O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Bantam Books, 1989 QAR: Question Answer Response Strategy (Adapted from Sirpa Grierson, BYU, 2007) Purpose of the Strategy: This strategy promotes active comprehension of the message of the author and provides students with a way to think about questions and answers. If students are asked to create their own questions, QAR also extends their writing ability (Grierson). O Pioneers lends itself to this strategy because Cather is not a hit-thereader-over-the-head kind of novelist. Her style is quite subtle and so are the lessons in her text. This strategy makes students look beyond the fairly uncomplicated surface plot to see what the text has to offer and how they can connect with it. This questioning strategy can also go along well with the graphic organizer strategy for this novel which asks students to determine cause and effect for events in the book. Context for the Strategy: This strategy could work during reading or after reading. The accompanying handout assumes students have read most of the novel. Pages 162-175 are especially interesting passages. (This is the part where Emil decides to go back to see Marie and they are shot by Frank.) But if this strategy is used in conjunction with the graphic organizer, a better section might be pp 186-193 (when Alexandra goes to visit Frank in prison). However, this strategy is quite flexible and could work at any point in the novel. For instance, pp 41-45 (Alexandra s decision to stay and work the land) would provide a lot of insight with the use of this strategy. The handout has sections from pages 43, 183, 77, and 172, but these other section mentioned would also work well with this strategy. Directions: As stated before, this strategy could be used at any point in the novel, but the handout is structured for use near the end. Use of this strategy will be integrated with the overarching unit question How do our choices influence us and others? Step 1 Introduce the Strategy Discuss and explain the included QAR strategy worksheet with students. Talk to them about what each level of QAR question means. This worksheet could be introduced a day or two before the rest of the questioning strategy is used or on the same day as the strategy. This step should take 15-20 minutes. Step 2 Create QAR Questions
As the teacher, choose four sections of the text for each of the four levels in the QAR strategy. Then create a question for each passage from the text. These questions should be able to be answered through one of the following methods. Found in the text: Right There: the answer is textually explicit (can be found in the text), usually as a phrase contained within one sentence. Think and Search: while the answer is in the text, the answer is implicit and the student is required to combine separate sections or chunks of text to answer the question. Found in your head: Author and You: as the answer is not directly stated in the text, the student draws on prior knowledge (schema) and what the author has written to answer the question. On Your Own: requires students to think about what is already known from their reading and experience (schema and prior knowledge) to formulate an answer. Step 3 Tell students that the QAR strategy they will be using is supposed to increase their understanding of the novel and help them to gain skills for reading all kinds of books. Give students the QAR questions on the following handout. Model for students how each level can be identified and answered and review the differences between the kinds of questions. They can work in small groups or alone. As they use the handout, they must identify which QAR levels they used and give a rationale for their answer to each question. ASSESSMENT: This strategy helps students to learn about how to read a text. They get into a readerly mindset as they learn to ask QAR questions and make these kinds of connections. Using this QAR strategy will also help to increase their comprehension of texts. SUMMARY AND SEGUE: Remind students that these are the kinds of questions they need to be asking themselves and the kinds of connections they need to be making whenever they read any text. Practice the QAR strategy again later with an informational text about life on the prairies in the 1800 s. This will give students conditional knowledge about how to use this strategy with all kinds of texts.
QAR Questions Name: Passage 1 (p. 43) Alexandra s eyes filled with tears. She put her hand on his shoulder. You poor boy, you won t have to work it. The men in town who are buying up other people s land don t try to farm it. They are the men to watch, in a new country. Let s try to do like the shrewd ones and not like these stupid fellows. I don t want you boys always to have to work like this. I want you to be independent, and Emil to go to school. Question: What is Alexandra s dream for her brothers? Rationale: Passage 2 (p.183) As she lay with her eyes closed, she had again, more vividly than for many years, the old illusion of her girlhood, of being lifted and carried lightly by some one very strong. He was with her a long while this time, and carried her very far, and in his arms she felt free from pain. When he laid her down on her bed again, she opened her eyes, and, for the first time in her life, she saw him, saw him clearly, though the room was dark, and his face was covered. He was standing in the doorway of her room. His white cloak was thrown over his face, and his head was bent a little forward. His shoulders seemed as strong as the foundations of the world. His right arm, bared from the elbow, was dark and gleaming, like bronze, and she knew at once that it was the arm of the mightiest of all lovers. She knew at last for whom it was she had waited, and where he would carry her. That, she told herself, was very well. Then she went to sleep. Question: Who is this person? What clues help you to know who this is? Rationale: Passage 3 (p.77)
Carl shook his head mournfully. Freedom so often means that one isn t needed anywhere. Here you are an individual, you have a background of your own, you would be missed. But off there in the cities there are thousands of rolling stones like me. We are all alike; we have not ties, we know nobody, we own nothing. When one of us dies, they scarcely know where to bury him.all we have managed to do is to pay our rent, the exorbitant rent that one has to pay for a few square feet of space near the heart of things. We have no house, no place, no people of our own.we sit in restaurants and concert halls and look about at the hundreds of our own kind and shudder. Question: If what Carl is describing in this passage is not freedom, how might he define freedom? Rationale: Passage 4 (172) Frank knew that he was to blame. For three years he had been trying to break her spirit. She had a way of making the best of things that seemed to him a sentimental affectation. He wanted his wife to resent that he was wasting his best years among these stupid and unappreciative people; but she had seemed to find the people quite good enough. He had tried to make her life ugly and as unjust as he felt it. He had refused to share any of the little pleasures she was so plucky about making for herself.when she first came to him, her faith in him, her adoration Frank struck the mare with his fist. Why had Marie made him do this thing; why had she brought this upon him? Question: How can we change our situation or behavior before they result in bad consequences? Rationale: -
QAR Questions Teacher Key Name: Passage 1 (p. 43) Alexandra s eyes filled with tears. She put her hand on his shoulder. You poor boy, you won t have to work it. The men in town who are buying up other people s land don t try to farm it. They are the men to watch, in a new country. Let s try to do like the shrewd ones and not like these stupid fellows. I don t want you boys always to have to work like this. I want you to be independent, and Emil to go to school. Question: What is Alexandra s dream for her brothers? Rationale: This is a Right There question. The text says that Alexandra wants a better life for her brothers, especially young Emil. She doesn t want them to have to work so hard for the rest of their lives. Her plan is to buy land and use it wisely. Passage 2 (p.183) As she lay with her eyes closed, she had again, more vividly than for many years, the old illusion of her girlhood, of being lifted and carried lightly by some one very strong. He was with her a long while this time, and carried her very far, and in his arms she felt free from pain. When he laid her down on her bed again, she opened her eyes, and, for the first time in her life, she saw him, saw him clearly, though the room was dark, and his face was covered. He was standing in the doorway of her room. His white cloak was thrown over his face, and his head was bent a little forward. His shoulders seemed as strong as the foundations of the world. His right arm, bared from the elbow, was dark and gleaming, like bronze, and she knew at once that it was the arm of the mightiest of all lovers. She knew at last for whom it was she had waited, and where he would carry her. That, she told herself, was very well. Then she went to sleep. Question: Who is this person? What clues help you to know who this is? Rationale: This is a Think and Search question. The text does not explicitly state who this person is. It could be seen as God or Jesus or some students might think it is her father. The last part starting at she knew at once that it was the arm of the mightiest of lovers kind of gives it a way, but students might be able to interpret this sentence differently. This is a very important part in the book for Alexandra where she gets some relief from her problems. This relief comes in an interesting way. Passage 3 (p.77) Carl shook his head mournfully. Freedom so often means that one isn t needed anywhere. Here you are an individual, you have a background of your own, you
would be missed. But off there in the cities there are thousands of rolling stones like me. We are all alike; we have no ties, we know nobody, we own nothing. When one of us dies, they scarcely know where to bury him.all we have managed to do is to pay our rent, the exorbitant rent that one has to pay for a few square feet of space near the heart of things. We have no house, no place, no people of our own.we sit in restaurants and concert halls and look about at the hundreds of our own kind and shudder. Question: If what Carl is describing in this passage is not freedom, how might he define freedom? Do you agree with him or not? Rationale: This is an Author and Me question. Carl is describing the city in comparison with the prairie and saying that being tied to the land does not mean you are not free. Students should be thinking about what freedom really means. Here Carl, and Willa Cather, seem to be saying that freedom does not mean no responsibility. But freedom does include being needed and having a purpose. This complicates the traditional definition of freedom and could spark a thought-provoking discussion. Passage 4 (172) Frank knew that he was to blame. For three years he had been trying to break her spirit. She had a way of making the best of things that seemed to him a sentimental affectation. He wanted his wife to resent that he was wasting his best years among these stupid and unappreciative people; but she had seemed to find the people quite good enough. He had tried to make her life ugly and as unjust as he felt it. He had refused to share any of the little pleasures she was so plucky about making for herself.when she first came to him, her faith in him, her adoration Frank struck the mare with his fist. Why had Marie made him do this thing; why had she brought this upon him? Question: How can we change our situation or behavior before they result in bad consequences? Rationale: This is an On Your Own question. Students should be thinking about the need to take responsibility for our own actions. This question could connect to the graphic organizer strategy where students analyze causes of the death of Marie and Emil. This question helps students to discover what they can learn from this novel to apply to their own life. What are they doing right now that might lead to bad consequences? Thinking about how Frank could have changed before this point may help students to know what they can change before they get caught in a bad situation.