Lesson plan of Narrative Typology: Diary and Travel Narrative

Objectives (5 - 7 minutes)

1. Comprehend diary and travelogue as narrative typologies:

   • Identify the essential characteristics of each of these narrative types.
   • Understand the purposes and contexts for their use.

2. Distinguish diary and travelogues from other types of narrative texts:

   • Acknowledge differences between diaries, travelogues, as well as other narrative writings like short stories and novels.
   • Analyze examples of each for the purpose of identifying unique features.

3. Produce a diary or travelogue writing sample:

   • Compose a piece of writing that adheres to the chosen narrative type, clearly demonstrating comprehension for the genre’s characteristics and format.
   • Effectively and cohesively utilize appropriate vocabulary and narrative structure.

Sub-Objectives:

Foster creative reading and writing:

• Engage students with reading and writing through the exploration of varied narrative genres.
• Encourage the imaginative and reflective expression of ideas and feelings.

Introduction (10 - 15 minutes)

1. Review of Prior Knowledge:

   • The teacher should initiate the lesson by recalling the concept of narrative and text genre and its key characteristics.
   • Highlighting the difference between various types of narratives such as short stories, novel, chronicle and now diary and travelogues is important.
   • This revision can be done through a quick quiz, where the learners are asked to recall & explain the concepts covered earlier.

2. Problem-posing Situations:

   • The teacher may pose two problematic situations to trigger students’ interest in the lesson.
     • First one could be "Imagine you are an explorer on a voyage around the world. How would you record your experiences & emotions?"
     • Second one: “Suppose you are a teenager in a small town who starts keeping a diary. What will you write about & why?"
   • These situations could be discussed as a group to help students share their ideas & perceptions.

3. Contextualization:

   • The teacher must explain the importance of diaries & travelogues in Literature and History.
   • Mention can be made about famous diaries like The Diary of Anne Frank which found global prominence for recording her experience of the World War II.
   • For Travelogue, reference can be given to works of popular authors like Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver's Travels" which employs this genre for social & political satire.
   • Moreover, stress should be given on the significance that apart from Literature; diaries and travelogues hold personal and cultural value as well.

4. Introduction of the Topic:

   • To arouse students’ interest, the teacher may intrigue them by sharing interesting facts or trivia about diaries and travelogues.
   • For instance, mention could be made how the earliest record of a Diary is “The Diary of Merer", an ancient Egyptian scribe who recorded the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
   • Similarly for Travelogue, one may talk about Marco Polo's “Book of the Marvels of the World" which narrates his journeys in Asia in 13th Century and became one of the earliest works to spark the European interest in the Orient.
   • Such pieces of information could be supported by visuals, or excerpts of the actual text to enable learners to comprehend and visualize what’s being discussed more clearly.

Development (20 - 25 minutes)

1. Activity 1: "In the Shoes of a Traveler" (10 - 12 minutes)

   • The class will be separated into groups of not more than five students in each. Every group will receive an envelope with cards carrying descriptions of various travel scenarios (for instance "You are in a local train in rural India”, “You just landed in an unknown city in the Amazon”, "You are at an exotic beach in Polynesia" etc).
   • Objective is that each group should imagine themselves as travelers in those scenarios, and start drafting a travelogue describing their impressions, emotions and experiences, and their interaction with the surroundings & people.
   • The teacher must move around aiding the teams & posing reflective questions to help trigger deeper thinking for their write-up.

2. Activity 2: "My Secret Diary" (10-12 minutes)

   • Continuing to work in teams, the learners will be given a sheet of paper to create a “secret diary" of a fictitious character. This persona could be that of an adolescent, a traveler, explorer, immigrant or so on. Each group must select one persona and provide a suitable name to the character.
   • The teams must then write an entry or two, describing the character's thoughts, feelings, incidents of daily life. Teacher should encourage them to use informal and personal language, reflecting an authentic diary.
   • After the completion of this exercise, every group will present to the whole class, their character's name & a gist of what their diary contained. The other learners could ask brief questions and offer comments.

3. Collaborative Discussion (5- 7 minutes)

   • At the conclusion of the activities the teacher must facilitate a discussion among the class, on the distinctions observed between diary & travelogue, on the basis of the activities done.
   • The teacher may initiate the discussion by asking students about the main challenges and discoveries while writing in both the formats.
   • Subsequently, the teacher may also share a short piece of writing which could be an excerpt from a book, newspaper article or a travel blog and ask the class identify whether it's a diary or travelogue and why?
   • This will help the learners solidify their understanding and internalize the characteristics and differences between the two narrative types. ## Return (10 - 12 minutes)

4. Collaborative Discussion:

   • The teacher must begin the discussion by requesting each group to briefly share the travelogues or diary entries that they prepared during the activities.
   • Each team gets a maximum time of 3 minutes to present their work. During their presentation, the rest of the students must be encouraged to pay attention & ask clarifying questions or make constructive comments.
   • Once all the teams conclude their presentation, the teacher must throw open the discussion to the class as a whole. Learners should comment on the similarities & differences observed in each other’s work, and their challenges & learning during the process of composing a diary & travelogue.
   • The teacher must act as the facilitator, ensuring participation of all learners and making sure that the discussion remains focused and respectful.

5. Connecting with Theory:

   • Following the group discussions, the teacher should establish the connection between practical activities done and the theory introduced at the outset of the session.
   • For instance, the teacher can revisit the concept of diary & travelogue and ask learners how these were reflected in the in-class exercises they just did.
   • The teacher must reinforce the differences in these narrative forms once more & seek feedback on how students were successful in acknowledging and upholding these differences within their compositions
   • This stage is meant to reinforce learning and check if the students have grasped and were able to implement the concepts discussed in class.

6. Individual Reflection:
   -Concluding the lesson the teacher must prompt the learners to engage in some individual reflection.

   • Questions like "What is the most significant concept you learned today?” or “Were there questions that remained unanswered?" can be posed.
   • Learners must be given a minute to think over these queries and then be provided with the opportunity to share their responses with the whole class if they wish to.
   • The teacher must appreciate every response irrespective of how right or wrong it might seem, because the idea here's to stimulate reflective thinking & self-evaluation.
   • This step enables students to internalize the learning, and identify possible gaps in their understanding which may be explored further in future classes. ## Closure (5-7 minutes)

7. Content Recap:

   • The teacher must summarize the key points covered in the session. This must include the definition and distinctions between diary and travelogue, their varied features, significance in Literature and History and their differentiation from other types of narrative formats.
   • The teacher must be crisp and to-the-point while summarizing, reiterating on the most important and relevant concepts that the students need to understand.

8. Theory- Practice Linkage:

   • The teacher should clarify how the activities conducted in class helped exemplify and reinforce the theory that was introduced. For example, by composing a travelogue on the basis of hypothetical scenarios, the learners experienced first-hand the structure & style of the text type.
   • Also, creating an informal diary of a fictitious character enabled the learners to explore the colloquial and introspective style typical of the genre.

9. Supplementary Material:

   • For those students curious to explore further the teacher should provide supplemental reading material on the theme. This can be books, articles, documentaries, podcasts, travelogues, online repositories of diaries etc.

• For example the teacher could recommend specific excerpts from notable travelogues and diaries, like “The Diary of Anne Frank” or “Gulliver’s Travels”, along with literary works that employ these genres like Jack Kerouac's “On The Road" or Almeida Garrett's “Travels in my Homeland” to name a few.

4. Relevance of the Subject Matter:
   • Lastly the teacher must highlight the relevance that diary and travelogue finding not just in literature, but in real life too.
   • It can be pointed out that even if learners do not pursue writing professionally, the skill to express themselves in written form is very useful in different spheres of their life, right from personal expression to composing official or academic reports.
   • Moreover, practicing to record one's thoughts and experiences in the form of diaries can be an amazing tool of self-reflection and self-expression, aiding the students to understand their own selves and their world better.