Lesson Plan For Teaching Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is

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Lesson Plan For Teaching Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Lesson Plan For Teaching Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is

Hard To Find" Hard To Find"

Adriana M. Obiols Roca , '16

Peter Schmidt

Swarthmore College

, pschmid1@swarthmore.edu

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Adriana M. Obiols Roca , '16 and Peter Schmidt. (2014). "Lesson Plan For Teaching Flannery O'Connor's "A

Good Man Is Hard To Find"".

English Literature Faculty Works

. DOI: 10.24968/2476-2458.engl.351

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Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan for teaching Flannery O’Connor’s short story

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”

by Adriana Obiols Roca ‘16 / Swarthmore College Spring 2014

a project completed for Prof. Peter Schmidt’s

English 71D, “The Short Story in the U.S.” Swarthmore College

Table of Contents

• the lesson plan itself (pp. 1-11)

• discussion of the plan (pp. 11-14)

• a set of Web links useful for the lesson (p. 14-15)

Objectives: students will…

• Understand the differences between direct and indirect characterization and be

able to identify examples of each.

• Understand the uses of irony and foreshadowing in the story as well as more

generally in literature.

• Become acquainted with Flannery O’Connor and her writing style, particularly

with her use of the grotesque.

• Explore the complexity of the themes present in the story and the characters

O’Connor has created, especially the Misfit and the grandmother.

• Exercise a variety of critical thinking and analytical skills in order to form ideas

and opinions about O’Connor’s story and her writing strategies.

• Practice reading comprehension and summarization.

• Employ and practice writing skills in an essay assignment.

Necessary preparation:

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

The teacher should have familiarized him or herself with Flannery O’Connor’s

life and work before the lesson by using the links provided below. It is also important that

the teacher review definitions of the terms characterization, irony, and foreshadowing

(see below).

Students are expected to have read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to

Find” as well as her essay “Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction” (1960).

This lesson plan is designed to be split into two days of class, but if the teacher judges

that not all the material is necessary or that it can be covered in one period, the lesson

plan can be done in one day.

Introductory activity – Day 1:

For today the students should have read both O’Connor’s story “A Good Man is Hard to

Find” and her essay on the grotesque. This day, the class will focus around O’Connor’s

essay on the grotesque. The teacher should begin the class by presenting biographical

information about Flannery O’Connor. Then, through analysis of the essay, the class

should arrive together at a definition of the grotesque both in the general sense of the

word and as it pertains to O’Connor’s writing. The teacher should write down the key

ideas that the class comes up with on the board to compile them.

It may be helpful to consider the following passages; the questions that follow can be

used to spark discussion:

• “Today many readers and critics have set up for the novel a kind of orthodoxy.

They demand a realism of fact which may, in the end, limit rather than broaden

the novel's scope. They associate the only legitimate material for long fiction with

the movement of social forces, with the typical, with fidelity to the way things

look and happen in normal life. (…) In these grotesque works, we find that the

writer has made alive some experience which we are not accustomed to observe

every day, or which the ordinary man may never experience in his ordinary life.

We find that connections which we would expect in the customary kind of realism

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

have been ignored, that there are strange skips and gaps which anyone trying to

describe manners and customs would certainly not have left. Yet their characters

have an inner coherence, if not always a coherence to their social framework.

Their fictional qualities lean away from typical social patterns, toward mystery

and the unexpected.”

Discussion Questions: How does the type of realism that, according to

O’Connor, critics demand contrast with the realism that she portrays in “A Good

Man Is Hard to Find”? How is it realistic? Especially considering that, as she puts

it, “escaped criminals do not roam the roads exterminating families, nor Bible

salesmen prowl about looking for girls with wooden legs.”

• “If the novelist is in tune with this spirit, if he believes that actions are

predetermined by psychic make-up or the economic situation or some other

determinable factor, then he will be concerned above all with an accurate

reproduction of the things that most immediately concern man, with the natural

forces that he feels control his destiny. (…) On the other hand, if the writer

believes that our life is and will remain essentially mysterious, if he looks upon us

as beings existing in a created order to whose laws we freely respond, then what

he sees on the surface will be of interest to him only as he can go through it into

an experience of mystery itself. His kind of fiction will always be pushing its own

limits outward toward the limits of mystery, because for this kind of writer, the

meaning of a story does not begin except at a depth where adequate motivation

and adequate psychology and the various determinations have been exhausted.

Such a writer will be interested in what we don't understand rather than in what

we do. He will be interested in possibility rather than in probability. He will be

interested in characters who are forced out to meet evil and grace and who act on

a trust beyond themselves–whether they know very clearly what it is they act

upon or not.”

Discussion Questions: How does this interest in “possibility rather than in

probability” help set up an atmosphere of ambiguity in O’Connor’s story? What

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

makes this ambiguity valuable? How is this ambiguity and mystery connected to

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”, particularly the ending?

• "Whenever I’m asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for

writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one. To be

able to recognize a freak, you have to have some conception of the whole man,

and in the South the general conception of man is still, in the main, theological.

That is a large statement, and it is dangerous to make it, for almost anything you

say about Southern belief can be denied in the next breath with equal propriety.

But approaching the subject from the standpoint of the writer, I think it is safe to

say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-

haunted. The Southerner, who isn’t convinced of it, is very much afraid that he

may have been formed in the image and likeness of God. Ghosts can be very

fierce and instructive. They cast strange shadows, particularly in our literature. In

any case, it is when the freak can be sensed as a figure for our essential

displacement that he attains some depth in literature."

Discussion Questions: How is O’Connor’s view of the grotesque connected to

her faith? Her idea of an “essential displacement” points to a belief that humanity

is in in a “fallen” (in a Christian sense) state. How is this related to the “realism”

that she claims to reveal? Does she link our real grotesqueness with her belief in

fallen humanity? How do the characters in the story reflect this? Consider also the

paradox posed by the fact that the Misfit, an outcast and a criminal, and the

Grandmother, who believes herself to be an exemplary person, are both portrayed

as grotesque.

• “And [the reader’s] need, of course, is to be lifted up. There is something in us, as

storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that

demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored.”

Discussion Questions: How does this idea of possibility for redemption expand

the definition of the grotesque in O’Connor’s work? Additionally, consider this

passage in relation to the ending of “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Do you think

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

the Grandmother’s touching the Misfit and asserting that she is a good man signal

that the Misfit can be redeemed? vIn this light, what might his disturbed reaction

mean?

• “The problem for such a novelist will be to know how far he can distort without

destroying, and in order not to destroy, he will have to descend far enough into

himself to reach those underground springs that give life to big work.”

Development activity – Day 2:

This day, the class will focus around formal aspects of writing as applied to the story. The

teacher should define the relevant terms. Definitions are provided below, but their

employment is left at the teacher’s discretion:

Characterization (kar-ik-ter-uh-zaY-shun): the means through which an author reveals a

character’s personality. Characterization may be direct or indirect. In direct

characterization, the writer or a narrator tells the reader what the character is like: “ben

was a quiet, serious boy.” in indirect characterization, the author shows the reader or

audience member what the character is like through (1) how the character looks, (2) what

the character does, (3) what the character says, (4) what the character thinks, and (5) how

the character affects other characters. From these five things, the reader or audience

member understands the character’s personality.

Foreshadowing (for-Shad-oh-ing): Clues or hints about something that is going to happen

later in the story. Authors use foreshadowing to build suspense and to prepare the reader

for what happens later.

Irony (ahY-ruh-nee): there are three types of irony: (1) dramatic irony, when the reader or

audience member is aware of something that the characters are not aware of; (2)

situational irony, when something happens that is the reverse of what you expected; and

(3) verbal irony, when the name or description of something implies the opposite of the

truth (for example, calling a very tall person “tiny”).

(from Scope Magazine’s Glossary of Literary Terms)

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

Then, the teacher should ask the entire class some of the introductory level questions,

which relate to the concepts previously defined, in order to get the discussion started. The

students should subsequently be divided into groups to work on middle level and

concluding questions. The way the groups are to be formed and the questions divided is

not particularly specific and is left at the teacher’s discretion; there can be multiple

groups working on the same question or (depending on class size) larger groups working

on one question each, or small groups with the freedom to choose the questions that most

interest them. The class should then reconvene and individual groups should briefly relate

the most important points that came up in their conversation. This is also an opportunity

to open up the discussion of middle level and concluding lessons to the class as a whole

and for the teacher to provide guidance where needed. It should be made clear to students

that the questions are meant to provide direction for their discussion but they are not

meant to be constricting and it is not necessary that they answer every point the questions

bring up, especially with the middle and concluding level questions. This is because this

gives students the freedom to explore the aspects that most interest them about the story

and their discussion of it. However, they are also required to analyze their chosen topics

carefully and meaningfully.

Discussion questions:

Introductory level

• What moments in the story can be characterized as ironic or seem to foreshadow

the events of the plot? Think particularly about the grandmother's comments and

passages in the beginning of the story, such as "...they left Atlanta at eight forty-

five with the mileage on the car at 55890. The grandmother wrote this down

because she thought it would be interesting to say how many miles they had been

when they got back." (553)

• Notice the direct and indirect characterization O'Connor uses throughout the

story. How does it contribute to our perception of the characters? What about

them is grotesque and exaggerated? A good place to start is the character

descriptions toward the beginning of the story.

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

• Which strategies does O’Connor use in the beginning of the story in order to set

up a believable and plausible setting? What kinds of details make the time and

place one that we can easily imagine? Do you think the characters and the plot are

believable? How then does the normalcy and immediacy of the setting contrast

with the rest of the story, and what effect does it have on the story overall?

Middle level

• Discuss the characters’ different reactions to the car accident in pages 558 to 559.

Are their reactions believable in the context of the story and based on what we

know about each character? Which strategies does O’Connor use to make these

characters so consistent and why is it important that she do so? What does it

contribute to the story?

• Would you characterize the ending of the story as hopeful or pessimistic? Why?

• How does the Misfit justify his actions? Look closely at the following passages:

o "'What did you do to get sent to the penitentiary that first time?' (...)'I

forget what I done, lady, I set there and set there, trying to remember what

it was I done and I ain't recalled it to this day.'" (562-563)

o "'I found out the crime don't matter. You can do one thing or you can do

another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you're

going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it.'" (563)

o "'I call myself The Misfit,' he said, 'because I can't make what I done

wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment.'" (564)

o "'Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another

ain't punished at all?'" (564)

Concluding

• Why do you think the Misfit was so disturbed by the grandmother's touch in pg.

565? Is the moment in which she calls him one of her own sons actually a

moment of sudden realization of truth? What triggers it for the grandmother? Is it

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

an act of grace and kindness? If you have interpreted it as such, how does this

final act of grace and truth contrast with what the Misfit describes as being the

best way to spend the last few moments of your life (page 564)? Why does the

grandmother reach out to him like that? Is it consistent or inconsistent with her

earlier behavior toward others?

• Notice the way the Misfit talks about Jesus in page 564 and how he seems to, in

some ways, identify with him. Note also the way that, when she responds to the

Misfit, it is grammatically possible that the grandmother is calling him “Jesus”.

Additionally, consider the importance of the deeply religiously charged sentence

“you’ve got good blood” (564) (as it relates to Christian doctrine and the idea that

Jesus’ blood can bring absolution from sin). Do you believe this interpretation is

plausibly suggested in the story? If so, how should we understand it? How does it

inform our comprehension of the Misfit and the reasons for his actions? Think

especially about Jesus’ and the Misfit’s relationship with sin and punishment.

(NOTE: This question might need some clarification, depending on the students’ religious

background and knowledge. If necessary, the teacher should be prepared to provide it.)

• How can we interpret the Misfit's last sentence - "It's no real pleasure in life"

(565) - in conjunction with the sentence "No pleasure but meanness" (564) in the

previous page?

• Consider the title of the story; “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Should we

understand this as a general statement of truth? Who might be making this

assertion? Are there any good men in the story? If there are, who are they? What

makes them good? If there aren’t, what makes all of the men in this story bad

men?

Closure activity:

Students will be assigned a short analytical paper (4-5 pages long) on the story. In it, they

must construct a thesis in answer to one of the questions discussed in class. If a student

were to express a strong preference to pursue a thesis on a topic that was not covered in

class, she should confer with the teacher for approval before proceeding. Alternatively,

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

students may write a response to the article “Flannery O’Connor’s validation of the

unreasonable in ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’” by John V. McDermott. The essay deals

with the “mystery” that O’Connor talks about in “Some Aspects of the Grotesque in

Southern Fiction”. McDermott looks particularly at the atmospheric paradoxes O’Connor

sets up near the end of the story to make assertions about the Misfit and the Grandmother

and how they are related to O’Connor’s idea of mystery. The essay applies the concepts

from O’Connor’s own essay to “A Good Man is Hard to Find” specifically, so it is a good

way to further engage with the material covered.

Discussion of the Lesson Plan for Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is

Hard to Find,” by Adriana Obiols Roca ’16 / Swarthmore College

A project completed for Prof. Peter Schmidt’s

English 71D, “The Short Story in the U.S.” Swarthmore College, Fall 2014

The objectives stated in the lesson plan cover a number of skills that students are

expected to gain or employ during the class and in the completion of reading and

homework assignments. Some of these goals are specific and content-related, while

others focus on the development of broader abilities. First are the objectives related to

learning the literary terms of direct and indirect characterization, irony, and

foreshadowing. It is important that students not only learn the definitions of these

concepts – which are typically taught in high school English classes – but that they are

able to see them applied and that they learn to recognize them in writing. The story is

used in this lesson to illustrate the use of these terms so that they do not remain vague and

abstract ideas.

Second are the goals relating to Flannery O’Connor specifically as a writer.

Students should be exposed to the work of famous and important authors both to become

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

more cultured persons and to familiarize themselves with a variety of different writing

styles and cultivate an appreciation for them. Flannery O’Connor’s style is very

distinctive and complex, and the characters she has created in this story are deceptively

simple. Approaching her work in a class setting allows for the dissection and exploration

of her writing. The emphasis on her use of the grotesque, which is one of the most

important and particular characteristics of her style, provides students with a clear way to

identify O’Connor’s prose should they encounter it again and allows them to draw

connections between her and other authors that may use similar techniques.

The application and development of critical thinking and analytical skills are also

important goals of this lesson. These kinds of skills are useful for the critical examination

of literature and texts in general, a valuable ability that will undoubtedly be required of

students later, especially as they prepare for higher education. Entering discussions in

which they must employ analytical skills is also beneficial for students because they must

naturally present original ideas, which creates opportunities for them to understand the

text from a variety of approaches. Listening to their classmates’ points of view and

focusing on specific aspects of the story compels them to think about the story from

different angles. They will, quite literally, discover what is so good about O’Connor’s “A

Good Man is Hard to Find”. Finally, the objectives pertaining to reading comprehension,

summarization, and writing skills are important because all of these abilities enable

students to further exercise critical thinking as well as prove their capacity to express

ideas coherently orally and in writing.

The introductory activity is structured in a way that allows for the participation of

the whole class in the creation of definitions that will be used subsequently throughout

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

the lesson. Since some of these definitions will be based upon the article “Grace and the

Grotesque: Flannery O’Connor on the page and the screen” by Jon M. Sweeney, which is

required reading for the class, the students will need to draw upon and demonstrate their

reading comprehension and summarization skills. Using both the article and the story to

identify some of the fundamental qualities of O’Connor’s fiction also creates

opportunities for them to display their individual understanding of the writing techniques

she uses. The emphasis placed on students’ contributions to the definition of concepts

that will be useful later in the lesson is also based on the notion that recognizing students’

ideas as valuable, valid and important is crucial to the development of a positive

classroom environment in which student to teacher relationships are not unilateral or

hierarchical.

Two of the introductory level questions from the developmental activity are

directly related to the material that was covered in the introductory activity and therefore

serves as a smooth way to transition from the beginning of the lesson to the discussion

portion of the class. The questions ask that students apply the concepts previously defined

to the story specifically, which inherently requires that they comprehend the terms with

sufficient depth to be able to recognize their use in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. With

the help of the teacher’s guidance, the connection between the content and its real

application is made clear and explicit. The last introductory question is less grounded on

specific terms and focuses on broader features of the story, and as such provides a

transition to the middle level and concluding questions, which delve into deeper aspects

of the plot and of characters’ personalities. The subsequent division of the class into

small discussion groups for students to work on middle level and concluding questions is

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

due to the fact that it allows each group much more freedom to converse than a whole-

class discussion would. Students generally feel more comfortable voicing their opinions

in smaller groups and the contained nature of the discussion allows them to reply to each

other’s ideas without having to wait for a turn to speak, encouraging them to engage in

thought-provoking discussion grounded on critical thinking. Additionally, it provides

them the flexibility to explore interesting avenues of thought that might seem tangential

in a whole-class discussion. The middle and concluding questions ask students to think

critically about characters’ actions and motivations and are more focused than the

introductory questions. They require insightful analysis and encourage the students to

truly take in and appreciate the complexity and depth of the characters and the themes in

O’Connor’s story. The reason why the class later reconvenes is that it is useful for

students to learn from each other and listen to their classmates’ ideas. By sharing, the

teacher and the students may come to understand “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in new

and exciting ways, generating and refueling discussion for the class as a whole. In

conveying their ideas to their classmates, students must also make effective use of

summarization skills.

The closure activity, a short essay, is meant to provide an opportunity for students

to express in formal writing the ideas that were the most stimulating or exciting for them.

It demands originality and critical analysis as well as the ability to expand on ideas that

originally formed during class discussion. In the assignment students will demonstrate

their understanding of O’Connor’s story and express their opinions and theories about it.

Providing a wide range of options for the students to choose from for the essay prompt in

addition to the possibility of creating an entirely new prompt gives students the freedom

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

to explore aspects that truly interest them about the story while still offering a certain

degree of direction and focus. The assignment is also meant to help develop students’

writing skills, which are essential for academic success in all disciplines. Since the essay

must be short, it must also be concise and to the point. Moreover, scoring will depend

upon students’ ability to effectively communicate their ideas in a coherent and

appropriate manner.

Links and Resources

Class materials:

• Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” In Major American Short

Stories, Third Edition. Edited by A. Walton Litz. Published by Oxford University

Press, 1994. O’Connor’s story may be found in other anthologies as well.

• Flannery O’Connor reads “A Good Man is Hard to Find”:

http://www.mhpbooks.com/audio-flannery-oconnor-reads-a-good-man-is-hard-to-

find/

• O’Connor’s essay “Some Aspects of the Grotesque” may be found in her

collection Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose. Ed. Sally and Robert

Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Girouz, 1969.

• Listen to O’Connor read and discuss parts of “Some Aspects of the Grotesque”:

http://www.openculture.com/2013/04/listen_as_flannery_oconnor_reads_some_as

pects_of_the_grotesque_in_southern_fiction_c_1960.html

• “Grace and the Grotesque: Flannery O’Connor on the page and the screen” by Jon

M. Sweeney: http://americamagazine.org/issue/701/ideas/grace-and-grotesque

• “Flannery O’Connor’s validation of the unreasonable in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to

Find’” by John V. McDermott:

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA231714517&v=2.1&u=

swar94187&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=df1e638d3a24ff18f825c05000

527077

• Scholastic’s Scope Magazine Glossary of Literary Terms

http://www.scholastic.com/scopemagazine/PDFs/SCOPE-Library-

LiteraryTerms.pdf

Obiols O’Connor’s “A Good Man”: Lesson Plan

• Bedford St. Martin’s’ “LitGloss” glossary of literary terms

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litgloss/

Biographical information about Flannery O’Connor:

• New Georgia Encyclopedia http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-

culture/flannery-oconnor-1925-1964

• The Biography Channel http://www.biography.com/people/flannery-oconnor-

9426760