Creating a Scrapbook

For your Historical Fiction Novel

First, you will need to select a historical fiction novel. You novel must be approved by me. After reading your historical fiction novel, you will create a Scrapbook that one of your story’s main characters might have kept during the book’s events. The focus of the assignment is character and the objective is to capture the character’s story and traits.

In creating your scrapbook, consider the time and location in which the story takes place. This will help you determine the types of artifacts, memorabilia and pictures you choose when making the scrapbook. It is also important to remember that the main “character” is ultimately the one creating the scrapbook, so be sure to keep the character’s thoughts and feelings in mind when designing your album. Bring out their voice in the scrapbook.

Before you begin, you will need to do the following:

Prewrite - Decide who your main character is and describe their character traits. Use a character chart to determine important aspects about your character. Some questions to include in your chart may be:

What does this individual look like?

What is the relationship of the character?

What are their likes and dislikes?

What are their strengths and weaknesses?

Where is this person from and where do they live now?

What are their family and friends like?

What obstacles does this character face?

What is the defining moment for this character?

Now imagine you are this individual as you create your scrapbook.

Research - Gather or create artifacts, memorabilia, photos or letters that your character would consider significant and important in their lives. What would this character want to place in an album that represented his or her life? The items should reflect the events and/or meaning of the story. You must find or create a minimum of seven items total. An item for each page in your album.

Note Taking - While you read your book, take note of the various ways your character communicated. Did he or she like to draw, sing, or write poems? Take copious notes while reading your novel in order to portray all the details in your scrapbook.

Material Gathering- Decide what materials you will use to make your album. Remember that the scrapbook is being made at a time when computers and modern technology did not exist. What type of material did your character or the characters in your book use to communicate during this time period? How would your character create his or her scrapbook?

Creating your scrapbook:

  • Select the seven or more articles (artifacts, photos, newspaper articles, letters, etc.) that you wish to put in your scrapbook. Designate one page in your scrapbook for each item. You must have a total of seven pages.
  • For each page, write one to two paragraphs describing the article/item and explain the importance. What is the significant impact of this article/item on the character? Why is it important?
  • On the last page, write a summary of the character’s life. Include elements from the exposition, rising action, climax and falling action/r.

Due Date – Friday, October 21st

Scrapbook Rubric
Points / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / Earned assessment
Masterful / Proficient / Basic / Minimal / ...Self... / Teacher
Content / Paragraphs and information are complete and are enhanced by accurate and appropriate details. The importance of each article is thoroughly explained. / Paragraphs and information are fairly complete and are enhanced by some appropriate details. The importance of each article is explained. / Paragraphs and information are minimal or not complete and lack details. The importance of each article is not clearly explained. / Main points are not complete and are greatly lacking in detail.
Pictures, photo- graphs, drawings, diagrams, graphs, or other similar devices add to the overall effectiveness of the scrapbook; captions are relevant and explanatory. / Number and types of visuals are adequate as are captions. / More and better visuals could be used; captions only identify and label rather than explain. / Very little pictorial representation is present; captions are incomplete.
Scrapbook includes seven or more articles and there is a page for each article.
Entries are written in a fashion akin to what people of the time period and the character would have access to. / Design elements and principles used are adequate.
Entries are written in a fashion akin to what people of the time period would have access to. / Shows evidence of use of some design elements and principles.
Some consideration was given to the time period in the creation of the entries. / There is no consideration of design elements and principles.
No consideration was given to the time period in the creation of the entries.
All sources are properly and thoroughly cited; The summary clearly explains the story and character’s life. / Some sources are present and are cited properly. The summary explains the story and character’s life. / Sources are lacking; citations are not all formatted properly. The summary lacks an explanation of character’s life. / Sources are inadequate in number/types and format of items. The summary is not clear or is missing.
Theme / There is a wholeness about the scrapbook; the theme is consistent throughout. The cover clearly identifies the theme. / Most of the information relates to the theme of the scrapbook. The cover is relevant to the contents. / Only a portion of the information relates to the theme of the scrapbook. The cover is unclear in its message. / Confusing and/or inconsistent information.
Language & Conventions / Conventions of spelling, punctuation, and grammar are used with a high degree of accuracy. / Most conventions of spelling, punctuation, and grammar are used accurately. / Common conventions of language are used with some accuracy but there are some mistakes. / A significant number of errors are made in spelling, punc- tuation, and grammar.
Overall Effectiveness / The requirements of the assignment have been exceeded. The scrapbook is very creative and interesting. / All the requirements of the assignment have been fulfilled. The scrapbook is neat and presentable. / Only some of the assignment requirements are fulfilled. Areas of the scrapbook lack neatness. / Few of the assignment requirements have been met. The presentation as a whole lacks neatness.
Total Points