Mikayla Johnson

EDU 412
2/20/2022
Textbook Analysis

Introduction

The unit 2 section of this literature textbook is about characterization and point of view.

The beginning of the unit has a literary analysis workshop that explains point of view and

character traits and motivation. Inside this part, there are models that help explain how these

concepts work. For example, the point of view model shows a picture of a person sitting inside a

box on a stool telling the story for first-person whereas for third-person the person is sitting

outside the box. After the models, there are examples that show the literary analysis area in

practice using small excerpts of text. Each of the short examples have close reading questions

that ask the reader to practice the things they are learning. Following the literary analysis

workshop, two short stories are given. Both short stories follow the same format. There is a

prereading section that open up with a question that relates to the story, giving the reader a time

to discuss the topic. It also includes explanations for the literary analysis, drawing conclusions,

and vocabulary in context that will be used within the story. In addition, there is an author’s

section which gives background information and other facts about the authors writing. In the

actual reading, there are embedded texts that draw on the literary skills from the prereading. To

go along with the text, there are visuals and questions that relate to those visuals. Following the

stories, there is an after reading analysis which covers comprehension, literary analysis, literary

criticism, vocabulary in context, and reading-writing connection. Comprehension asks the reader

to recall, summarize, and clarify the stories. In the reading-writing connection gives writing
prompts for the reader to show their true understanding of the story. After the prompts, there is a

revision part which gives the reader practice in revising their answers to the prompt by giving

specific instruction. For example, after the first story, the revision section has the reader “add

supporting details” (205). This text is appropriate for high school students because it provides a

models, examples, explanations, and opportunities for learning.

Strengths

This text book has a handful of strengths that helps the reader to better be able to

understand and learn from the text. The first strength is the models used in the literary analysis

workshop that gives a visual to the concept. In the point of view section, the visuals of a person

telling a story inside a box or outside the box helps demonstrate how the person telling the story

is related to the story. This helps a visual learner see that the narrator is telling the story. Along

with the visual, the book offers an example of a story in the different point of view. For example,

the short text for first person is Great Expectations where the story says “I was half afraid” (187)

showing the narrator is telling the story. The third person is The Chocolate War where the story

says “The Goober was beautiful when he ran” (187) showing that the narrator is outside the

story. Both examples help the reader understand how point of view works. Furthermore, another

strength is before each story, the book offers a discussion question that helps the reader connect

to the story. Before the first story “Pancakes” (194) the question put up is “are you a

perfectionist?” (192) and a discussion section relating the question to the story. By having a

opening question, the reader can gain a connection to the story by learning what they already

know and what they may need to keep an open mind about. In this specific story, the opening

question and discussion can help a student better understand perfectionism before reading a story

about a perfectionist. One more strength is that the textbook includes visuals and visual analysis.
Within the stories, there are embedded pictures that relate to the story. Along with the pictures

there are questions that ask the reader to connect them with the story. For example, there is a

picture of a waitress that is blurry and the text asks “what qualities of the photograph convey the

fast-paced atmosphere of a busy restaurant? Explain how these qualities work together to convey

a specific mood, or feeling.” (194). This asks the reader to visualize a busy restaurant which is a

part of the story. It gives the readers a visual and asked them to connect it to the story. By having

this, it gives the reader a chance to visualize something they have seen before and connect it to

what they are reading.

Weaknesses

Although the textbook as strengths, it also has weaknesses. As adolescent student, a

student could have some trouble doing the analysis activities as there is not much explanation of

how to look for the concepts. There are examples of the concepts such as “point of view” and

“character motivations”; however, there are not many examples of how to find it. The examples

showing the concepts are the models at the beginning of the section. During the stories, there are

questions such as “how if at all, do the thoughts and feelings of narrator change your perception

of her? Explain you answer.” (197) which ask about the concept (point of view). These questions

are embedded within the story which helps the reader; however, without more understanding of

concepts students could struggle to complete these questions. There are a couple times where the

font changes to a smaller size and the style is closer to a handwritten which could be a challenge

to some readers who have a hard time reading handwritten words. Overall, the font is a weakness

as it is on the smaller size. A smaller font size can create problems for readers who have

struggles in vision. Along with the font size, the spacing between the sentences caused the pages
to be crowded. A page of crowded words can be distracting for students who have a hard time

with reading or attention.

Assumptions

There are a couple assumptions within the text. The first assumptions that can be seen is

the chose in stories. Both stories in this section were by white authors, which would only show

one aspect of cultural reference leaving out other cultures. Not all the students who read these

stories will be able to connect to them. The story “Pancake” (194) is about a perfectionist who is

a waitress and “The Necklace” (208) takes place in Paris in the second half of the 19th century.

Students may not be able to relate or have the background knowledge about life in the 19th

century which could lead to the student not being able to connect. Another assumption is the

vocabulary in context. This section gives vocabulary words with in a short sentence to give them

context. However, the section does not provide the definitions to the words and not enough of a

sentence to give the words context. For example, in the vocabulary in context, “aghast at her

rode remarks” (201) has the word “aghast” as the vocabulary word; however, the context

sentence does not help give a definition. This is assuming that the students can understand the

words without better examples sentences. Another assumption from the author is that the reader

knows how to closely look at text to make conclusions and inferences. The embedded questions

in the stories are there; however, there are not explanations on how to make conclusions or

inferences which is an assumption that the students know how to do this. It is also assuming that

the instructor will teach the students know how to make conclusions and inferences.

Teaching
 If I was to use this textbook in my class, I would remember to give as much background

information to the concepts and stories. Further, I would consider the format of the text book for

my student who might struggle with it. Overall, I want to ensure that all my students are able to

gain an understanding of the concepts. Further, I like the models that the textbook offers for the

big concepts such as point of view. I would use these models to help the students understand the

concepts before reading the stories and practicing strategies to identify the concepts. Based on

the analysis, I would focus on the language comprehension portion of modified cognitive model

as the students would be learning the concepts: point of view and characterization. The textbook

teaches about these concepts but does not offer strategies for reading, hence why I would focus

on language comprehension. At the beginning of the unit, I would introduce the concepts and use

the models from the book. Once the students understood the concepts then we would go over the

stories. I would ensure that the students would look at the embedded text on the side of the

stories to help them think about the story specifically the concepts they learned about. After the

reading, the class would do the after reading activities. So, I would follow the basic outline of

textbook and supplement it as needed for the students.

Conclusion

From this analysis, I have learned much about my own assumptions and about how

teacher choose a text. My own assumptions about teachers choosing text were different when I

started. I thought teachers just used the text given to them; however, after looking close to a text

book, I have a better understanding of what a teacher has to do to use a text. This analysis helped

me understand that there is more then using a textbook. There is understanding the assumptions

of the author, what the students will understand, and what the teacher needs to do to bring the

information to the students. It also taught me that looking closer at the text can help the teacher
understand what extra instruction or materials they may need to help the students better

understand the concepts. Further, being able to understand what the students need to comprehend

the concepts by add materials and instructions while not solely relying on a textbook. In the

future, I will keep all this in mind when working with mandated materials by supplementing it

with other texts and instruction in order to help the students.

References

Allen, J., & McDougal Littell. (2008). McDougal Littell literature: [Grade 9]. Evanston, IL:

McDougal Littell.

Appendix