For the first prompt, write at least one well-written paragraph. For the second prompt, write two to three well-written paragraphs. (Hint: A well-written paragraph is typically about five to eight sentences.)
✓ Be sure you are making a clear point about the text you are discussing that responds to the prompt. (Hint: This should be a statement or claim you are making about the text, not just a description of the text.)
✓ Provide specific textual evidence to support your points. You do not need to quote from the books, but you should include details and make specific references to the text. (Hint:Use characters’ names and discuss specific details about the events in the stories. Don’t Use generalizations about what occurs.
✓ For the first prompt, select one book to focus on in the response. For the second prompt, select two books to focus on. You may not use the same book twice. This means your two responses will discuss three of the five texts we read as a class. (Hint: You may want to plan ahead here. I recommend that you read all of the prompts and decide which text will work best for each one before you start writing your first response.)
✓ The books you may select from for your responses are Holes, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Graduation of Jake Moon, The Liberation of Gabriel King, and Nine, Ten.
Prompts:
Response #1—Theme: Identify a theme in one book we read as a class in the second half of the semester. Write a response in which you justify the theme you identify, using specific textual evidence from the novel to fully support your view. (Use the literary definition of theme, not the common definition of the word. This means you should discuss an idea or a statement that the text promotes, not just a topic it addresses.)—10 points
Response #2 Point of View (POV): Consider the point of view in two books we rea as a class in the second half of the semester. Discuss how the point of view that is used in each book affects the story being told and why the author might have chosen that point of view. (In first-person POV, a narrator is relating his/her/their firsthand experiences directly, using “I” or “we.” In third-person POV, a narrator is relating the experiences of the characters, using “he,” “she,” and “they.” With omniscient third-person POV, the narrator provides the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters. With limited third-person POV, the narrator tells the story from only one character’s perspective, including that character’s thoughts and feelings. Limited third-person narration can also include several characters’ perspectives, if one character’s thoughts and feelings are in one section of the book, and a different character’s thoughts and feelings are in another section of the book.)—15
