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APR 20: Lesson One - Boys and Girls

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Course: ELA 30-1 RVSO
Book: APR 20: Lesson One - Boys and Girls
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Date: Monday, 10 November 2025, 9:01 AM

Table of contents

Introduction

boy and girlLesson One - Boys and Girls
Duration - 10 blocks (10 x 80 min + homework)

"Rigorous law is often rigorous injustice." - c. Terence, 185 or 195 B.C.

When an individual responds to injustice, there is often a decisive moment between the emotion and the response. In this unit, through the study of various texts, we are going to consider the question, "What role does kindness play when individuals attempt to determine their own destiny?"

"Boys and Girls" was written in 1964 and first published in 1968.  It is set just after WWII, when many farmers were trading in their horses for farm machinery.

"The story, narrated by a young girl, details the time in her life when she leaves childhood and its freedoms behind and realizes that to be a 'girl' is to be, eventually, a woman.  The child begins to understand that being socially typed entails a host of serious implications.  Thus becoming a 'girl' on the way to womanhood is a time fraught with difficulties for the young protagonist because she senses that women are considered the social inferiors of men.  Initially, she tries to prevent this from occurring by resisting her parents' and grandparents' attempts to train her in the likes, habits, behaviour, and work of women.  This resistance, however, proves to be useless.  The girl ends the story clearly socially positioned as a girl, something which she apprehends with some trepidations.  The story is thus a feminist parable of sorts, where a girl bucks against a future that will prevent her from doing, socially, whatever she might please.  Although most of Munro's work does not have such clear and cogent feminist interest, this story eloquently attests to how women worked during this century to change their social position substantially." - encyclopedia.com

Lesson 1

vote for women


Before you read, however, you need an understanding of the context in which our unnamed narrator finds herself. To that end, you will conduct research into the Suffrage Movement in Canada.

Assignment 1

(100 marks)

Open a new Word document. Label it E301U3L1surname
In this document, complete the assignment as outlined below.
Submit this assignment using the Dropbox for U3L1 research

Using the sources on the Resources 1 page, as well as further research you may wish to conduct, explore expectations and challenges faced by women in the early 1900s. Consider what perspectives may have existed at the time, remembering that social class, marital status, local /and/or race would have all affected everyday experiences. Consider that some of the issues facing women, in addition to not legally being persons, were domestic violence, temperance, and equal property rights.

Adopt the persona of ONE of the women of the Famous Five: Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney, or Nellie McClung.

  • As this woman, write a letter to the editor of a national or local newspaper of the time, in support of suffrage for women.
  • Make at least three arguments, supported with evidence from your research, as to what benefits could be gained from women's suffrage, all presented in the voice of your adopted persona. You may choose to focus on what women will gain, what society will gain, or a combination thereof.
  • End with a call to action, outlining what you would like to see happen.
  • Your letter must be at least 1000 words.
  • Include a page for your bibliography after the conclusion of your letter.

You will be marked using the Research Project Rubric

Lesson 2

Read the short story "Boys and Girls", as well as the analysis that follows it. 

You may want to watch the video version of the short story, posted on the Resources page.

Consider what the story has to say about the role that kindness (or lack thereof) plays when individuals attempt to determine their own destiny.

Assignment 2

(100 marks)

Open a new Word document. Save it as E301U3L1.2surname
In this document, complete the assignment outlined below.
Submit this assignment using the Dropbox Folder for U3L1 Boys and Girls essay

For this assignment, you will be writing a critical/analytical essay. Your response should be between 800 and 1600 words.
Historically, on the diploma exam, students who write 800 words tend to score around 50%. Those who write closer to the upper range of 1000 - 1600 words tend to reach the Standard of Excellence, which is 80% or higher. View 1600 words as a cap, however, and not as a target. Writing MORE than 1600 words does not necessarily improve your mark. It may, in fact, do the opposite. Choose your words judiciously. 

For this assignment, answer this question: In her short story, "Boys and Girls," what idea does author Alice Munro develop regarding the role kindness (or a lack thereof) plays when individuals attempt to determine their own destiny?"

Use the thesis planner and the essay skeleton to aid in your planning. Begin by first filling in the red cells of the chart, followed by the evidence, and then the explanations. Use the information you charted in this skeleton to write the good copy of your essay. You are not limited to writing only three body paragraphs! 

Your essay will be evaluated using the Critical/Analytical Response to Literary Text RUBRIC.

Conclusion

Inspiring Quotations from Amazing Canadian Women

agnes macphail

Agnes Macphail
was the first female
Member of Parliament
in Canada.