11 Honors Outside Reading Project Quarter 3

Dystopian Literature

Directions: Choose one of the following options for your final project. Projects will be graded on effort, creativity, how well you demonstrate your understanding of the novel, and how well you complete all facets of whichever option you choose. There are several options available. Variations on any of these options must be pre-approved. You will be required to present your project to the class at the end of the unit. All projects should be mechanically sound and indicate a high degree of effort. This project should reflect thought and work over a period of time, not just something thrown together last minute.

The Soundtrack: Make an eight song CD for the movie version of your novel. This could be during the time period of the novel or in the present. Your notes will ultimately be the parts of an essay in which you explain why you are including each of the songs on the mix. For each song or musical piece, provide a copy of the lyrics; then, each song should have a paragraph of in-depth analysis/explication/description which explains its connection to the novel, using literary evidence such as: themes, symbols, motifs, and situations that a character and the novel explored. You should use TEXT BASED EVIDENCE (AKA quotes from the novel!) Requirements: 8 songs (artist/song title) on CD, at least a paragraph explanation for each, use of lyrics to explain rationale, cover for CD. You pick and choose which elements of the music to connect to the novel. Be artistic! Presentation is just as important as content.

The "Scrapbook": Compile a scrapbook of memorabilia that a character might have collected or come across during the novel. All artifacts must be captioned with where he got it, its significance to him, and the page you found it on. Think of the images that keep recurring in the novel, the places to which a character travels, and anything s/he collects. This project will be assessed based on the amount of memorabilia collected and its presentation. As a benchmark, expect to get at least eight pieces of memorabilia for your scrapbook. Each item should have at least a paragraph explaining its significance. You should use TEXT BASED EVIDENCE (AKA quotes from the novel!) to support your items: you will demonstrate where it was found and then explain the significance.

Your Novel: The Motion Picture: Choose a scene/montage of significant event/s in your novel and turn it/them into screenplay. [You might also turn the entire novel into a short film, serious or humorous.] You should use TEXT BASED EVIDENCE (AKA quotes from the novel!). Requirements: a 6 page script that follows movie script format including setting, camera shots, and cast descriptions (who you want to play who), typed. You may video tape the scene/s or act them out in class. It does not have to be memorized, but be sure that your performance reflects extensive preparation.

Divergent series / Veronica Roth
Matched series / Ally Condie
Legend series / Marie Lu
House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer
The Moon Dwellers series / David Estes
Delerium series / Lauren Oliver
Maze Runner series / James Dashner
Unwind / Neal Shusterman
Red Blood Road / Moira Young
The Knife of Never Letting Go / Patrick Ness
Birthmarked / Caragh M. O’Brein
Partials / Dan Wells
Incarceron / Catherine Fisher
Donor 23 / Cate Campbell Beatty
Above / Leah Bobet
Empty / Suzanne Weyn
Green Heart / Alice Hoffman
While I Live / John Warsden
Lockdown / Alexander Gordon Smith
Quarantine / Lex Thomas
Fahrenheit 451 / Ray Bradbury
We / Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Handmaid’s Tale / Margaret Atwood
The White Mountains / John Christopher
Across the Universe / Beth Revis
Ready Player One / Ernest Cline
Pirate Cinema / Cory Doctorow
The Darkest Path / Jeff Hirsch

Book you may NOT use:

-Ones that have been made into movies

-Hunger Games and/or Twilight series

-Books we will be using in our literature circles

  • Gone by Michael Grant
  • Ashes by Ilsa Bick
  • Ashes Ashes by Jo Treggiari
  • The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
  • Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
  • Article 5 by Kristen SImmons

You MAY use the 2nd novel for your literature circle book!

Gone = Hunger

Ashes = Shadows

Uglies = Pretties

Article 5 = Breaking Point