You are required to read an age-appropriate book of your choice and write a Book Report on it. Please note: you may NOT read a book based on a movie!!
Your Book Report must be posted on the ONLINE: Book Club page. (Instructions are on the page.)
The questions are as follows:
Details: What is the title and author of the book?
Plot: Summarize the plot without giving away spoilers. (150 words)
Protagonist: Describe the protagonist in terms of his / her involvement in the plot. (100 words) Themes: Choose one of the themes from the novel and discuss how the author explores it in the text. (100 words) Response: Explain why you did / did not enjoy the novel. (100 words)
Incorrect punctuating of direct speech: Use the quotation marks correctly (" ... ") and start a new line every time someone says something.
Super looong paragraphs, or worse, none at all: A story of 140 words or more requires slightly more than 3 paragraphs!!!!!
Inconsistent use of tenses: "I WENT to the hall. I SEE him standing there. I SAID hello. He SAYS hi back." Are you writing in the past tense or the present tense??? Pick one and STICK to it.
The use of boring cliches: Be original. Stand out. Capture our attention with something different!
Unnecessary waffle: It's pointless to write pages of arbitrary background information and only a paragraph or two on the climax. Forget the background. Jump straight in to the action. Keep it exciting.
Bland style: An essay with no adjectives and adverbs is like meat without gravy / ice-cream without chocolate sauce / coffee without sugar ... bland bland bland bland bland.
Practice thinking on-the-spot by playing the 1 Minute Game:
1 Minute Game:
When you present an unprepared speech, you will be given 1 minute to prepare.
During that 1 minute, write down as many points as you can think of to do with the topic. These points will form the basis of your speech.
When you make your speech, start by greeting the class and your teacher. Introduce your topic and provide a broad overview / definition.
Then go through each point on your list, one at a time, expanding on each as much as possible.
When you have nothing further to say, conclude by restating the topic and definition, and summarizing the points you have made, and thank the class for listening.
To practice the skill of thinking quickly, your teacher will give you a random topic. You will be given 1 minute to write down as many points on the topic as possible. (You should come up with at least 8 points!)
Comment on the tone of stanza 3. Through what words is this tone revealed?
Why did the narrator joined the army?
What is the narrators attitude towards war?
Identify and explain any ONE instance of figurative language from the poem.
What lessons can you learn from this poem?
One of the themes of this poem is friends vs enemies: One definition of an enemy could be ‘someone who you refuse to forgive’. How easy do you find it to forgive others? Have you ever made an enemy of a friend? Have you ever made a friend of an enemy?
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Activity:
Although this poem make a serious point, and we shouldn't trivialize it, we're going to pretend that the narrator of the poem is haunted by the ghost of the man he killed.
Imagine what they would say to each other, and write it in the form of a humorous dialogue between the two soldiers.
As an example, read through the following dialogue:
'Jack fell as he'd have wished,' the Mother said, and folded up the letter that she'd read. 'The Colonel writes so nicely.' Something broke in the tired voice that quavered to a choke. She half looked up. 'We mothers are so proud of our dead soldiers.' Then her face was bowed.
Quietly the Brother Officer went out. He'd told the poor old dear some gallant lies that she would nourish all her days, no doubt. For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy, because he'd been so brave, her glorious boy.
He thought how 'Jack', cold-footed, useless swine, had panicked down the trench that night the mine went up at Wicked Corner; how he'd tried to get sent home, and how, at last, he died, blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care except that lonely woman with white hair.
Identify and explain any ONE instance of figurative language from the poem.
What lessons can you learn from this poem?
One of the themes of this poem is bravery : How do you define bravery? What different types of bravery do you get? In what circumstances have you demonstrated bravery?
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Activity:
Write two letters. The first letter is the 'official' letter that the Colonel sent to Jack's mom. The second letter is the 'unofficial' letter that the Colonel would have liked to send to Jack's mom, saying what he really felt.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is High Wood, called by the French, Bois des Fourneaux, the famous spot which in Nineteen-Sixteen, July, August and September was the scene of long and bitterly contested strife, by reason of its high commanding site. Observe the effect of shell-fire in the trees standing and fallen; here is wire; this trench for months inhabited, twelve times changed hands; (they soon fall in), used later as a grave. It has been said on good authority that in the fighting for this patch of wood were killed somewhere above eight thousand men, of whom the greater part were buried here, this mound on which you stand being ... Madame, please, you are requested kindly not to touch or take away the Company's property as souvenirs; you'll find we have on sale a large variety, all guaranteed. As I was saying, all is as it was, this is an unknown British officer, the tunic having lately rotted off. Please follow me -- this way ... the path, sir, please, the ground which was secured at great expense the Company keeps absolutely untouched, and in that dug-out (genuine) we provide refreshments at a reasonable rate. You are requested not to leave about paper, or ginger-beer bottles, or orange-peels, there are waste-paper baskets at the gate.
How would you characterize the narrators attitude towards the site?
What restrictions does the narrator place on the members of the tour?
Judging from the tone of the poem, how do you think the poet feels about these tours.
What would the proper attitude be when touring war sites?
Identify and explain any ONE instance of figurative language from the poem.
What lessons can you learn from this poem?
One of the themes of this poem is remembering the war dead : How should we honour those who died in the struggle to end Apartheid? Should we still honour those who died on the wrong side of history?
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Activity:
Design a war memorial to the innocent victims of war using 5 symbolic elements.
Explain what each symbol is and what it means.
Look at the following war memorials for inspiration:
'Nonsense!' exclaimed the Director of Defense Research, 'pressing this button won't blow up the universe. At any rate, there's no clear reason why it should. At any rate, it very likely won't. At any rate I Think I'll Pr
Read through the poem and determine, for yourself, what the poem is about. Discuss.
Questions:
Explain the context of this poem.
What does the button release?
Why are they unsure what will happen if they press it?
What would motivate them to press it?
Who pressed it?
What happened?
What lessons can you learn from this poem?
One of the themes of this poem is accountability: What should happen to politicians who start wars?
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Activity:
Summarize the following passages, condensing them from 90 words to 50 words each.
Passage 1:
The incumbent Director of Defense Research, General Robert Rickson, walked into the cold, sparsely furnished room and looked around disdainfully. It was abundantly clear that he did not approve in the slightest of the chosen location to launch the ultimate weapon.
He was an arrogant and ruthless man who thought he was far superior to everyone else (and took every occasion to pompously prove it). He was obsessed with power and on this very day, he would show the rest of the troubled world just how fantastically powerful he was.
[90 words]
Passage 2:
The nervous group of scientists, who were - by this time - sweating profusely, stared at the Director with a growing sense of unease. It was abundantly clear to them that the power-hungry Director had been totally seduced by the thought of yielding such an almighty weapon of mass destruction. They were petrified that the Director (whom they secretly suspected of being a complete megalomaniac) would want to press the tiny, surprisingly unimportant looking red button that would signal the catastrophic final, tragic end to our great and glorious civilization.
Songs have frequently been used to express opposition to war. Here is a selection of protest songs:
Big Time in the Jungle:
This song by Old Crow Medicine Show chronicles the misadventures of a young man who is sent to fight in Vietnam - "fighting for an ideal he didn't even know about". His story typifies thousands of Americans who were sent to fight.
Weeping is an anti-apartheid song by the South African band Bright Blue. It was released in the 1980s at a time of great political unrest. The song is remarkable not only for the story that it tells, but for the fact that it contained strands of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika at a time when the Government had banned it from being played publically.
