Reading project outline
- 1. Reading Project Your reading project should be a study of twobooks. It might be interesting tocomparetwobooks from the samegenre, or from very different genres – it’s up to you. I’m not going to giveyou any timescalesor deadlinesyet – just get started by choosing and reading and starting tothinkabout what you’re going to do. I will writeup some deadlinesand other requirementsbytheend of the next half term, and we will probablytry to have thisall done before the end of thehalf term after Easter, but I will be moreclear about thisas we go along. Thisis about the end result – I want you to makepiecesof work you are pleased with, that you’ve enjoyed doing and that show how you are developing and learning things. BUT it’s also about enjoying thejourney. Thisis not one pieceof work – it’sa ‘portfolio’ of tasks. I will guideyou, and I might ask for more from you, or encourageyou to revisit and develop things, but you canchoose a rangeof different thingsyou might do. I have a rangeof examplesbut You absolutely don’t have to do all of these You absolutely can createa different thing you want to do 1. Introduction to Plot,Authors and Choices Summarisetheplotsof both books or stories. Each summaryshould be no longer than100 words. You could also introducetheauthorsand any informationthat you have on them. The internet would be a great resourcehere, but don’t ever copy and pasteand thinkthat’swork. Read, think, reflect, and then writeyour own response. Why have you chosen these? Both individuallyand together (so why thisone, and why thisone, and why these two together?)
- 2. 2. Characters Makenotes with evidence from the text on the main characters/peopleinyour books. Do thecharactersseem realistic? Ifnot, why not? Outlinethe development of thecharacters-dotheylearnanything? How do they changeas the plot develops? Makea personal response to the characters-doyou like them? Would you choose them as a friend? Writea letter to one of the charactersinthe book. Imaginethat a film is being madeof your books. Which actorswould you choose to play which character? Makesureyou say why. Rewritean extract from thestory from thepoint of view of a different character Rewritean extract from thestory so that you try to changethereaders sympathyor empathyfrom one charactertoanother. (Ask me for help with this idea if you need it). 3. Settings What isthe setting for each book? Are they similar or very different? Pickone setting for each book and describeit. Perhapsyou could try to find a picturefrom a magazineor the internet that matchesyour description. Remember that aswell as ‘Place’, setting also means‘Time’ – is the story set now? In the past, the future? In some different realityor a fantasysetting? Did you get a clear pictureinyour mind of the setting? If you did not get a clear picture, explainwhat theproblemswere and give examples from the text. If you do, explainwith evidencefrom the text what providesthat picture. Have you ever been there or would you like to go there? Give reasons for your answer. When describing a setting, did theauthorsuse all five senses? Give examples. What wasthe best part of the setting and why? How did the setting reflect what else was happening inthe book? For examplewas it darkand gloomy when a character felt sad? Draw a map of the story.
- 3. 4. Themes Pickout themainthemes of your books eg. love, fear, power. Makea collage using imageand text to illustratethethemes from your book. Writea poem based on your storiesabout one of the themes. Do you thinkthe stories providegood answersto the questionsthey consider? Complicated answersor easy answers? Arethey more about thinking about thequestionthanproviding ananswer? 5. Structure Remember what Todorov said about narrativestructure? Think about his ideasand how they applyto your stories. Draw tension graphsfor your books, explaining which werethe most exciting partsand why. You should also pickout any dull partsand explainwhy you though them to be boring. Pickout the most readablepartsand explainyour choice. Which bitswerethe most tediousand why? (I’ll remind you about tensiongraphsand show you some examples) Choose an extractfrom the storyand recreateit in the style of a graphic novel. Choose an extractfrom the storyand rewriteit as a script for a play. 6. Performance Reading aloud – choose extractsfrom your book and make a recording of you reading them. (You might be ableto do thison a phone or a computer you have. If not, or you’re not sure how, I can help here with guidanceand also with equipment). 7. Opinions What do you think about thetwo books? Do you prefer one or the other? Why?