Groups

• Hardy Boys (Plaz, Randy, Greg) The Mayor of Casterbridge
• Hard Times Block 2 (Ethan, Hong) 

2010-2011 Groups (WIki Pages Only):

Block 1:

Tess of the D'Urbervilles Block 1 (Sarah, Sam, and Ed)

Wuthering Heights Block 1 (Erick White, Liz, Alexa)

Block 2:

Swimmers- Emma Block 2 (James Wing, Chris Grupp, and Emily)

The Mayor of Casterbridge Bl 2 Faith, Dom, Caroline, Joe (Faith, Domenic, Caroline, and Joe)

Persuasion Book Circle (Veronica Gottsch and Michael Lastowski)

Pride and Prejudice- Albana,Hanna :Block 2 (Albana, Hanna)

Jane Eyre Block 2 Elene, Eve, Sophie (Elene, Eve, Sophie)

19^th century book circles

• Choose a book you would like to read and discuss by filling out the survey above. Do some background reading on authors, plots, and styles before you make your selection.

• Students with similar reading interests will be grouped together in circles of 3-4. Five is too many.

Products (All of them)

• Everyone will take an objective quiz on the novel they have chosen. (100)

• Each group will keep a discussion log on the wiki or on a shared Google doc (20)

• Each group will create a "choice" product as described below. (30)

* Individual grades on this group activity may vary depending on each member's contribution. Individual contributions will be documented using a "labor log." 

Discussion Circles and Logs

• Once in your group, divide the novel into 6 sections. You will read and discuss a section a day.

• Create a page on the wiki or a shared Google doc for your log entries. If you use a Google Doc for your log, you must invite me to participate in the doc at mullen335@gmail.com.

• Post your reading schedule and leader schedule on the page.

• Choose a discussion leader for each section. That person will be responsible for preparing the discussion for that day and for entering the minutes of the discussion on the wiki or Google doc.

• Your discussions and logs will be useful when you create your products.

• Nothing annoys me more than absence on the day you were supposed to lead. I will penalize your log grade if you blow off your group.

• I lied-- there is something that bugs me more than absence on leader days: not reading the book as assigned and hanging the leader out to dry. If I get an idea you are not reading, you may be singled out for a spot check quiz.

Discussion Leaders

• Focus your discussions on specific passages the offer varying and controversial interpretations.

• Invite discussions about characters-- their motivations, their contradictory behavior, and their relations with other characters. Follow their “arcs”: an actor's term for where characters start out, where they end up, and how they got there. Pay attention to how narrators describe them and the tone they use when describing them.

• Invite discussions about major themes. Ask questions about prominent ideological or moral conflicts in the novel.

• Invite discussions about repeated images (motifs) and potential metaphors. Houses are always significant-- they are emblems of their owners. Thornfield is an emblem of Rochester. (The attic is his mind-- get it?)

• Always focus on irony.

• Summarize your discussions: include the passages discussed, the questions asked, and the main ideas and insights that were tossed about. Chronicle any unanswered questions or lingering controversies.

• Proofread.

Choice product

Make a presentation about your novel using the smart board. Use these alternatives to Power Point:

• Photostory
• Wordle
• Glogster 
• prezi
• podomatic

• a character analysis on the protagonist or antagonist

• major themes

• prominent images and metaphors

• memorable or key passages and a text-rooted analysis of those passages

• ironies

Maintain an academic tone. Be informative first, entertaining or precious second.

Tentative schedule:

Book Circle Quiz Page 

Groups (09-10)

Wuthering Heights (Bernadette, Corey, Brisilda, Allison, Heather) http://wutheringheightscommunistcult.pbworks.com/

Pride and Prejudice -- Greene, Boyd, Kribbs, Cohen

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice: Susan, Hillary, Kellie

Tess of the D'Urbervilles rocks