ELA 10 Project Based Novel Study

Driving statement
You may or may not like to read novels. Regardless of your viewpoint, it is hard
to argue against the fact that books can contain valuable information as well as
entertainment. In this unit you will study a novel and dig into its intricacies.
Many would say that an evening spent reading a novel is an evening spent well.
The great orator, Cicero, said that a home without books is like a body without a
soul. Do you agree?
A home without books is like a
body without a soul.

Your objective:
Pick one of the selected novels and read it. While reading it you will complete
tasks that work to generate a deeper understanding and appreciation for
literature.

Outcomes:
If someone who has not read your book were to watch your final presentation, they
should be able to answer the following questions.

1 What insights does the book have? What life lessons or philosophical
questions are being presented? What is the central theme of the story?
2 In what ways was the book entertaining/informative?
3 How are various elements of story writing used to create a realistic world?

Tasks:
PART A) Acquaintance phase: Flip through some of the books get a feel for
them. Read the back cover. Pick a book and start reading!

PART B) Creation phase. Complete 7 of the following 9 tasks.

Task to be completed within the first day of the unit:
Write a blog post about the novel you chose to read. Include the following
highlights: what is the name of the novel and the author; what do you
know about it; are you excited to read it; what do you think it will be about;
has it won any awards; what genre is it.
*Alternatively, if you do not feel like writing a post, feel free to use
audioboo to voice-record your answers to this question, or use an iPad to
video-record your answers. Whichever choice you make, upload the
finished product to your blog.

Tasks which are best to be completed during or after the reading of

your novel (complete 6 of 8)
Create a twitter account and tweet about the book as you read it. Minimum
of 20 tweets. You can tweet about things that interest you in the story such
as things you think are cool, gross, sad, funny, boring, suspenseful, etc. Be
sure to use hashtag #STM87
That said, the following elements must be tweeted about:
1. Whether or not you would personally do something that a character in
the story does.
2. Your views on a moral or ethical decision that a character in the story
makes.
3. Something in the story that is not part of your culture (something that a
character or characters do that appear normal, but which would seem
weird to see, hear or do in Fairview.
4. Briefly sum up what motivates the protagonist, and whether or not you
can relate to this motivation in your own life.
5. Briefly sum up what motivates the antagonist in the story, and whether
or not you can relate to this motivation in your own life.

Create a collage or write a 400 word personal response which exemplifies

the archetype of a character in the book. This is achieved by
presenting/describing personality traits, roles, relationships, motivations,
attitudes, and values of your chosen character. On a small plaque to put
beside your collage, or after your 400 word personal response, explain how
the archetype of your chosen character makes the book interesting.

The following link is an Archetypes resource. Use this and this task
becomes a pleasure!
bit.ly/1gKUdb9

Settings and characters in novels are usually realistic. The locations in

stories are usually real places, or at least sound like places that could
found on earth. Likewise, the behaviours and motivations of characters in
stories are usually relatable to our own lives. For this task you will make
two blog posts.
First Blog Post: Describe the setting(s) found in the story. Based on the
information found within the text, when and where does it take place? Is
the setting realistic? Be sure to include images of items talked about in the
story, and images of the location of the story.
Second Blog Post: Describe the main character in the book. Based on
information found within the story, what motivates this character? Does
the character act/speak in a realistic way? Do their behaviours change in
the story, or do they stay the same?

For this task you will need a partner. Imagine one of you is the author of
the book, and the other one is conducting an interview about the book. The
interviewer wants the author to summarize the plot, describe the setting
and atmosphere, explain how the main conflict is developed, and tell the
audience what the overall theme of the book is. Film the skit with an iPad
and edit with iMovie (simple editing - title, credits, perhaps a few scene
transitions and a bit of music?) Have fun with this one!

Compare your book cover to other versions for the same book. Think about
the similarities and differences and write down your thoughts. Which cover
do you like best? Which cover do you think best represents the story?
Which cover would stand the best chance of attracting your eye in a
bookstore? Be sure to point out similarities and differences between two or
more covers. Post your response on your blog. Be sure to include images of
the book covers you write about.

No matter whom you are, and no matter what book you just read, you will
have a certain response to the book during and after your reading of the
story. When thinking of a personal response you would think of things like

"how does this book make me feel - what emotions does it evoke?" and
"did I like or dislike the book, or a bit of both? Why?" and "would I
recommend this book for others to read? For this task, you will articulate
your personal response to the novel. You may use any format that works
best for you, as long as you answer the questions above. You can write a
blog post, a letter, make a poster, a video, a podcast, etc. If you choose to
write your response, it must be a minimum of 250 words.

Either using glogster or poster-paper, create an illustrative timeline of

important events that occur in the story. Write the important events down
on the poster, and add colour images of the event. Then, add black/white
images of events in the story that are not important at all. Create a legend
on the poster that lets the viewer know that the written work and colour
images are important events, and the black/white images are unimportant
events.

Personal option. Take ownership of text creation by selecting your own

topic to work with that is personally meaningful and engaging, and
complete the task in the way that would best exemplify your chosen topic.
Please let me know your intentions before starting this task.

PART C) Write an essay about the book you read. You will be able to choose
between 5 different essay topics. You will be given these essay topics when you
are finished all of PART B. The essay must be between 700-900 words, and
must include an intro (with thesis), at least 3 body paragraphs, and a
conclusion. You also need to include topic sentences, transition sentences, and
proper formatting for the essay to be completed properly.

Structure your time well. You need to spend time reading, as

well as responding to your chosen novel. This is a 2 week unit.
You may need to spend time with this unit at home. If
anything, read a lot while at home.
Be creative, be responsible, and have fun!