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Lesson Plan
Introduction:
Topic: Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Length: 90 minutes
Standards of Learning 11.3: Given Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and recalling
previous day’s lecture on Great Awakening/Enlightenment Era/Age of Reason, students
will be able to identify relationships between American religious literature, history and
culture.
Learning Objectives:
Given a lecture on the Great Awakening/Enlightenment Era/Age of Reason, students
will be able to identify specific important events during those years.
Given this lecture and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, students will be able to
identify connections between American literature, history and culture of the Great
Awakening/Enlightenment Era/Age of Reason.
Given an in-depth analysis of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, students will be
able to compose a persuasive essay.
Content: The students will learn about Jonathan Edwards’s life. Students will then make
a connection between Edwards’s life and the time period while reading Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God.
- Who is his audience? How do you think his audience responded to the
sermon? (His audience is the congregation he preaches to every
Sunday. Answers will vary. But, the majority of them, while hearing
this, didn’t think Edwards was speaking to them. They possibly
assumed he was speaking to someone else around them. Some may
have thought he was speaking right to them, and caused a great fear
within their hearts. Again, whatever answer the students give, ask
them to refer to the sermon to support their conclusion.)
- How would you have acted if you were in this audience? (Answers
will vary. Students should be encouraged to offer support for their
thoughts.)
- How did Edwards’s culture affect his lifestyle? (He chose to live a life
according to what he believed scripture said, instead of following the
culture to lean on reason and logic. Because of his lifestyle, many
churches were started to attack the Half- Way Covenant.)
Evaluation:
Assessment will be completed through students’ interaction during the class discussion
and answers offered. They will also be evaluated on their persuasion essays, in how they
develop their argument, support their position and cater to their audience. Students will
receive participation credit for the discussion, and a homework grade for the essay.
Reference:
http://www.doe/virginia.gov
Chin, Beverly Ann & Wolfe, Denny. 2000. Glencoe Literature The Reader’s Choice:
American Literature. New York, New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill.