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Lesson 1 (from "The Funeral")

Objective

"The Funeral"

The book opens with a scene of the funeral of the main character, John Paul Vann. From this, we can tell that the book will be primarily biographical in nature as opposed to a work of fiction. The objective of this lesson is to gain a familiarity with the biographical style of writing.

Lesson

1) Class Discussion: What is a biography? What elements in the opening section of "A Bright Shining Lie" would lead you to classify it as a piece of biographical literature?

2) Groups: Divide the class into equal-sized groups. Have each group make a list of the features in "The Funeral" that would indicate "A Bright Shining Lie" is a biography rather than a work of fiction. Then, have the groups reconvene to share their findings with the class.

3) Individual Writing: Write a short, 1-page biography about John Paul Vann based on the...

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