LITERATURE CIRCLES / PLANNER · ENGLISH III WORKED EXAMPLE

Plan a circle: “Kindred”

Octavia E. Butler (1979) · novel · grades 11–12 (English III–IV) · ~3 weeks. Rights: Copyrighted.

Kit section 5 (group agreement & calendar) filled in for one text — a finished plan students see before writing their own. Tinted italic = sample answers.

Preview note: Copyrighted, mature — use a previewed edition. Contains graphic violence, racism, and sexual violence; plan strong context and support. Verify all plot details against the book.

Copyright: Independent educational companion to Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. Students need lawful access to the novel; this planner does not reproduce or replace it and is not affiliated with the author's estate or publisher. Verify all plot details against the book.

Text, group, and target

Text / author / edition	“Kindred” — Octavia E. Butler (1979). Novel.
Group / period / dates	Dana’s group · Period __ · Meetings ___ & ___
Grade / TEKS target (p. 3)	English III · §110.38 — 6(A): relationships among literary elements; 5(C,D): analytic commentary and summary; 1(D): student-led discussion.
Learning intention	We are learning to explain how Dana’s time shifts reveal a theme about the legacy and power of slavery.
Success criteria	I bring one open question, cite two details by section (paraphrased), respond to a peer, and name how my thinking changed.

Reading map & calendar

Chunk	Read through	Meeting date · leader
1	“The River” / “The Fire”: Dana is pulled from 1976 to antebellum Maryland to save Rufus.	Wk 1 · Leader: Dana
2	“The Fall” / “The Fight”: longer stays, Kevin, plantation life, and survival.	Wk 2 · Leader: Kev
3	“The Storm” / “The Rope” / Epilogue: escalating danger, the final break, and its cost.	Wk 3 · Leader: Tess

Members & first-meeting jobs (p. 7 roles)

Member	First job	Rotates to (next meeting)
Dana	Questioner	Summarizer
Kev	Summarizer	Clarifier
Tess	Clarifier	Evidence tracker
Marc	Predictor	Questioner

Text-specific discussion questions (open — more than one answer)

Predict: Dana is yanked into the past whenever Rufus is in danger — what will saving him force her to become part of?
Question: Why might Butler make Dana’s survival depend on protecting a future slaveholder?
Clarify: What does Dana’s injury on returning to 1976 suggest about the past’s grip on the present?
Summarize: Trace how Dana’s relationship to Rufus changes across her trips, without opinion.
Interpret the theme: How do the time shifts reveal a theme about slavery’s legacy and power? Use two details (paraphrase).

Optional Jigsaw lenses (p. 4): Character (Dana and Rufus) · Structure (the time-travel frame) · Theme (the power and legacy of slavery) · Setting (1976 vs. antebellum Maryland) · Point of view (Dana’s first-person witness).

LITERATURE CIRCLES / STUDENT PREP WORKED EXAMPLE

Sample 3–2–1 notes: Tess, structure lens

Name: Tess · Home group: Dana’s group · Period __ · Meetings ___ & ___ · Section: “Kindred,” Chunk 3 · Expert lens: Structure

What a finished prep looks like. Kit section 6 / Organizer A completed for one reader, so students can compare their notes to a strong model. Paraphrase and short references only — no long copying. Paraphrase only — no quotations; verify details against the book.

Questions

Why must Dana keep a slaveholder alive?

What does her final injury mean?

3 · Important ideas

1. Dana travels to the past whenever Rufus’s life is threatened.

2. Each trip is longer and more dangerous than the last.

3. Her survival ties her to the plantation’s system of power.

Vocabulary

antebellum = before the Civil War.

patroller = one who enforced slavery by hunting the enslaved.

2 · Supporting details

1. Dana loses part of herself — literally — by the end (epilogue). → The past exacts a permanent cost. (Verify against the text.)

2. The compromises she makes to survive (middle sections). → Complicity forced by power. (Verify against the text.)

1 · Summary in my own words

A modern Black woman is repeatedly pulled into the antebellum South to keep her white ancestor alive, confronting slavery’s brutality and its hold on the present.

Bring to the circle

My interpretation: The past is not past; its power still shapes and scars the present.
Synthesis (two lenses): The time-travel structure carries the theme: Dana’s forced returns dramatize how slavery’s power reaches into the present. Text points (paraphrased): the epilogue’s cost and her mid-novel compromises.
After discussion: My thinking became clearer once the group compared evidence.

TEKS evidence: 6(C,D) supported inference; 7(A) theme through characters/events; 1(D) response to a peer. · Pair with the PlotPoint “Kindred” room.