Voices in the Phone Book

Overview

This is lesson 4 of 6 in Voices, Power, and Perspective. Students closely study John Varley’s experimental short story The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged), focusing on how an alphabetical catalogue, character snapshots, direct address and limited plot create meaning. They build towards a close-reading response using the evidence-and-analysis skills required for NCEA English, including skills associated with 91100.

Learning intentions

• WALT analyse how an experimental structure shapes meaning and reader engagement.
• WALT examine how character snapshots develop ideas about individuality and urban society.
• WALT explain how the narrator’s direct address positions the reader.
• WALT develop a close-reading response using specific, relevant evidence.

Success criteria

• I can identify structural and language choices in the story.
• I can explain how character snapshots work together to create an idea or effect.
• I can connect the narrator’s choices to the author’s purpose and wider context.
• I can write a developed paragraph with evidence, explanation and a clear link to the question.

Curriculum links

• Demonstrate understanding of specific aspects of studied text: describing and explaining how structure, character, language and purpose create engagement and viewpoints.
• Demonstrate understanding of significant aspects of unfamiliar texts: analysing how meanings and effects are created through ideas, language features and structure.
• Develop ideas in writing using stylistic and written conventions: shaping connected ideas clearly for purpose and audience.
• Level 6 English learning: responding critically to texts and supporting interpretations with evidence.

Lesson structure (90 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Provocation and retrieval. Teacher opens the hook and learning intentions with the question, “Can a list tell a story?” and briefly revisits the previous lesson’s ideas about voice, power and perspective. Students write a quick response, then share one expectation they have about what a conventional short story should contain.

2. 8–20 min · First encounter with form. Teacher displays a short, representative extract from the story using the extract and noticing prompts, reads it aloud, and models noticing alphabetical organisation, compressed character description and direct address. Students annotate their copy of the text, recording one structural choice, one language choice and one immediate reader effect.

3. 20–35 min · Building a shared reading. Teacher uses the structure and discussion slides to clarify the story’s unusual features: catalogue structure, large cast of real people, minimal conventional plot, narrator-reader relationship and movement between public identity and private detail. In groups of four, students complete the first section of the close-reading organiser, selecting three character snapshots and explaining what each suggests about individuality, anonymity or urban society.

4. 35–53 min · Jigsaw analysis. Teacher assigns each group one analytical focus from the group task instructions: structure, character snapshots, narrator’s direct address, or ideas about city life. Students reread relevant sections and prepare a two-minute explanation containing a quotation or precise detail, the technique used, its effect, and a possible purpose. Groups share while classmates add useful evidence to their organisers.

5. 53–68 min · Connecting aspects and context. Teacher leads discussion with the synthesis questions: “How does the alphabetical structure change the way we value the people presented?” and “Why might Varley choose real names and recognisable social details?” Students create a brief chain in their worksheet: structural choice → character effect → reader viewpoint → possible author purpose or wider context. Teacher presses students to move from description (“it is a list”) to explanation (“the list makes people seem both individually specific and interchangeable”).

6. 68–85 min · Close-reading response. Teacher models a concise paragraph using the paragraph model and checklist and sets the question: “How does Varley use the story’s catalogue structure and character snapshots to challenge conventional ideas about individuality?” Students write one developed paragraph independently in the final section of the close-reading organiser. Require a clear point, specific evidence, explanation of at least two connected aspects, and a link to reader viewpoint or purpose.

7. 85–90 min · Exit reflection and next step. Teacher displays the plenary and exit prompt and asks students to complete: “The most important effect of the story’s form is…, because…” Students hand in the response or photograph it for feedback; teacher identifies whether each student has described, explained or perceptively connected the text’s aspects.

Resources

• the complete introduction, teaching and plenary slide deck
• Copies of John Varley’s The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged)
• the close-reading organiser
• Highlighters or annotation tools
• Projector or interactive display
• Student exercise books or devices
• Timer
• Board space for the class synthesis chain

Assessment

• During annotation and group work, check whether students can name a specific aspect and connect it to an effect rather than merely summarising content.
• Listen for explanations showing how structure, character and narrator work together; question students with “How do you know?” and “Why might the writer choose this?”
• Collect the independent paragraph as a formative close-reading sample. Use the progression from description to explanation to purpose/context to plan the final two lessons.

Differentiation

• Provide selected extracts, a glossary of terms such as catalogue structure, direct address, anonymity and juxtaposition, and sentence starters: “The alphabetical structure…”, “This positions the reader to…”, and “Together, these choices suggest…”
• Allow students who need support to work from two teacher-selected character snapshots before choosing a third; offer speech-to-text or a scribe where appropriate.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach key vocabulary, allow discussion before writing, and provide a model paragraph with colour-coded point, evidence and explanation.
• Extend confident students by asking them to evaluate whether the story’s use of real people creates a democratic portrait of urban society or reduces individuals to entries in a system.