Everyone’s picked a new novel they’re going to read on their own, but good readers think about the writing as they progress through a book. It’s important to consider certain questions at the beginning of a book; it helps establish a deeper understanding of the complex plot the author developed and helps you make connections to the rest of the text as you read along.

Activity:
After you’ve read enough of the beginning of your book (maybe 20 – 40 pages), pause a moment to consider some of the following prompts. You don’t have to answer all of them and shouldn’t respond with a Question-Answer format. Just journal your thoughts as they come together.

Prompts to consider from the beginning development of your book:

• The setting is a super important part of a book’s beginning. Whether a series of events happens in the past, the present or the future, the possible outcomes depend on when in time the events happen. Where it is happening, that you understand the surroundings, the locations the main character goes back and forth from, and where they are in relation to others around them, these are also all parts of the setting to consider. Some authors may develop this really clearly at the beginning while others maybe don’t pay enough attention to it. How is the development of setting affecting the way you are reacting to the book? 
• Main character development – We usually have to be able to relate to a character if we want to follow them along through their experiences. Even if they have very different qualities than you, you often can find similarities with them from the ideas they have, the way they treat people, the hopes they have, their background etc. How are you connecting with your novel’s main character? 
• What about the author’s style of writing do you like, so far? Or what about it do you not like, so far? It can be how they use dialogue. It can be whether personality shows through in descriptions of how characters act around others. It can be how they divide the chapters; some of the most popular books have chapters that end with a bang and entice readers to keep reading! Some authors may use sentences that are too long. Others may use some that are too choppy.
• Establishing the problem: Every story is about a character in a situation they don’t want to be in. The rest of the story is about their attempt to solve their situation and the distractions that get in their way. If an author develops the beginning of a book for too long, though, without identifying the problem, a reader may lose interest and feel the pace is dragging. An author may fail to create a believable problem, oversell the danger and not deliver with an exciting story to follow. With what you’ve read so far, a) are you aware of the conflict the main character wants to solve and b) is it an interesting problem/does it make for a good story in your opinion?

Here are some samples of how to develop the type of paragraph you’re about to write.

One of the first signs of maturity in this novel is when Mariam has to cook her first meal for her and Rasheed, all by herself. She is fifteen at the time, and has just moved away from her home where her mother has died, and has to cook and clean for her husband for the first time without any guidance. Mariam has never been in this situation where she has to cook for a man by herself, because her mother had always been there to help. Mariam tries something  challenging and “[makes] fresh dough, kneading it the way [her mother] had shown her”(65). Mariam is fifteen and already she is taking on a huge responsibility of taking care of not just any man, but her husband who she has just met. No fifteen year old girl should have to be thrown into a situation like this, but Mariam was, and she handled the situation very well, better than a normal girl her age would have. Mariam shows a lot of maturity as she grows throughout the novel but this is one of the earliest and most significant events.

In addition to Clay’s denial of the tapes, comes his dread of just wanting them to be over. Emotional stress starts to overcome Clay as he listens to these tapes, just waiting to hear the reason why he is involved. He sits with grief waiting for the current tape he is on to finish. Expressing his emotions, he moans “I’m ready to get this over with”(99). The actions of Clay shows that he does not want to take part in these tapes anymore. Comparing this example, Clay yet again is changing his attitude. Observing this, readers recognize the main character does not want to be in the position he is, but continues to change throughout the novel to change throughout the book.

The first example of how the main character changes throughout the book  is that Hannah Baker starts off as an innocent and carefree girl. She is young and new to town and wants nothing more than a fresh start. In the first summer there, she meets a boy who she starts to like and likes her back. Hannah “simply wanted a kiss and [she] wanted [her] first kiss to be… innocent”(23-25).  Rumors, however, spread like wild fire and soon Hannah’s reputation starts to change. She goes  from being known as the pure new girl to being known as a girl with a damaged reputation. This newly developed image of Hannah is based off of lies and it has a lasting effect on her.  Before this, she is not worried what others thought of her and, for the most part,  lived carefree. After this, though, she begins to second guess her actions and think about the long term results that could come from them.  Her innocence was taken away from her and this starts a chain reaction of changes in Hannah’s life .

The following lines are from popular pop songs and include one or more of the following figurative devices:

Plays on meanings of words: personification, similar or metaphor

Plays on sounds of words: alliteration, assonance, consonance

You can try this quiz in one of two levels: with hints or without hints. Let me know which you want to try!

Bonus marks if you can identify the song title and artist!

Song Lyrics Quiz – gr 9  (multiple choice)

We’re officially finished studying Romeo and Juliet! Before we move on, you have a few things to look back on and identify some things about your learning through it.

1. Reflecting on the fact that you studied and did some online research to learn about Shakespeare and specifically the play of Romeo and Juliet before we started reading it together, what are your thoughts on that process or method of beginning this text study?
2. How do you think it changed your experience of Romeo and Juliet, having studied it and learned so much about it before reading it together? Give one specific example to help support your perspective.
3. Would you recommend for other students in the future to go through the step of studying Shakespeare and the play elements before reading it? Explain the reasoning for your answer. Pick one – yes you’d recommend it or no you wouldn’t.
4. You journaled as Romeo immediately after he killed Tybalt and lost his friend Mercutio. Explain how you felt completing that journalling, first person writing: challenging, easy enough, a breeze? Explain what about it made it this way for you?
5. Our debates: You’ve completed many other debates before, you’d shared. How was this debate any different from the others you’ve done previously, or was it different? If it was, in what way was it different? What parts of the planning work helped prepare you for the actual exchange of the debate?
6. How do you feel your performance of your debate related to your preparation of the debate?
   (Ex: I prepared a lot but performed poorly; it might have been because….. )
   (Ex: I didn’t prepare much, but performed really well; it might have been because….)
7. What new elements of developing a presentation have you learned from preparing your Comparison Project? List two specific elements you tried that were different from what you’ve done before and how you felt they worked for you in the end.
8. Are you becoming more comfortable with speaking projects and activities? Explain.