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Read Part 3 (pp. 131-224); Complete Student Packet Worksheets for Part 3

Before starting the lesson, write the following sentence on chart paper or the board: “Come back with that pencil!” Explain to students that they will have the task of rewriting this sentence in the voice of a different character that you will describe. Demonstrate rewriting the sentence as though a Southern person is saying it: “Y’all come back here with my pencil, ya hear?” Have students rewrite the sentence as a kind character; an old, cranky character; and a teacher. Allow students about 30-60 seconds to rewrite the sentence in the voice of each character. Finally, have volunteer students perform the sentence as they wrote it. You may ask the volunteer to write their rewritten sentence on chart paper or the board for the other students to see.

will explain that a reader can tell a lot about a character by the way he or she speaks in a story. Good readers examine a character’s voice to better understand who that character is, where they come from, or what they are feeling. For example, when we heard the Southern accent of the person asking for their pencil back, it told us about the character’s background without saying, “This character is from the South.” Authors use a character’s voice to reveal traits and emotions of a character to readers without having to specifically state the traits and emotions. Good readers examine the character’s voice by reading a character’s words and thoughts, and looking for dialect (accents or informal ways of speaking that tell the reader where they come from) and the tone of their voice (language that tells the reader how they are feeling). 

I am going to examine the voice of a character in Home of the Brave to better understand his or her traits and emotions. I will examine the voice of Dave, the “helping man” from the Refugee Resettlement Center. I will look for examples of Dave’s words. I see right away that he asks Kek about the “flying boat,” even though he knows the English word that Kek is referring to is “airplane.” (p. 10) I think that when Dave describes the plane as a “flying boat,” it shows that he is eager to support Kek. Also, Dave tries to speak in Kek’s language, and Kek describes it as an awkward voice. To me, it shows that Dave is an American (because Kek’s language does not come naturally). It also shows that he is trying to support Kek and make him feel more comfortable in a new place. I will write this on my Voice Chart. Note: See Example Voice Charts for additional examples.

On page 12, Dave says, “Lot of land around here’s getting sold off now.” and “Oh, what the heck?” This is informal or casual language, so I can draw the conclusion that he is a friendly, neighborly person. When Dave speaks to Kek about his mother, he is both realistic and compassionate. He says, “You know, Kek, . . . we aren’t sure where your mother is.” (p. 10) You can tell he is being careful about his words. He gives Kek all of the facts, but is trying to be comforting. 

Finally, I will look back at my chart and draw a conclusion about Dave’s traits. I can describe Dave as a friendly, casual, American man who is reassuring and comforting to Kek.

Ask: "How can I describe a character’s voice?" I will first identify a trait or emotion, and then I will look at the character’s words (either spoken or internal) and look for dialect, tone, descriptive, or poetic language. I will use those clues to help me describe the character’s voice.

will examine Ganwar’s voice. We will identify a trait of Ganwar’s together—Ganwar is defiant. Then, we will reread excerpts of words spoken by Ganwar on the Ganwar Speaks! Handout. We will examine his voice together, looking for elements of dialect, tone, and description. What can we tell about his voice? We will record this information below each excerpt on the Voice Chart. Note: See Example Voice Charts for additional examples.

For example, in the first excerpt, when Ganwar says, “a man doesn’t wear a paper hat and give out ketchup packets,” we can hear that Ganwar’s pride is hurt. His tone and descriptive language is meant to challenge his perceived work options (serving fast food). If he said, “A man isn’t meant to collect money and manage meal orders,” we wouldn’t hear a hurt and defiant voice. Another example we can analyze together is in the poem “Ganwar” on page 214, since Ganwar’s tone is different than his usual defiance in this excerpt. When he says, “It was worth it, just to see you stuck up there,” we can tell that he is actually not being mean, though his words could be interpreted that way. We can tell that Ganwar cares about Kek and is trying to help him laugh at the situation.

Finally, we will describe his voice using evidence from the excerpts. For example, early in the book, Ganwar’s voice is defiant and angry. When he speaks he challenges Dave and his mother, and he seems angry about his prospects in America. Later in the book, Ganwar’s tone becomes comforting and “brotherly.” We can tell he cares about Kek and wants to support him.

will analyze excerpts from Home of the Brave on the Describing Kek’s Voice Worksheet in your Student Packet. (See page 24 in the Student Packet.) You will identify elements of dialect, tone, poetic, and descriptive language that helps you describe Kek’s voice in these excerpts.