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Active Reading Guide: Note-Taking and Summarizing
To help you keep track of the novel’s events as they occur, you will be keeping notes using a chart similar to the one below. For each chapter, fill in the chart with the necessary information. Directions and example for how to complete the chart are in the boxes below.
Setting / (A description of where the action occurs.)The novel begins in December in an unnamed community sometime in the future. After beginning outdoors, the scene progresses to the interior of Jonas’s home.
Characters / (List and describe important information about the characters in the chapter.)
- Jonas- 11 year-old boy who is apprehensive about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve
- Lily- Jonas’s 7 year-old little sister
- Asher- Jonas’s friend who is frequently reprimanded
- Jonas’s father- works as a Nurturer
- Jonas’s mother- works at the Department of Justice
Summary of the Chapter / (A brief summary of the chapter.)
Jonas, the main character, is nervous about the upcoming ceremony. While struggling to find the right word to define his feelings, he decides he is apprehensive rather than frightened. The only time he remembers being frightened was when an unidentified jet flew over his community, and all citizens were ordered to go inside. Afterward, the Speaker announced that the pilot made an error and would be “released.” Since this is a punishment, the word is used with caution. Jonas used it jokingly to his friend Asher, and he was reprimanded for it. Asher, however, is not always as careful with his use of words, and is always getting in trouble for it.
After dinner that night, the family unit performs the nightly “telling of feelings.” Each person shares a troubling feeling from the day in order to try to resolve it. Lily shares her frustration at playing with children who do not understand the rules. Father discusses a baby that he is nurturing at work, Mother is upset about a repeat offender, and Jonas confides that he is nervous about his upcoming Ceremony of Twelve.
Prediction of Coming Events / (Make a prediction of what you think will occur next.)
Since Jonas discusses feeling scared and apprehensive, I think that something unexpected and frightening will happen to him.
Active Reading Guide: Note-Taking and Summarizing – Chapter 4
Directions: Fill in the chart with the necessary information. Use a separate sheet of paper if needed.
Setting / (A description of where the action occurs.)______
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Characters / (List and describe important information about the characters in the chapter.)
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Summary of the Chapter / (A brief summary of the chapter.)
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Prediction of Coming Events / (Make a prediction of what you think will occur next.)
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