REVISED

American Lit Final Independent Novel Project

The American Dream from an Alternative Point of View

Ms. Threet – Spring 2010

NOW DUE MAY 24th– NO LATE PROJECTS

Worth 200 POINTS!!!!!

The Reading Journal

The reading journal is intended to be a place to record your ideas and responses to your reading. Think independently and write imaginatively. Your opinions and thoughts about what you read are important. Your journal grade will be based on the quality of your entries as well as the variety and number of responses you write. Each entry should be approximately ONE PAGE LONG if typed and/or two pages long if handwritten.

10-12 entries required for an A

8-9 entries required for a B

Fewer than 8 entries will earn no more than a C.

I will offer up to 15 points extra credit for journals which are creatively or artistically presented (for example, a beautiful cover design, or illustrations throughout your journals).

Journal Entry Suggestions (remember that each entry should be about a page long)

1. Write about a memory or experience of your own that is similar to something you’ve read about in this book.

2. Keep one page of your journal as an open entry page of questions that arise as you read. What information about the culture is something new or unfamiliar to you?

3. Discuss how this novel has impacted you personally or changed how you see the world.

4. Create the song track for the movie version of your book. Include 4-5 songs.

5. Become one of the characters in the book and write a letter or poem from that person’s perspective.

6. Write an interview between you and the main character of the book.

7. Illustrate a scene, draw a map, or design a symbol that reflects your book.

8. Comment on the author’s style and technique: his/her choice of words and the way he/she tells the story. Do you admire the way the author writes? Why or why not?

9. Before you have finished the book, make a prediction about the way it will end. What makes you think it will end this way?

10. Rewrite the words to a popular song (any song - even a children’s song) so that they tell something about your book.

11. Write a letter to the author of your book that begins “Dear _____, I have just finished your book and I would like you to know...... ”

12. Explain one thing about this book that you could change, if you could. Why would you want it changed, and what would you want to be different about it?

13. What do you see as the key moments in this book? Why are they important? How do they work with the rest of the text to create meaning?

14. Write a page discussing the themes of this book. What big ideas does the book present? What do you think the author is trying to tell us? Does he/she succeed?

15. Relate this book to at least one other piece of American Lit that you’ve read in class this year.

16. How does this book reflect the American Experience?

17. What are major symbolic elements/motifs that the author uses and how do they contribute to the novel as a whole?

Please note!!!

Questions #2, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 are REQUIRED and must be among your journal entries in order to receive credit for the project.

Listed below are some excellent novel suggestions. All are intriguing and well written. You are also welcome to find a novel that is not on this list. Just let me know what you have selected and how it shares the American Dream from an alternative point of view.

  • Beloved, by Toni Morrison
  • Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
  • The Color Purple, Alice Walker
  • Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
  • Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
  • Caramelo, Sandra Cisneros
  • How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, Julia Alvarez
  • Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya
  • Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan
  • When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: a Vietnamese woman’s journey from war to peace, Le Ly Hayslip Jay Wurts