What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward?
Sense and Sensibility
30 minutes total
ByJane Austen
Grade9-10
Time30 minutes
Essential question
What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward?
Marked passage
Passage location
Chapter XXII
Start anchor
I have not known you long to be sure, personally at least
End anchor
I am in constant fear of her betraying me.
Passage focus
Lucy tells Elinor the secret
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
Solo
Read the exact passage independently.
Supported
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
Evidence
Use Lucy's language of trust together with information that makes Elinor's position more constrained.
Mark
Underline Lucy’s claims that she trusts Elinor. Circle the information that places Elinor in a difficult position. Star the moment the 'confidence' gives Lucy an advantage rather than simply relief.
Instructional move
Read disclosure as a strategic act rather than simple trust
Notice
• What would Lucy risk by keeping the engagement completely secret from Elinor? • What does Elinor lose once she is made the keeper of the secret? • How can sharing private information create power over the person who receives it?
Strong answer
Lucy gains strategic control. By making Elinor the keeper of the secret, she warns a possible rival, tests her reaction, and limits what Elinor can openly do or say.
Think
Answer provisionally: What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not interpret disclosure automatically as intimacy. Ask what the giver of the secret gains from the receiver's obligation.
Why this passage
Lucy presents the disclosure of her engagement as intimate trust, but telling Elinor also warns a perceived rival and forces Elinor to carry a secret that limits what she can do. Disclosure becomes a strategic form of control.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response to: What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Mark
Underline Lucy’s claims that she trusts Elinor. Circle the information that places Elinor in a difficult position. Star the moment the 'confidence' gives Lucy an advantage rather than simply relief.
Notice
What would Lucy risk by keeping the engagement completely secret from Elinor? What does Elinor lose once she is made the keeper of the secret? How can sharing private information create power over the person who receives it?
Think
Answer provisionally: What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage. Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.
Ready-to-teach lesson
TumbleTA 6-12 · TEXT-BASED LESSON
BATCH 09 · 9-10 · LESSON 177
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen
What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to
Edward?
TOTAL TIME
PASSAGE
30 minutes
Lucy tells Elinor the secret
FIND THE ANCHOR TEXT
Use the Anchor Text Table of Contents in the Enhanced Reader to open the START anchor. Then use the dropdown to select the END anchor.
SECTION / LOCATION
Chapter XXII
START
I have not known you long to be sure, personally at least
END
I am in constant fear of her betraying me.
PASSAGE ID
sec-ssens-03
THE MOVE
Read disclosure as a strategic act rather than simple trust
WHY THIS PASSAGE
Lucy presents the disclosure of her engagement as intimate trust, but telling Elinor also warns a perceived rival and forces Elinor to carry a secret that limits what she can do. Disclosure becomes a strategic form of control.
MARK
Underline Lucy’s claims that she trusts Elinor. Circle the information that places Elinor in a difficult position. Star the moment the 'confidence' gives Lucy an advantage rather than simply relief.
NOTICE
What would Lucy risk by keeping the engagement completely secret from Elinor?
page 1
What does Elinor lose once she is made the keeper of the secret?
How can sharing private information create power over the person who receives it?
THINK
Answer provisionally: What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward?
Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
WRITE
Write a short evidence-based response to: What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to Edward? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
CLOSE
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
STRONG ANSWER
Lucy gains strategic control. By making Elinor the keeper of the secret, she warns a possible rival, tests her reaction, and limits what Elinor can openly do or say.
EVIDENCE
Use Lucy's language of trust together with information that makes Elinor's position more constrained.
WATCH FOR
Do not interpret disclosure automatically as intimacy. Ask what the giver of the secret gains from the receiver's obligation.
SOLO
Read the exact passage independently.
SUPPORTED
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
LISTENING
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
page 2
STUDENT PAGE · SAME PASSAGE, SAME THINKING
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen
What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to
Edward?
START ANCHOR
I have not known you long to be sure, personally at least
END ANCHOR
I am in constant fear of her betraying me.
Use the Anchor Text Table of Contents in the Enhanced Reader to open the START anchor. Then use the dropdown to select the END anchor.
OPEN THE MARKED PASSAGE IN TUMBLELIT
SOLO: read independently. SUPPORTED: use narration + highlighting. LISTENING: listen to the exact passage. The question and evidence task stay the same.
1.MARK - Underline Lucy’s claims that she trusts Elinor. Circle the information that places Elinor
in a difficult position. Star the moment the 'confidence' gives Lucy an advantage rather than simply relief.
2.NOTICE - What would Lucy risk by keeping the engagement completely secret from Elinor?
What does Elinor lose once she is made the keeper of the secret? How can sharing private information create power over the person who receives it?
3.THINK - Answer provisionally: What does Lucy gain by telling Elinor about her engagement to
Edward?
4.WRITE - Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage.
Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.
page 3
Original printable PDF
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