Title – Feuds and Fences

By – Todd Howard

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Grade Level – 9

Literature of Study: “The Interlopers” by Saki and “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost

Overview: Over the next three-and-a-half class periods, we will use the short story “The Interlopers” and the poem “Mending Wall” to discuss feuds and to explore both the literal and figurative meanings behind fences. Our discussion and analysis will culminate in a series of group debates on whether or not “good fences make good neighbors.” Our arguments will pull from both “The Interlopers” and our personal experiences for evidence and support.

Time Required: 315 minutes (3.5 x 90 minutes)

Grade Level: 9

Subject: English I

Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

1) define “feud.”

2) express their understanding of the difference between literal and figurative meanings and concepts.

3) describe figurative “fences.”

4) work with a group to develop the specifics of a position and to supply support for it, using a specific text and personal experiences as references.

5) utilize tact and persuasion to present and defend their argument in a debate format.

Steps for Lesson:

Day 1

Teacher hands out and explains “Feuds | Anticipating ‘The Interlopers.’”

Students complete the sheet, annotating text and answering question.

Teacher & students discuss feuds.

Teacher passes out and explains “Fences | Anticipating ‘The Interlopers.’”

Teacher & students read and interpret “Mending Wall.”

Students answer the related questions.

Teacher presents a mini-lesson on figurative language.

Teacher hands out “Fences & Figurative Language | Anticipating ‘The Interlopers.’”

Students complete the sheet with teacher’s facilitation.

Day 2

Teacher introduces “The Interlopers.”

Students pair-read “The Interlopers.”

Teachers & students discuss and analyze the story.

Teacher passes out and explains “Good Fences Debates: A Response to ‘The Interlopers.’”

Teachers & students fill out “‘Good Fences’ Debate Tips.”

Day 3

Students draw papers that direct them to their group and tell them what position to take for the debate.

Students join their groups and complete the “Group Debate Outline” with teacher facilitation.

Students individually complete their “My Argument” sheet with teacher facilitation.

Day 4 (1/2 day)

Students prepare and present their debates in teacher-specified pairings.

Teacher uses rubric to evaluate student performance.

Summative Assessment of Objectives:

1) “Feuds”

2) “Fences”

3) “Fences & Figurative Language”

4) “Group Debate Outline”

5) “My Argument”

6) Group debates

Resources/Materials/Equipment: Copies of “The Interlopers,” overhead or LCD projector (for mini-lesson), chalk or dry erase board, handouts, pens/pencils.

“‘Good Fences’ Debates” and accompanying handouts are modified from:

Hunter, Valerie. “‘The Interlopers’ Debate.” Homepage. Aug. 2005

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Feuds
| Anticipating "The Interlopers"

1) Read

and annotate (circling characters, boxing in setting, squiggly underlining vocabulary, underlining clues as to what a feud is)

the following description of a legendary, American family feud.

The


Hatfield-McCoy feud



(1860-1891) is a legend of Americana that has become a metaphor for bitterly feuding rival parties, something like an Appalachian Capulet-Montague rivalry, involving two warring families of the West Virginia-Kentucky backcountry along the Tug Fork River, off the Big Sandy River. The Hatfields lived on the West Virginia side of Tug Fork, and the McCoys lived on the Kentucky side.

Both families were part of the first wave of pioneers to settle the Tug Valley. Both were involved in manufacturing and selling illegal whiskey. The Hatfields were led by William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield (1839-1921). The McCoys were led by Randolph “Ran’l” McCoy (1825-1914). Both family leaders outlived the feud.

The origins of the feud are unknown, but the first recorded instance of violence occurred after a dispute about some razorback hogs. The matter was taken to court, and the McCoys lost. Soon after, an altercation erupted, and within days, Staton Hatfield shot at two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris. They fired back and killed Staton. Between 1878 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of these families, including Ellison Hatfield, brother of “Devil Anse” Hatfield. Violence escalated and became headline news. The governors of both Kentucky and West Virginia called up the National Guard to restore order.

Eight Hatfields were kidnapped and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of a female member of the McCoy clan, Alifair. She had been shot after exiting a burning building that had been set aflame by a group of Hatfields. Because of issues of due process and illegal extradition, even the US Supreme Court was involved. Eventually, the eight men were tried in Kentucky, and all eight were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, and the eighth was given a public hanging execution (even though it was prohibited by law), probably as a warning to end the violence. (Thousands of spectators attended.) The families finally agreed to disagree in 1891.

In the popular imagination, the Hatfield-McCoy feud became a curiosity, proverb, and even joke. In

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

, Mark Twain’s description of a feud between the Grangerford and Shepherdson families fits this pattern, as does the Harkness-Folwell vendetta (set in the Cumberland Mountains) from O Henry’s

Squaring The Circle

.

On June 16, 2003, descendants of the Hatfield and McCoy families signed a truce in Pikeville, Kentucky. This was more of a publicity event than anything else as, in reality, the feud had ended more than a century earlier.

— Wikipedia.com

2) Define "feud" in your own words.

Fences
| Anticipating "The Interlopers"

1) As a class we will read and interpret "Mending Wall," a poem by Robert Frost.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun,

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing: 5

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go. 15

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across 25

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’.

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

‘Why do they make good neighbors?

Isn’t it Where there are cows?

But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offence. 35

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,

But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me~

Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

He will not go behind his father’s saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well 45

He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

2) Answer the following questions about the poem.

What are the narrator and neighbor doing in this poem (lines 12-15)?

Why does the narrator see no need for a wall between his and his neighbor’s land (lines 23-26)?

What does the narrator’s neighbor say after the narrator suggests that there is no real need for the wall between them (lines 27-46)?

Have you ever heard this saying (or adage) before now? If so, where/when?

Figurative Language Mini-Lesson:

Literal = Actual

Think of a photograph.

It is what it is.

Sunset

=

The Sun Setting

Darkness

=

Absence of Light

Figurative = Representative,

Suggestive

Think of an abstract painting.

You have to interpret meaning from what the artist presents.

Sunset

=

Growing Old, The Ending of an Era

Darkness

=

Sadness, Despair, Evil, Fear, The Unknown

Fences & Figurative Language
| Anticipating "The Interlopers"

Good fences make good neighbors. Good fences = good neighbors.

Literally speaking . . .

Why do we build fences or walls?

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

What makes a good fence? List at least 4 qualities.

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

What makes a good neighbor? List at least 4 qualities.

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Figuratively speaking . . .

List at least 4 "fences" people build in their minds and/or hearts.

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Why do we build these "fences"?

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Are these "fences" always good to have? Explain.

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

(Modified



from "’The Interlopers’ Debate" by Valerie Hunter, Student Teacher @ Hightstown High School)

Each group will be expected to work together to present a strong argument in answer to the question:

Do "good fences make good neighbors"?

Preparation:

• Pick a piece of paper from a cup. This will give you a group number and your group’s position for the debates.
• Each group produces one "Group Debate Outline" to be handed in the day of the debate.
• Group members work together to find reasons and evidence from "The Interlopers" for each blank on the outline.
• Once the group outline has been completed, roles must be assigned to each group member. (Who will be presenting what? Which point ought to go first? Last? Discuss and plan with your group members.)
• Once roles have been assigned,
  
  each
  
  group member completes a "My Argument" sheet. You may have this sheet in front of you while you’re debating; you will hand it in afterwards.

Presentation:

• On the day of the debate, each group will have ten minutes to present their argument. (That’s about 2-3 minutes per person, depending on group sizes.)
• Remember, set up the order in which you’ll be speaking within your group ahead of time so that you can present your arguments smoothly. Groups will present in a teacher-determined order.
• After each set of groups presents their argument, there will be a five-minute session in which teacher and students (from other groups) ask questions. Anyone within the group can answer these questions, but avoid having only one person do so.
• After each set of groups has presented and been questioned, the two groups respectively meet together for a few minutes to plan their closing arguments. (What point do you want to stress or re-stress the most? Do you want to point out a weakness in the other group’s argument to make your own seem stronger?)
• Elect one person to give a one-minute closing argument to the class.

Look over "Debate Tips" (completed as a class) on the back to help you as you prepare!!!