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Date:

January Independent Reading Book Story Elements Worksheet

For each question below, include a detailed answer from your completed January book ON LINED PAPER in blue or black ink or in a typed format. Each answer should be 5-8 sentences and include supporting details from the text. This will be your January project. You should incorporate at least 5 vocabulary words from our cumulative list in your responses and use rich descriptive language. This assignment is worth 20 points.

Title of your book______
Author of your book______

An example of an appropriate answer is found below.
Question: What is the theme of your independent reading book?
Answer: One of the themes from Dreams From My Father is the search for identity. This theme is evident in chapter 4 when Obama looks at role models, like Ray, his grandfather, famous black authors, and Frank to help understand who he is. He spends time with Ray, one of the few African American students at his school, and talks about dating and making the basketball team. Making a black friend is important for Obama who feels like a racial pariah at a mostly white high school because he thinks it will help him feel more connected to his black identity. But after many overzealous discussions about racism, Obama realizes that he and Ray disagree in their interpretations of white people’s behavior and about how to act at school. Obama’s friendship with Ray is damaged when Ray tells him, “I don’t need no books to tell me how to be black.” He looks to his grandfather for understanding, but he grows concerned about his ability to relate to Gramps who rarely acknowledges racial tensions. He also looks to Frank, his grandfather’s sagacious friend, to try to understand what it is like to be a grown up African American male, since his own father isn’t a role model in his life. After talking to Frank, Obama becomes concerned that his own family does not really “know” him because his mother and grandparents are white. Finally, Obama looks to authors like Malcolm X to try to understand their experiences and get ideas about who he really is as an individual of mixed race.
  1. What is the main conflict in your book? Who is on each side of the conflict? (It can be an internal conflict or an external conflict)
  2. What do you think is the climax of your book? Why is it the most emotional part?
  3. What is the resolution of your book, and how does it change the conflict?
  4. What is the theme of your book? In what scenes, quotes, or events is this theme shown?
  5. What is the setting of your book? Why is it important to the story?

Extra credit bonus question (2 pts): How is your book ironic?