I.

OBJECTIVE
At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:
a. Examine bias (for or against) made by the author;
b. Identify words (whether positive or negative) that can reveal an author’s bias; and
c. Identify biases in different readings by stating the authors’ connotations, loaded words, stereotypes, vague
language or generalization, one-sided arguments, and personal information.
II. SUBJECT MATTER
a. Topic: Examine bias (for or against) made by the author
b. Reference: DepEd Module, English 8, Quarter 3-Week 1, page 2-6
c. Materials; Manila Paper, Chalk, PPT
III. PROCEDURE

A. Pre-reading Activity
 Preliminaries
Checking of attendance The class Secretary reports the attendance for today.

Cleanliness of the room The cleaners for the day clean the room.
 Motivation
The teachers present the game by the use
of PPT.
“TELL ME BAD”
Direction:
Read the sentences below. Tell the words
that is having negative
connotation.
Answer:
1. Tondo is a gritty neighborhood, but the 1. Gritty
rents are low. 2. Babe
2. On my flight to Cebu, I sat next to this 3. Loudly
babe. She was beautiful. 4. Pushy
3. Every morning my neighbor takes his 5. Bullheaded
mutt to the park. It always barks loudly
when leaving the building.
4. You need to be pushy when you are
looking for a job.
5. Bob is bullheaded sometimes, but he
always gets the job done.

Motive question: Answer:

1. What have you observe from the 1. - Each sentence has negative words
previous activity? - I observed that there are some words that has two
2. From the previous activity, what do meanings
you think the meaning of negative 2. - Positive are the good words, and negative are the
and positive? words that are having bad definition/meaning.

B. Reading Proper
The teacher present the lesson through the use of The students will listen to the class discussion.
PPT/Visual aids.

Denotative and Connotative

Denotative meaning is the literal or formal
meaning of a word.
Connotative meaning is not part of the official
dictionary definition, the emotions and
associations connected to a word are known as its
connotative meaning.
Bias- is any opinion that influences a person’s
thoughts, feelings, or actions. A person can be
biased against something or have a bias for
something.
Author’s bias- is an opinion or prejudice that
affects that author’s writing and prevents the
author from being completely neutral about the
topic or issue about which s/he is writing.

How to determine the author’s bias

When an author does not acknowledge his/her
own bias, a reader can infer what an author’s bias
maybe by looking at the author’s diction.

When looking at the author’s diction:

• Does the author use words with more negative
connotations when referring to one side of an
issue or particular people?
Example:
Negative: Let's just say she's dumb.
Is that what you're reading? Your
interests sure are weird.
Before he makes any purchases, Billy
likes to do his research; he's so cheap.
At work and at home, she's very
egotistical.

• Does the author use words with more positive

connotations when referring to one side of an
issue or particular people?
Example:
Positive: Let's just say she's a little more simple
than others her age.
Is that what you're reading? Your
interests sure are unique.
Before he makes any purchases, Billy
likes to do his research; he's very economical.
At work and at home, she's very
confident.

Recognizing Bias

✓ Look for loaded words – words that are

charged with emotion (whether positive or
negative) can reveal an author’s opinion about
his/her topic.
Example: terror, terrorist, freedom, sex, gay,
reason and radical.

✓ Watch out for stereotypes – if the author labels

an entire group, the writing is probably biased.
Examples: All teenagers are rebels.
All Asians are good at math.
All Asians like to eat rice and drive slow.
Men are strong and do all the work.
✓ Notice vague language or generalizations – if
the author isn’t using specific language, this could
be an indicator of bias.
Examples: We’ve been living here for more or
less five years.
She’s got a small dog, a kind of Aspin, or
something.
I can’t meet up later. I have too much stuff to do.

✓ Be on the lookout for one-sided arguments – if

the author only presents one side of an argument,
his/her writing is probably biased. Example:
Informing volunteers only about the benefits of
the vaccine, but not explaining the side-effects or
risks associated with it.

✓ Does the author present facts or opinions?

Facts are what they are – the truth. Opinions, on
the other hand, can be based on feelings,
emotions, or prejudice.

Direction: Read the paragraphs/sentences and

answer the questions that follow:

1. Parents always talk about how if schools had

uniforms, everything would be so much
easier. You wouldn’t get caught up on looks
and would learn the skills you need. Fewer
students would-be victims of bullying or
teasing, which would increase their self-
esteem. I think that school uniforms would
put a restriction on our creativity. We dress
the way we do for a certain reason. Clothes
give us expression and the ability to use color
and patterns. If we all wear the same thing - a
bland, ugly uniform - we don’t get to see what
people are like on the inside. Clothes don’t
distract us from learning; they simply let us
inspire our imaginations, and that can be a
huge boost to one's confidence. Answer:
a. To whom the author is biased against/for?
b. What are the connotative words used by 1. a.
the author that show bias? b.
c. Which of the following did you recognize c.
in the paragraph? (loaded words,
stereotypes, vague language or 2. a.
generalizations, one-sided arguments, b.
personal opinions) c.
2. New cars are not built as well as they used to
be. Owners of new cars in 2002 have more
complaints about their automobiles than in
past years. The recalling of new cars by their
makers is becoming a routine practice in
America. Instead of insisting upon safe, well-
designed products, carmakers seem more
 concerned with throwing together shoddy
automobiles and making a profit. Invariably,
new cars need parts replaced almost as soon
as the warranty expires. Unfortunately, people
need transportation, so they continue to buy
new automobiles.
a. To whom the author is biased against/for?
b. What are the connotative words used by
the author that show bias?
c. Write the loaded words, stereotypes,
vague language or generalizations, one-
sided arguments, personal opinions that
you recognize in the paragraph.

C. Post-reading Activity
Read the paragraphs and answer the questions
after each paragraph. For each paragraph,
determine what the author’s bias is by looking for
patterns in the author’s diction (connotations) and
the use of evidence.

Men's looks matter to heterosexual women only

somewhat. Most women prefer men who are taller than
they are, with symmetrical features (a sign that a
potential partner is healthy and parasite-free). But,
women across cultures are intent on finding male
partners with high status, power, and access to
resources—which means a short guy can add maybe a
foot to his height with a private jet. And, just like
women who aren't very attractive, men who make very
little money or are chronically out of work tend to have
a really hard time finding partners. There is some male
grumbling about this. Yet, while feminist journalists
deforest North America publishing articles urging
women to bow out of the beauty arms race and "Learn
to love that woman in the mirror!", nobody gets into the
ridiculous position of advising men to "Learn to love
that unemployed guy sprawled on the couch!"
Now, before you brand me a traitor to my gender, let
me say that I'm all for women having the vote, and I
think a woman with a mustache should make the same
money like a man with a mustache. But you don't help
that woman by advising her, "No need to wax that lip
fringe or work off that beer belly!" (Because the road to
female empowerment is...looking just like a hairy old
man?)
1. To whom the author is biased for or against? Answer:
2. What are the negative connotative words used 1.
by the author that show bias?
3. What are the positive connotative words used
by the author that show bias?

D. Generalization/Reminder
• An author’s bias is an opinion or prejudice that
 affects that author’s writing and prevents the
author from being completely neutral about the
topic or issue about which s/he is writing.

• To determine the author’s bias a reader must

look at the author’s negative connotations and
positive connotations when referring to one side
of an issue or particular people. These
connotations are another clue to what or whom
the author may be biased for or against. Another
is looking at the author’s use of negative evidence
and positive evidence for one side of an issue than
the other.

• In recognizing bias a reader should look for

loaded words, watch out for stereotypes, notice
vague language or generalizations, be on the
lookout for one-sided arguments, and personal
opinions.

IV. EVALUATION

TEACHER'S ACTIVITY STUDENT'S ACTIVITY

Direction: Read the paragraph below. Circle the Loaded
words; Box the stereotyping words; Underline the Answer:
generalizing words; Line erase the one-sided arguments; Loaded words
and [ bracket the authors’ opinion.]

When I met with Mayor Gomez, I noticed that he had Stereotyping words
the appearance of a hobo. He was unshaven and
wearing dirty clothes. He spoke to me about his horrible
plan to fix our city’s roads. Anyone who knows the plan Generalizing words
will tell you that it will bankrupt our city. The plan to
fix our roads mostly benefits friends of the Mayor. He
plans to pay his buddies in the construction business One-sided arguments
thousands of dollars over the next two years. I do not
want to insult anyone, but the Mayor is of Italian
descent, and we all know what reputation they have in Author's opinion
this part of the country. Need I remind you of Al
Capone and other Italian Mafia members?

V. ASSIGNMENT
Bring Manila paper and Pentel pen