Andrew Carnegie's "The Gospel of Wealth" provides high schoolers an opportunity to engage more complex text. After a close reading of the essay and an analysis of Carnegie's argument that the rich are superior because they earn money, individuals must decide if they believe Carnegie provides sufficient evidence to support his opinions.

Concepts

close reading, wealth

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

english language arts

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Offer writers the option of addressing a letter to Carnegie in which they respond to the points in his argument with their own evidence-supported stance

Classroom Considerations

• The activity presumes class members are familiar with the concept of close reading

Pros

• The 20-page packet includes Carnegie's essay, text dependent questions, activities, a vocabulary list with definitions, and essay prompts

Cons

• More scaffolding would be needed if this activity marks the first time readers have encountered dense text of this sort

Common Core

RI.11-12.1 RI.11-12.2 RI.11-12.3 RI.11-12.4 RI.11-12.5 RI.11-12.6 RI.11-12.10a W.11-12.1.a W.11-12.4 W.11-12.7 W.11-12.8 W.11-12.9.a