Point of View- Throughout this book the point of view is in the first person, but the writer changes things up a little by adding the paragraphs where Hannah is speaking through the tapes. This is an interesting technique that adds a lot to the book. If Clay were simply re-telling the stories that Hannah had recorded the book would be much more one-dimensional. A lot of the times with a first person point of view your knowledge of what is happening in the book is limited to what the character knows, but with this style not only do you get to know what Clay knows and is thinking but you also get to see from Hannah's perspective. Albeit her perspective is limited because we are only hearing prerecorded tapes, I think it is still better than nothing. Suspense- This book is filled with suspense. Each story Hannah tells holds a secret that the reader wants to find out. She shares the secret in the form of retelling a story, and sometimes she holds back some pertinent information until...
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Quote Analysis
"I know. I know what you're thinking. As I was telling the story, I was thinking the same thing myself. A kiss? A rumor based on a kiss made you do this to yourself? No. A rumor based on a kiss ruined a memory that I hoped would be special. A rumor based on a kiss started a reputation that other people believed in and reacted to. An sometimes, a rumor based on a kiss has a snowball effect (P. 30)." I chose this quote to analyze because it seems like the starting point of all Hannah's troubles. She expresses with this quote that while a silly kiss, and the silly rumor about the kiss turned into so much more. It's so easy for things to "snowball" into something bigger. It was because of this rumor that students at her school considered her "easy". It was because of this rumor that Hannah had trouble making new friends, and we find out later that it was because of this r...
Community Connections in Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
I chose to read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher for this week’s assignment. The initial reason I chose this book is because there is a lot of talk about the new Netflix series based on the book. After thinking more deeply about it, I am also choosing this book because there are so many important connections for students to make between this book and their own lives. There are many connections that can be made between this book and any student because there are many characters and many different themes involved. While reading this book, students could find one of the issues raised and see how it connects to them in their lives. Are there problems happening at their school? How are they the same/different from those raised in the book? What can you do to make a change? While this book is focused on students in high school, is there a connection that can be made to the adult community? Students can take this book and create something from their connections to the c...
Lesson Plans
Novels and Technology: Modern and Classic Lit Objectives: · Students will understand the main themes of Maze Runner and Animal Farm. · Students will be able to clearly identify similarities between the two books. · Students will be able to clearly identify differences between the two books. · Students will think deeply about their readings. Summary of Tasks: · Students must read Animal Farm or Maze Runner · They should create a twitter account to be used for literature discussions only · The teacher should provide students with a class hashtag to use on their posts. · As students read each chapter, they should provide two tweets. One tweet should be a main theme they noticed in the chapter or a mai...
Discussion Strategies
Thunks: Researching thunks was a bit of a challenge for me because I was not coming up with many good resources. It looks like thunks are a very interesting way to get you thinking, and I can foresee them as becoming a helpful discussion tool in the literature department. The link provided, http://www.thunks.co.uk/ , sparked an idea for me to do an online weekly literature blog of thunks. It could be something that students participate in discussions based on the “thunk of the week” ACTIVITY 1 As students are reading “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney they should be encouraged to add thunks to the thunk box located in the classroom. Students can write them at home, or in class as long as they get into the box! The teacher should also add a few to the box that are a bit more challenging. Depending on how long it takes the students to read the book, the teacher can have one or two thunks chosen from the box per...
Literary Luminary- highlight special sections (like a close read) (P. 6) “’Real friends understand,” Mom had said on the ride home. But here’s what I understand: Sometimes everyone gets invited except us, and it’s because of David.” · This section gives good insight into how Catherine is feeling with regard to her brother and public situations. (P.15) “Mom crosses her legs, like she’s settled to stay. I slump on the couch beside her and check if anyone looks like they’ll mind Mom reading out loud.” · Catherine is clearly worried about what others think of her even when her brother is not around. (P. 23) “As she reads, I think how useful a cloak that made me invisible would be right now. If I had one, I’d throw it over my head and run out the door and across the parking lot and the street, all the way through the waterfront park to the wharf, and board the first boat I saw going somewh...
Summarizer- summarize reading This book is about a girl (Cynthia) who has a younger brother (David) with autism. Cynthia is excited about the new girl (Kristi) who is moving in next door because she will have a friend for the summer. She is also nervous about how the new girl will perceive David, and therefore her family. Cynthia meets Jason at the clinic while she is waiting for David to be finished with his OT. Jason is in a wheelchair and unable to speak, but uses a book of pictures with words to communicate. Eventually Cynthia becomes good friends with Jason, creating new and more expressive cards for him to use, but she shies away from sharing Jason’s disabilities with her new friend Kristi next door. The book culminates with the community center dance. Kristi invites Cynthia to the dance and encourages her to invite Jason. Cynthia fakes an excuse until she is invited to Jason’s birthday party at which he realizes that he embarrasses her. Cynthia has a realization th...