The Newbery Project

Assignment(s) Overview

Welcome to your entrance ticket to World Literature Honors 2012-2013. Please read ALL of the instructions that follow and then carefully construct your project over the summer break.

 Due Dates:

The Fine Print: Blog Chats, Book Chats and Essays Due Dates:

The Give and The Westing Game: Due: July 2, 2012

A Single Shard and I, Juan de Pareja: Due: July 20, 2012

Jacob Have I Loved and Kira-Kira:  Due: August 3, 2012

 

    • Read 6 Newbery Award Winners:
      •  The Giver by: Lois Lowry (179 pages)
      • The Westing Game by: Ellen Raskin (182 pages)

 

      • A Single Shard by: Linda Sue Park (152 pages)
      • I, Juan de Pareja by: Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (180 pages)

 

      • Jacob Have I Loved by: Katherine Paterson (263 ages)
      • Kira-Kira by: Cynthia Kadohata (244 pages)

 

o      The Fine Print: Blog Chats, Book Chats and Essays

§       The Fine Print: Blog Chats: Post one original answer and two comments per novel

§       6 Book Chats

§       3 five paragraph, Literary Analysis essays *(in MLA format)

 

o      Acceptable format

§       MLA format

§       Please turn into my box in the CCHS office or attach the work into an email at kelly.loock@calvaryschools.org. You will receive a conformation email from me within 72 hours that I have received your assignment. If no confirmation is received. Please resend.

 

o      Attachments

§       Attach the finished products to the email, as well as copy and paste the entire document into the email form. This way, if the attachment does not open, there is still confirmation of the completed assignments.

 

 

 

Assignment Directions

 

STEP ONE: Purchase:

      •  The Giver by: Lois Lowry (ISBN: 0-440-23768-8)
      • The Westing Game by: Ellen Raskin (ISBN: 978-0-14-240120-0)

 

      • A Single Shard by: Linda Sue Park (ISBN: 978-0-440-41851-1)
      • I, Juan de Pareja by: Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (ISBN: 0-312-38005-4)

 

      • Jacob Have I Loved by: Katherine Paterson (ISBN: 0-06-440368-8)
      • Kira-Kira by: Cynthia Kadohata (ISBN: 978-0-689-85640-2)

STEP TWO: Read the books in the following order, note the separate due dates of completion. Books are to be read in the following pairs, so literary comparisons can be made.

 

1.    The Giver by: Lois Lowry (179 pages)

2.     The Westing Game by: Ellen Raskin (182 pages)

 

3.     A Single Shard by: Linda Sue Park (152 pages)

4.     I, Juan de Pareja by: Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (180 pages)

 

5.     Jacob Have I Loved by: Katherine Paterson (263 ages)

6.     Kira-Kira by: Cynthia Kadohata (244 pages)

 

**Please read the following steps, so that you can actively read the above novels with a directed eye at the novel’s themes, symbols and characterizations.

 

STEP THREE: Upon completion of the each novel please complete a book chat. Book chats are attached to the back of this packet and available on The Fine Print Blog. Please re-type questions and answers into an MLA formatted document. Turn in completed Book Chats (4-5 pages) by the following due dates:

 

§       Book Chat Due Dates:

  • The Give and The Westing Game: Due: July 2, 2012
  • A Single Shard and I, Juan de Pareja: Due: July 20, 2012
  • Jacob Have I Loved and Kira-Kira:  Due: August 3, 2012

 

STEP THREE AND A HALF: While reading each book, please focus of the following themes, while choosing one of The Fine Print note taking strategies, under “Reading The Fine Print”. Notes will not be turned in for credit, but will help when posting original comments on the blog, as well as reviewing for your test during the first week of school:

  1. All children must become adults (the age of innocence/ tension between childhood and adulthood)
  2. The importance of memory
  3. Boys and girls cannot effortlessly change roles in society
  4. Dreams remain distinct from waking life
  5. Ferocious Love vs. Loss
  6. Realism vs. Fantasy

Two weeks before the Book Chats are due, questions will appear on www.thefineprint.edublogs.org. The Fine Print is our World Literature forum. It is our way to discuss novels and help each other through World Literature Honors. Before posting any material, please re-familiarize yourself with The Fine Print’s  “Responsible Blogging” Section. (Section can be at the top of the blog).

 

Each Newbery Winner book will have one to three questions posted on the main blog page. Use these questions to help guide your reading. A week before the due dates, Fine Print Forums, regarding the chosen questions, will be open to post one original comment per Newbery Winner and comment on two student’s post. Remember: Original Posts must end in a question, because blogging is a conversation that we want to keep going. And, each comment must consist of constructive criticism and/or further examples to help the argument. Remember you will have to visit the Forums multiple times to see/read the ongoing conversations, as well as comment on your peers’ literary critiques. (Forums can be found at the top of the blog)

 

STEP FOUR: After reading every pair of Newberry winners, chose one of the two to write a 5 paragraph Literary Analysis essay. Five essay prompts are listed below, make sure to choose the prompt that best magnifies your writing skills. Remember: a five paragraph essay can NOT fit on one page. This is my first impression of your writing talent—show off a bit.

 

Make sure your essay follows MLA format, excludes dead words, contains no first person pronouns, has sentence variety, is grammatically correct, all quotes are cited ( i.e. (Lowry 12)), and is stapled and ready to be turned in. Failure to turn in project, will result in a class transfer to World Literature CP.

 

Hint: The Fine Print Blog Forums will help add analysis to your essays.

Note: Essays prompts can be used more than once.

 

 

**********THIS IS NOT A PLOT SUMMARY ESSAY*********

 

ESSAY PROMPT #1:

 Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

 

ESSAY PROMPT #2:

 Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behaviors discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good—are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write and essay in which you explain how the characters can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole.

 

 

 

ESSAY PROMPT #3:

 

Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Chose a novel in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.

 

 

ESSAY PROMPT #4:

 Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal. Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main characters may likewise be guilty of treachery or may betray their own values. Select a novel that includes such acts of betrayal. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the nature of the betrayal and show how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

 

ESSAY PROMPT #5:

 In a literary work, a minor character, often know as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behaviors of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel in which a minor character serves a s foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be tested on all six novels during the first month of school, failure to pass this test, will result in a transfer from Honors World Literature into World Literature CP.

 

Attached to the back of this packet is a rubric for the Book Chats and for the Essays.

Use the rubrics to check your understanding of the material and content.