Wednesday

HOMEWORK: Read chapter 7, 8
Reading calendar (dates listed are due dates): 4/30 ch 8; 5/1 ch 9; 5/4 ch 12; 5/5 ch 13 and 1 ch/ day every day from here on out. 5/11 ch 19; 5/18 ch 25 (the end)

Book Report due May 13!! That's a Wednesday.  Click Book Reports to see requirements.

April 29 JOURNAL prompt (1/2 page)

Robin Cody has written a story that we all want to read because it deals with the themes we all experience in our own lives. Let's all pretend that we are novelists and write (begin) novels of our own. Have fun with it. This will be graded easy.

Write 3/4 page of your novel/story!
If you didn't come up with a good idea last time, here are some common issues dealt with in novels. To write a novel, first you have to think of the issue you want to deal with (see list below--"loss," etc.). Then you will be able to imagine a story that deals with this. Often the plot is similar to a real life experience that you or someone else has had. But novelists don't just tell that story. They write a story that focuses on an issue and is  meaningful (usually) in some way. Sadly, real life is kind of blah quite often, and people don't always find meaning in the things they do, and endings are rarely all that happy. In good novels they often aren't, either, or if they are, there is sadness mixed with joy, but the novel will be crafted in a way that makes a point. We read good novels because they make some point about what it is to be a human being. Of course, I don't expect you to do all of this since many novelists don't do a very good job of it themselves! But try!! So, when you write, you get to do what Mark Twain was talking about when he said, "Sometimes, if you want to tell the truth, you have to do more than just tell the truth." Similarly, Picasso said, "Art is a lie that helps us understand the truth." You exaggerate details so that they fit the story better. People say the right things; extra characters are added, it's rainy on a sad day,etc.


Sometimes novels deal with:
Divorce. Week on/week off. I felt caught in the middle. Parents wouldn't talk to each other, etc.  Felt like I had to be the parent to my immature parents. When: July 1, 2010. Just had 9th birthday when parents sat me down on the couch. I felt . . .
Adolescents trying to work through the challenges they face.
      Fear of not fitting in
      What they're going to do in the future
      Relationships--family, friends, enemies,
      Power; hatred; racism
Death in the family
Love. Relationships. What is love? Am I loveable?
Friendships.
Peer pressure.
Loss. Loss of friends. The anguish of knowing that this is you last adventure together . . .
Transitions. Into highschool, puberty, moving to a new city,
Juggling too many things: sports, friends, job, school
Identity. What do I believe in? Who am I? Do I really want to be like my parents? Do I really want to follow societal roles? Gender identification.
Religion. As Susan faced the depths of loneliness, a new girl at school introduced her to the Bible . . .
          Horrible thing happens and Susan can no longer believe that there could be a God in such an unjust world.
Suicide. 1. Friend takes life and there doesn't seem to be any reason why he would have chosen to do so. 2. The loneliness is unbearable.
Police shootings. Pick a specific example--either real life of fictional, but exactly like real life.