Class Notes: Oct. 7, 2009

C-block (Honors)

AGENDA :
1. Journal (creative): back story and caption for New Yorker cartoons
2. Further discussion on chapter 2.
3. Chapter 3 summary: Lily
4. Reading strategy #3: Embedded and dense questioning strategy

HOMEWORK: 1. Write 9 of your own questions following the models I provided on the handout. Your questions should start at chapter 4. Please write them directly on the handout and draw an arrow to the point in the text to which you are referring.
2. Finish chapter 4.

D-block

AGENDA :
1. Journal (creative): back story and caption for New Yorker cartoons
2. Return character paragraphs from yesterday.
3. Characterization: Characterization is how an author develops a character in a novel. The question is how do we learn about a character? Develop list in class of how we learn about a character:

• appearance (how is a character described? what does the character wear?)
  
• character's name (or nickname)
• actions/behavior (how does a character act or react? what behaviors do they commonly exhibit?)
  
• speech: how a character says things (ironic? wise? funny? sarcastic? mean? does the character speak in a different dialect or speech pattern?)
• dialogue: what a character says to other characters
• feelings (guilty? low self-esteem? religious?)
• thoughts
• choices (how does a character make choices? based on what? what kinds of choices does a character make? what consequences do they have?)
  
• past/biography (early environment: family history, nationality, life experiences, education)
• what other characters or the narrator says about him/her (=direct characterization)
  

**Remember when you analyze a character, you are both a detective looking for clues and a psychiatrist analyzing behavior and thoughts.
4. Hand out Character Project assigned groups.
5. Practice looking at a character's actions, speech, appearance, etc. and then trying to decipher what this reveals about the character.
6. Chapter 4 summary: Marc
7. Begin reading chapter 5.

HOMEWORK: 1. Read chapters 5 & 6.
2. Complete FQs and vocabulary worksheet.