ENG1D – Novel Study Literature Circles

TASK: As we read The Chrysalids you are expected to

complete a total of four journal responses. These responses will
help you to engage with the text on a deeper level; provide a
way for you to collaborate with your classmates; and finally give
you the chance to really demonstrate your understanding of the
novel to your instructor.

Reading Circles: After we’ve read chapter one of The

Chrysalids as a class, we will form reading circles to read the rest
of the novel in small groups. You are expected to document the
key concepts, ideas, and events in The Chrysalids in your journal by taking on the responsibilities of each
of the following group roles: Discussion Director, Illustrator, Summarizer, and Analyser.

Group members will trade roles every four chapters to make sure that everyone has an equal
opportunity to participate and learn from the experience without being overwhelmed. For example, if
you are a discussion director for chapters 2-5, then you must choose a different job for the next two
chapters. Please keep your work in your English Journals for marking at the end of the unit and
remember that you should have four entries in total (one for each role).

Discussion Director

“My job is to make up and ask questions about

the selection that we are reading. I will also share
the overall insights of my group with the class.”

Make sure the questions get “big” answers. The idea is to make up the kinds of questions that will make
the other students in your group think carefully about what they read and to feel that they are part of
the story.
Some possible questions are:

• Which part of the story brought out the strongest feelings?

• Was there anything in this part of the story that bothered or surprised you?
• If you could talk to the main character, what would you tell him or her to do?
• Do you agree with the main character’s actions? Why or why not?
• What do you think will happen in the next part of the story?
Illustrator

“As the illustrator I draw a picture, a story map,

or other graphic organizer to show a main part of
the selection that we have read.”

You can use a sketch, cartoon, or chart. Make a title for the graphic, and provide a caption explaining
the graphic.

For example: You could create a story map, a plot graph, a comic, storyboard, or a series of images that
you feel best represent what is happening in the chapters.

Summarizer

“As the summarizer, my job is to record the main

things that have happened in the chapters we read.
I can write a précis or use the SWBS technique.”

In your summary, do not tell everything. Just tell the important events. Begin with the main idea
sentence, and the following sentences should include the main details and events. Then write a
concluding statement that wraps up your summary. It should not be longer than one page double-
spaced.

Analyser

“My job is to point out important concepts, themes,

ideas and connections for my group that I have
discovered while I was reading the chapters.”

Point out and provide page numbers for passages, sentences, and phrases, words that evoke pictures or
create strong feelings. You should also be finding examples of how what you are reading connects with
another book, event or theme you saw on TV, experienced in your own life, or know to be happening in
the “real world”? You might ask yourself the question: "What does this selection remind me of?" or
"Who do the main characters remind me of?"