Troy Ballard

Curriculum Design
EDUC 699.104
Meg Goldner Rabinowitz

Unit Plan: 1922 (Full Dark, No Stars) Stephen King

Unifying Unit Theme:

Tragic Flaws in Dynamic Characters and Creative Writing
Core Text: 1922 (Full Dark, No Stars) Stephen King
Text Synopsis:
1922 is based in rural Nebraska on a desolate farm where a close family unit resides. When the
mother, who inherited the farm from her deceased father, begins exploring selling the land, her
husband and their son conspire to murder her and dispose of the body. After killing her and
dropping her down a close by well, the father slowly descends into madness, becoming
overwhelmed with insanity as his life proceeds to unravel. The father begins to connect his wife
with the presence of rats that are found everywhere in his life, and he struggles to escape them,
eventually leading to his suspicious suicide/death many years later.
Unit Justification:
Nearly every high school curriculum across the United States requires the reading of a Greek
epic such as Iliad or the Odyssey as a vehicle to teach the literary devices of tragic flaws and
dynamic characters. While I feel that these lengthy tales from ancient Greece have merit and an
important place in the literary development of students, I find that they are often too distant, too
complex and too slow to really engage students in a meaningful way. I instead, in this unit plan,
propose an alternative text to teach students broadly about tragic flaws, dynamic characters and
creative writing in a more modern, trendy and engaging package with Stephen Kings novella
1922.
While King has his share of critics, and many claim that his readings are too dark to teach in
schools, I happily refute this. Some of the most classic literature found in the world is dark,
profane and has underlying themes that are more mature than many administrators, parents and
teachers would care to admit. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and 1922 are two vastly
different books, but are both graphic in its own ways Mark Twain in an abstract racial and
societal sense, and King in a literal and physical sense. There is no reason to withhold a beautiful
and mature work of literature from students under the banner of being too dark or too graphic.
That is a poor excuse, and I will not have it in my classroom.
Students will use 1922 as a jumping off point to grapple with their own endeavor into creative
writing by developing their own short story that has a character who suffers from a tragic flaw.
The short story will be a minimum of five-pages in length and will be worked on throughout the
reading with extensive pre-work in drafting and outlining. Students who are low readers and
writers will utilize an audiobook of 1922 to aid in comprehension, be given extended deadlines
and extensive support in drafting and planning and write a three-page short story instead of fivepages. Students will write and edit all short story work exclusively on Google Drive.
Additionally, students will focus on the tragic flaws of Kanye West, President George Bush and
LeBron James to add contemporary context to dynamic characters outside of literature.

Unit Outline
Students will read 1922 over a four-week period with an emphasis on the tragic flaw of the main
character Wilfred, while concurrently working on drafting, outlining and writing their own short
story with a character that has a tragic flaw that greatly impacts the development of the story.
Students will read 1922 at home, and in class students will lead a Socratic seminar with
instructor guided questions focused on specific excerpts that directly deal with tragic flaws and
character development.
Unit Goals/Objectives
1. SWBAT understand, identify and contextualize the role that tragic character flaws play in
the development of Wilfred James in 1922.
2. SWBAT understand and identify the steps needed to prepare, outline, draft, revise and
complete an independent short story.
3. SWBAT develop a short story (of at least five pages) that contains a dynamic character
with a clear tragic flaw.
Addressed Common Core Competencies
1. CC.1.3.9-10.C Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
2. CC.1.3.9-10.F Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in texts.
3. CC.1.3.9.-10.K Read and comprehend literary fiction on grade level, reading
independently and proficiently.
4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined
experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured
event sequences.
Methods of Assessment
1. Daily Exit Tickets - written response, 3-5 sentences that assesses understanding of the
text, tragic flaws and character development. This serves partially as a formative
assessment, but it also ensures that students complete the assigned reading.
2. Formative Assessments weekly drafting and outlining for the students short story that
will allow for direct feedback from the teacher and peers in the form of character/story
outline, rough drafts and final drafts.
3. Summative Assessment a final five page independently developed short story that has
at least one character with a clear tragic flaw.

Reading Schedule and Major Assignments:

Monday
Day 1
1922 pgs. 3-15
Introduction to
new
reading/author

Wednesday
Day 3
1922 pgs. 28-35
Character outline
work time in
class

Day 6
The Atlantic
Stephen King
on the Creative
Process

Tuesday
Day 2
1922 pgs. 16-27
Introduce
deadlines and
expectations for
short story
Day 7
1922 pgs. 54-62
Review of fandesigned cover
art for 1922

Day 11
Rolling Stone
Stephen King:
The Rolling
Stone Interview

Day 12
1922 81-91
Rough draft
work time in
class

Day 16
YouTube
Stephen King
talks short
stories

Day 17
1922 111-120
YouTube/ESPN
LeBron James
The Decision

Day 13
1922 92-102
Group work to
track progression
of tragic flaw in
text
Day 18
1922 121-123
Final book
discussion

Day 8
1922 pgs. 63-71
Rough draft
work time in
class

Thursday
Day 4
1922 pgs. 36-43
Group work to
identify tragic
flaw of main
character
Day 9
1922 pgs. 71-80
Icons of HipHop
Kanye Wests
tragic flaw in
context
Day 14
1922 103-110
The Guardian
George Bushs
Tragic Flaw

Friday
Day 5
1922 pgs. 44-53
Short Story
character/story
outline DUE
peer feedback
Day 10
Short Story
rough draft 1-2
pages DUE
peer feedback
Day 15
Short Story
rough draft 3-4
pages DUE
peer feedback

Day 19
Day 20
In class work day Final short story
with instructor
5 pages DUE
support to finish
short story

*Major assignments in bold*

Supplemental Materials
1. Stephen King on The Creative Process, the State of Fiction, and More, The Atlantic http://goo.gl/b2OcZe
2. 1922 Fan Art, miscellaneous sources http://goo.gl/0Lz95i, https://goo.gl/pNjehy,
https://goo.gl/1vOVdl, http://goo.gl/Zie9pK
3. Stephen King: The Rolling Stone Interview, Rolling Stone http://goo.gl/GDUT6J
4. Stephen King talks short stories, YouTube https://goo.gl/3yMebo
5. Kanye Wests Tragic Flaw in Context, Icons of Hip-Hop: An Encyclopedia of the
Movement, Music, and Culture - https://goo.gl/nMzRAD
6. George Bushs Tragic Flaw, The Guardian - http://goo.gl/D8q3jo

7. LeBron James The Decision, YouTube/ESPN - https://goo.gl/gDra4E

Sample Worksheets/Assessments/Rubrics:
Character/Story Outline - 1922
Directions: below is a comprehensive outline to help begin thinking about your short storys
main character. This outline will be reviewed by both myself and a peer. Make sure we can get a
sense of your story!
My characters name is: _______________________________________________________
He/she has these traits: 1. ______________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________
He/she has this conflict: ________________________________________________________
He/she has this tragic flaw: ______________________________________________________
How do readers know this tragic flaw is present: ____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Setting of this story: ____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Other characters/brief info: 1. _____________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________
Map out three major events:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________

Daily Exit Ticket 1922 (Pgs. 44-53)

Directions: Using todays reading and discussion, answer the following prompt: Wilfred has
used the word snood as a descriptive word at Arlettes expense several times so far into the
reading. How does Wilfred describing Artlettes snood contribute to his tragic flaw? Use
evidence from the text to support your answer.
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Tragic Flaw Quote Tracker 1922

Directions: in small groups work together to answer the questions below. There are three quotes
pulled from the text, explain how each contributes to Wilfreds tragic flaw and why they are
important to the text. Look for context by re-reading the page these quotes are found on!
1. I had chores in the garden, but instead of doing them, I went out back of the barn to
where the old well had been. Weeds were growing on it now: witchgrass and scraggly fall
goldenrod. Elphis was down there, and Arlette was, too. Arlette with her face cocked to
the side. Arlette with her clowns grin. Arlette in her snood. Where is it, you contrary
bitch? I asked her. Where did you hide it? Pg. 50
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. My name is Wilfred Leland James, and this is my confession. In June of 1922 I murdered
my wife, Arlette Christina Winters James, and hid her body by tupping it down an old
well. My son, Henry Freeman James, aided me in this crime, although at 14 he was not
responsible; I cozened him into it, playing upon his fears and beating down his quite
normal objections over a period of 2 months. This is a thing I regret even more bitterly
than the crime, for reasons this document will show. Pg. 1
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3. God damn the Methodist church and Methodist Youth Fellowship, I thought . . . but the
Conniving Man only smiled. For the next ten minutes we talked theology in the green
corn while early summer clouds the best clouds, the ones that float like schooners
sailed slowly above us, trailing their shadows like wakes. I explained to him that, quite
the opposite of sending Arlette to Hell, we would be sending her to Heaven. For, I said,
a murdered man or woman dies not in Gods time but in Mans. He ...or she ...is cut
short before he . . .or she . . .can atone for sin, and so all errors must be forgiven. When
you think of it that way, every murderer is a Gate of Heaven.
But what about us, Poppa? Wouldnt we go to Hell?
I gestured to the fields, brave with new growth. How can you say so, when you see
Heaven all around us? Yet she means to drive us away from it as surely as the angel with
the flaming sword drove Adam and Eve from the Garden. Pg. 26
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Rubric Tragic Flaw Short Story 1922

Name: _________________________________________
Short Story Title: _________________________________
Requirement Excellent

Good

Poor

Outline/
Drafts

30 pts:
Both outline and drafts
were completed, and
were used to clearly
map out, revise and
improve the final paper
to the best it can be.

20 pts:
Both outline and
drafts were
completed and
assisted in the
writing of the final
paper.

10 pts: Outline/drafts 0 pts:

were not fully
Did not turn in/did
completed or were
not use short story
not utilized in final outline/drafts for
paper
writing purposes

Short Story
Structure

30 pts:
Story is well-edited,
free of grammatical
errors, engaging, clear
and is 5 pages or
longer.

25 pts:
Story has some
grammatical errors,
is somewhat
engaging and clear
and is 5 pages or
longer.

15 pts:
0 pts:
Story has many
Story was not
grammatical errors, is submitted.
not engaging, is
unclear and is under
5 pages.

Tragic Flaw

40 pts:
Main character has a
clear tragic flaw that is
presented either subtly
or deliberately to the
reader and helps guide
the story.

35 pts:
Main character has a
mostly clear tragic
flaw presented, may
or may not guide the
story.

25 pts:
0 pts:
Main character has a Story was not
tragic flaw that is
submitted.
unclear and does not
guide the story in any
way.

Total Score: __________/100

Non-Existent