Cathedral Lesson Plan

On the Brink

Kind of Activity:

Creative Writing

Objective:

To understand both Carver’s subject matter and his use of minor domestic details to speak to a greater tragedy or crisis in the lives of his characters.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.A; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.C

Structure:

In both “Chef’s House” and “Preservation,” couples are portrayed who live on the brink of conditions that make their happiness impossible for one or more of the members. Carver chooses to depict this fact through the loss of things that a reader might consider less than catastrophic—...