“A CALL TO CRUSADE” A Close Reading

LEARNING TARGETS:  Use the strategy of close reading to deeply understand and analyze the text  Cite strong evidence from the text to support your ideas  Participate with your peers in the discussion of the text

CLOSE READING  What is close reading?  What do close readers do?

“A CALL TO CRUSADE”  Speech given by Pope Urban II to the council of Clermont after the Byzantine emperor, Alexios I Komnenos called on him to help him get aid from the west against the Seljuq Turks  This speech was given before the Crusades began

READING #1  Read silently to line #20.  Annotate your text as you go: Underline interesting words and phrases Place a ? where the text becomes confusing Jot your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question in the margins  Guiding Question: What role do the people Pope Urban is speaking to play in this society?

THINK-PAIR-SHARE  Share your first impressions of the text and your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question with your neighbor.  Be sure that both of you get a chance to share.  Be prepared to discuss this with the whole class.

READ ALOUD/DISCUSSION  What role do the people Pope Urban is speaking to play in this society?  What words and phrases does Urban use to describe their role and responsibilities?  What will happen if they don’t follow through?  Why do you think Urban begins his speech in this way?

READING #2  Read silently from line #  Annotate your text as you go: Underline interesting words and phrases Place a ? where the text becomes confusing Jot your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question in the margins  Guiding Question: What other expectations does Pope Urban have of his people?

THINK-PAIR-SHARE  Share your impressions of the text and your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question with your neighbor.  Be sure that both of you get a chance to share.  Be prepared to discuss this with the whole class.

READ ALOUD/DISCUSSION  What other expectations does Pope Urban have of his people?  Sometimes speakers use repetition of words or sentence structures to convey a message. Can you find any examples of this in this section of the text?  Why do you think Urban does this?  How would you describe the tone of the speech so far? How do you think it made the people in the audience feel?

READING #3  Read silently from line #  Annotate your text as you go: Underline interesting words and phrases Place a ? where the text becomes confusing Jot your thoughts pertaining to the guiding question in the margins  Guiding Question: How does Pope Urban feel about the current state of society and the leadership of the Christian clergy?

READ ALOUD/DISCUSSION  How does Pope Urban feel about the current state of society?  How does he feel about the leadership of the Christian clergy?  How do the people in the audience respond to him?  He still hasn’t really reached his main point. Why do you think Urban takes so long to lead into it?

HOMEWORK  Read the rest of “A Call to Crusade”.  Annotate your text as you go: Underline interesting words and phrases Place a ? where the text becomes confusing Jot your thoughts in the margins  Short Written Response (one paragraph): What is the purpose of Pope Urban giving this speech? What is interesting about the way he organizes it? Give specific details from the text in your answer.