The Dark is Rising 2-5-8

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Due Date: April 28th, 2021

Class: English/Language Arts
Instructor: Myles Garcia
E-mail: myles2299@csu.fullerton.edu
Directions: For this assignment, I want you to choose two activities from the menu that you see
below. To complete this assignment properly, you will need to make sure that the two activities
that you choose add up to a total of 10 points. That means you can either choose to do one 2-
point activity and one 8-point activity or you can choose to do two 5-point activities. Please
make sure to place a checkmark beside the activities that you’ve decided to do for this
assignment. If you have any questions regarding the activities below, please reach out to me so I
can assist you.

2 PTS. – Knowledge & Comprehension

☐ Make a Comic: Use the “Make Beliefs Comix” link posted on our
class website and make your own comic depicting a scene from “The
Dark Is Rising”.

☐ Write a Poem/Song: For this activity, you can write a poem or song lyrics
that are related to our novel for this unit, “The Dark Is Rising”. Your poem or
song can be about anything you want, so long as you are able to reference the text.
You can choose to write about how a character is feeling, about events that took
place in the story, etc. If you’re having trouble figuring out what to write about,
please reach out to me so we can discuss.

☐ Crossword Puzzle: After reading through “The Dark Is Rising”, go online and create
a crossword puzzle comprised of different words related to the text. You may
select vocabulary words that you learned, character names, story locations,
literary devices, plot points, etc. To make your puzzle, you can use the
“Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker” website posted on the right-hand side of
our class website. Instructions on how to create your puzzle will be laid out on the Puzzlemaker
website when you arrive there. Please choose between 15-20 words.

5 PTS. – Application & Analysis

☐ Character Profile: After you’ve read through “The Dark Is Rising”, I
want you to think about the novel and then try to create your own original
character that you think could fit in the world of the story. Once you come
up with an idea for a character, it’s time to flesh them out by completing the
“Character Profile Template” that I’ve provided a link for on our class
website. Completing this form is a fun way of getting you to think
creatively and to help give you a better idea of character dynamics and
relationships. Please fill try to fill out every field and try to be as
descriptive as you can.

☐ Be a Critic: For this activity, you’ll need to use the Vocaroo recorder I posted a link to on our
class website. The idea behind this activity is that I want you to step into the shoes of a critic and
record your honest feelings about “The Dark Is Rising”. You can talk about how the book made
you feel, what you liked about it, what you didn’t like, etc. Please provide examples from the
text to support your opinions. Your recording should be between 2-3 minutes long. When you’re
done with your recording, you will be given a URL which will contain your recording. Please
copy & paste your URL to an e-mail directed to me so I can review your work.

☐ Music Playlist: For this activity, you will be asked to choose a character
from the novel “The Dark Is Rising”. Once you settle on a character, I want
you to think about their personality and create a music playlist consisting of 5-
10 songs that you think fit the character. After that’s been done, please write
1-2 paragraphs explaining why you chose these songs and why you think they
represent your chosen character well. This reflection is to be typed. You can make
the playlist by creating it on music streaming applications such as Spotify, Apple
Music, or YouTube. If you decide to do this, please provide a URL for your playlist on
your typed explanation. If you are unable to make the playlist on one of the applications
mentioned previously, you may type the song titles and artist names as a list on your reflection.

8 PTS. – Synthesis & Evaluation

☐ Your Choice: If you decide to select this activity, you’ll have to compose a one-page
proposal explaining what you intend to do for your activity so I can approve it. Remember, the
activity that you come up with requires you to synthesize and evaluate the information from
“The Dark Is Rising” novel so it must have depth. Some ideas you can try would include but are
not limited to an essay, a class presentation, a skit, etc.
☐ Book vs. Movie Paper: For this activity, you will be required to write a
2-3 page paper discussing the book “The Dark Is Rising” and its film
adaptation that we viewed in class, “The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising”. The
essay should be in MLA format and typed in Times New Roman with 12pt.
font. I want you to explain if you thought the film was successful in
conveying the messages presented in the novel and to cite evidence from
both the novel and the film to support your opinion. I also want you to
describe the differences and similarities between the book and novel.
Please let me know if you need any help completing this assignment.
☐ Character Journal: For this activity, I want you to figure out one character from the novel
“The Dark Is Rising” that resonated with you or who you found interesting. Once you’ve
selected this character, I want you to write a journal from the point of view of that character. This
assignment must be typed so please use a word processing program such as Microsoft Word,
Google Docs, etc. You will be required to write at least seven
journal entries from the point of view of your character and each one
should include either a date or title at the beginning so each entry
can be differentiated from the other. You will be allowed to write
casually for this assignment but remember that the voice that you
adopt needs to be consistent with the character that you’ve chosen.
Also, to get full credit for this assignment, you will need to mention
specific events or interactions from the novel.