apply deconstruction to
any text.
12.Distill your observations
into a claim.
None Ma’am!

Let us now discuss the story

Hills like white Elephants
by Ernest Hemingway.

The story is all about Jig

and an American man The
girl are sitting at a train
station in Spain, drinking
beer and waiting for their
train to Madrid. The girl
observes that the hills in the
distance look like white
elephants. Her observation
breaks the silence and
allows them to talk about
their problem.
The man continually
reassures the girl that she
needs a simple operation to
“let the air in” so that they
can get on with their lives.
The girl at first believes the
man, but then has second
thoughts and hints that she
would only get the operation
for his sake, not for her
own. Standing up, the girl
observes the other side of
the station, the greenery of
the trees, the river, the
fields, and majestic
mountains. She understands
that the decision they are
discussing has two possible
ends—a fruitful solution, or
a barren solution—just like
the landscape surrounding
the train station. If she
chooses the barren solution,
the girl knows that she will
never again have a chance at
choosing happiness.
After seeing the river, the
girl has made up her mind
and insists that the man stop
talking. He keeps trying to
tell her that he wants the
best for her, but then he
 leaves her alone as she
requests and takes the
luggage to the other side of
the station. The man then
returns and asks the girl
how she feels. She declares
that she feels fine and that
nothing is wrong with her,
indicating that she has no
need of the “operation.”

2. Skill Development Yes Ma’am

Did you understand the
story? Any questions
regarding it?

Who are the characters in The main characters in the

the story? What are their story are Jig and American.
characteristics?
Jig appears helpless,
confused and indecisive.
The American is also the
protagonist in the story he
never reveals his name. He
Very Good! is determined to convince
How about the setting of the girl to have the
the story? operation but tries to appear
as though he does not care
what she does.

Train station in the valley of

Spain.

The conflict of the story is

How about the conflict of when the American and jig
the story? arguments about the
abortion.

Since you have no further

questions about the story, let
us now critic the piece with
the help of these questions.

The diction (choice of

Who can answer number 1? words) and syntax reflect
1. How does the diction and the underlying meaning of
syntax reflect the underlying the piece by creating
meaning of the piece? ambiguity. It was evident in
the characters’ dialogue that
they are talking about
something other than the
simple conversation they
attempt to build between
them. Each of them was
very much afraid to talk
about abortion because
doing so is like admitting to
themselves that they really
 have a problem. This feeling
prodded the man and the
girl to talk in riddles thereby
confusing the readers to the
true topic.

What about item number 2?

The absence of the
character’s name or how
2. What do the character’s they feel or react during the
names (or lack thereof) entire story hinders abrupt
signify? reaction from the reader
such as sympathy or anger.
This technique, in a way,
prompts readers to dig
deeper between the lines, to
draw out their inferences
based from a line and to
back it up with another one.

3. What do the colors Infer that since white

symbolize? elephants are rarely
observed or they may not
truly exist, we can assume
that in this context, white
elephant is something
strange to be easily
accepted.

Yes. In fact, unlike other

typical story where the
4. Does the tone suggest conflict and climax lies in
underlying tension? the series of situation, Hills
like White Elephant’s
tension is in the
conversation between the
man and the girl.

"Then I'll do it. Because I

don't care about me."
"What do you mean?"
" I don't care about me."
"Well, I care about you."
"Oh, yes. But I don't care
about me. And I'll do it and
then everything will be
fine."
" I don't want you to do it if
you feel that way."
 Five important words
mentioned that has reveals
5. What are the connotations important connotative
for the words used? meaning. These are:
6. Is the accepted norm of
social behavior true for
everyone or is it relative to
the individual?
7. What about the purpose
of repetition?
1. White elephant—
unwanted, thing of
no value
2. Alcohol(liquorice/ab
sinthe)—route of
escape
3. Field of grain and
trees—life, fertility
4. Bags—
impermanence
5. Station—a turning
point
Based from the story,
accepted norm of social
behavior is never true for
everyone. Why then there
are cases of abortion if
everyone agreed that this act
is illegal if not evil? Why
then there are gays and
lesbians out there if
everyone believes that there
can only be two genders in
the society? This is the mere
point of Deconstruction—
that there can be no single
fundamental truth.
The purpose of repetition in
the text specifically the
word please in the phrase
"Would you please please
please please please please
please stop talking?"”
highlights the girl’s
exasperation about the
man’s persistence in the
subject abortion. She
showed how she’d grown
tired of his subtle prodding
that she should take the
operation.
The juxtaposition creates
ambiguity, contradiction
and double meanings. In
turn, the readers are given
8. How does juxtaposition
influence the underlying
meaning?
9. What is the purpose of
having the setting where it
is? (Would it change the
meaning if it took place
elsewhere?
Do you have any questions
about the story?
the freedom to freely
interpret the text based form
the available evidences it
can provide. This strategy
was able to communicate a
serious matter coated with
so much tension through a
simple banter shared over
glass of beers.
The setting further
magnifies the author’s
intention. Imagine, the
characters can see through
the window of the bar the
two contrasting sceneries—
the field of grains and the
white hills.
These scenes are very much
vital in communicating the
text’s underlying meaning
since the field of grain
suggests life and fertility
while the white hills suggest
death and barrenness—
things that the girl can
choose from for her unborn
child. Also, the place was in
a station between railroads.
This is a critical and
symbolic position. The
station suggests the turning
point for the relationship
between the two. This hint
whether they will go
together or they will move
on separate ways. The shade
can also mean how the man
and the girl tries to escape
from the glaring truth that
they need to talk about the
baby—which is represented
by the harsh Spain sunlight.
So yes, the story can take a
complete turn if it was set to
another place.
None Ma’am
3. Drills To test more if you really
understand the story, we Power Point
will be having a group (Students listen intently) presentation,
activity. Here are the worksheets
instructions
 The class will be
divided into 2
groups and each
group will be given a
line in the story and
you will interpret it
using deconstructive
criticism.
 Each team will be a
bond paper
containing their task
and after 10 minutes
they will be Yes, Ma’am
presenting it in front.
 Points will be
deducted to those (The students will go to
groups who are their respective groups and
noisy and whose will form a circle)
members are not
participating.

 Your work will be

graded accordingly
using these criteria
 Organization/
Collaboration (20%)
 Content/ Info.
Presented (30%)
 Creativity (50%)
Total 100%

Did you get it class?

(Each group will perform
their task in front of the
Form a circle now and work
class)
silently.

Okay, times up! Kindly

present your work. Let’s
begin with group one.

(Followed by the remaining

group)

Okay class. That was very

artistic of you to come up
with those brilliant ideas.
(Students will clap)
Please submit now your
work I’ll be the one to check
those.
5 D. Generalization Do you have any questions, (The students will raise their
clarifications or violent hands to ask questions)
reactions?

(The teacher will answer the

question.)

Anything else? None Ma’am.

5
E. Values integration

Again what is the main The decision about good

problem in the story? and bad.

So, what is the good way of Like the girl in the story, we
eradicating this kind of need to stop for a moment
ideology? and thoroughly examine
what society is telling us to
do and decide for ourselves
what the best decision to
make is. For the girl in the
story, the best thing for her
is to ignore the pressure of
her boyfriend and defend
the life of her preborn child.
Examine your daily actions
and ask yourself how these
Okay that is correct. Very actions affect other people.
Good! Are you treating others with
the respect and dignity that
they deserve, or are you
listening to the pressures
and temptations of the
culture of death? Choose to
be a shining light in the
darkness even when it’s
difficult.

IV. EVALUATION (2 minutes)

1-5. Critic the poem Stopping by the wood in the Snowy Evening by Robert Frost using
Deconstructive theory. Be guided with the questions used in analysis

V. ASSIGNMENT (1 minute)

1. Draw a semantic web about the important lessons found in the story Hills like white elephants.
2. In your own words, define deconstructive criticism (3-5 sentences.
Prepared by:

MARIA NOELA M.CONVOCAR

Demonstration Teacher, ENG 118

Noted by:

JENIFFER S. FRANCISCO
Instructor, ENG 118