MYPNA_TE_G12_U3_web.pdf

DIGITAL

PERSPECTIVES

Audio Video Document Annotation

Highlights

EL

Highlights

Online

Assessment

Text Complexity Rubric: The Lagoon

Quantitative Measures

Lexile: 1000 Text Length: 5,573 words

Qualitative Measures

Knowledge Demands

1 2 3 4 5

The short story’s setting (Southeast Asia, late 19th century) and situations will be unfamiliar to students;

the content of the story is centered around sophisticated and abstract themes including remorse,

stagnation, selfishness, and being haunted by the past.

Structure

1 2 3 4 5

Organization is mostly chronological, but alternates between narrated events and extensive

descriptions. Text contains a story within a story, which may make it more difficult to follow.

Language Conventionality and Clarity

1 2 3 4 5

Language is dense, highly descriptive, and allegorical. Text uses figurative phrases; many contrasting

words such as dark/light, and sunrise/sunset are used to show symbolism.

Levels of Meaning/Purpose

1 2 3 4 5

Multiple levels of meaning; the lagoon can be interpreted in a number of ways, both literal and

symbolic or metaphorical; complex themes may be difficult to interpret.

Summary

In Joseph Conrad’s short story, “The Lagoon,” the narrator describes

the arrival of Tuan to a tropical lagoon where his friend Arsat lives

with his lover, Diamelen, who is very ill. During the course of the

evening, Arsat tells the story of how he and his brother abducted

Diamelen, a servant of the Rajah’s wife. As the three escape, Arsat’s

brother tells him to flee with Diamelen in a boat and that he will

meet him at a nearby fisherman’s hut. Arsat betrays his brother by

leaving in the boat with Diamelen just as his brother arrives with the

Rajah’s men in close pursuit. Arsat’s brother is killed. As the sun rises,

Diamelen dies and Arsat is left alone, having lost both his brother

and now his loved one.

Insight

Reading the short story “The

Lagoon” will help students

explore how one’s passions

encourage actions in the present

that have both short-term and

long-term effects in one’s life.

The Lagoon

Connection to Essential Question

This short story will help students answer the Essential Question,”How

do our attitudes toward the past and future shape our actions?” Arsat

is haunted by the memory of the death of his brother. He comments

that what we see with our eyes cannot be erased by our mind. The story

emphasizes that the past is ever present and, to some extent, guides us to

our future.

Connection to Performance-Based Assessment

This selection will help students respond to the question posed in the

Performance-Based Assessment, “What is the relationship of human beings

to time?” Students will note how the past colors our present and future.

SELECTION RESOURCES

First-Read Guide: Fiction

Close-Read Guide: Fiction

The Lagoon: Text

Questions

Audio Summaries

Selection Audio

Selection Test

Independent Learning 404D

LIT17_TE12_U03_C_IN_INTER.indd 4 25/03/16 4:29 AM