Autobiography

Biography Diary

Week 15 - January 13

DIARY: Begin keeping a diary. You will need to write 5 days a week for one weeks. Your diary is private; no one else will read it.

READ: Divide your book club book into 5 roughly equal sections. Read 1/5 of the book this week. You need to finish the book by the end of Week 20 (February 24). As you read write brief (can be one -two word) plot summaries every few pages. If you are already deep into the book, start where you are.

PREPARE TO DISCUSS: Write 2 to 4 interesting book club discussion questions and answer them. YOU will be leading the book club discussions so you need to have questions ready to discuss. These could include

  • Questions about characters - how they develop, motivation, traits,

  • Questions about literary techniques - how the writer works her magic

  • Questions about how this connects to our time/our lives/teens today

Year 6 Options

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, 

The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone,

The Hiding Place, by John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill, Corrie ten Boom, et al,

Fearless…Navy Seal by Eric Blehm

(Runners up: The Gift of Pain by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. I am Malala (Young Reader/HS edition) by Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick , The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass 

WEEK 16 - January 20

READ 2/5 of your book club this week. (You need to finish the book by the end of Week 20 (February 24). As you read do the following) Focus on character as you read.

  • Write brief one -two word plot summaries every few pages. If you are already deep into the book, start where you are.

  • Note character traits and developments

2. Fill out either this CHARACTERIZATION Chart or this CHARACTERIZATION Template for any major character in your book club book

WEEK 18 - February 3

READ 3/5 of your book club this week. (You need to finish the book by the end of Week 20 (February 24). As you read do the following: (yes, if you have already read the entire book you need to go BACK and annotate the following along with everyone else):

  • Write brief one-two word plot summaries every 3-5 pages starting 3/5 of the way in. Use post-it notes or write in the book.

  • Note character traits and developments (if you did not fill out a characterization chart last week, do so this week as we’ll likely have a timed-in class essay CHARACTERIZATION Chart or CHARACTERIZATION Template .)

  • Respond to the book by either

    • A) Writing 4 good discussion questions

    • B) Answering this question: What do you learn about human nature and human struggles from this biography, autobiography, or diary?

WEEK 19 - February 10

READ 4/5 of your book club this week.

  1. Write 4 good discussion questions and answer two of them.

  2. Illustrate an important quotation from the book. Include the quotation on the artwork. On the back write a paragraph about why this quotation is important.

  3. Make a list of topics that this book is about (example: forgiveness, resilience, duty, hatred, addiction, persistence, discrimination, mental illness, marriage etc.)

WEEK 20 - February 24

Finish reading your book club book this week.

READING & ESSAY PREPARATION: Finish your book club book this week. To prepare for an in-class essay in a few weeks, look for character development and possible topics and themes. Respond to the book in one of these three ways (you are gathering textual evidence for an essay!) Choose a different way to respond than what you did last week. The work you put into these will help you write your essay. If you throw this together, you’ll have a harder time on your in-class essay.

  • Finding a few examples of one of the following topics & write the examples down. Explain what these examples reveal.

    • resilience - What do the people in your book rely upon for their strength/resilience?

    • forgiveness - Why can they forgive?

    • perseverance - What helps them persevere in the face of danger/ hardship/ seemingly impossible puzzles/ pain/ discrimination/ depression / addiction?

    • sacrifice - What do main characters sacrifice? What do their sacrifices reveal about what they value or who they love?

    • ego - How does arrogance/ego impact things/make situations worse in your book?

    • teamwork & cooperation - who cooperates with whom? why is that important? how does it impact their lives, their goals/missions?

    • tyranny vs. freedom - Who is tyrannical? What impact does the fascist or authoritarian gov’t or people in your book have on their community and on individuals? Contrast that with those who value freedom.

    • Or find examples of how the protagonist (main character) changes over time. What do these examples reveal?

  • Finding two important quotations and illustrating them. Create small poster (this is not something hastily drawn on a piece of lined paper but thoughtful work, that can be read from a far.) Dividing a larger piece of paper (not 8x11, but at least legal sized or two 8x11 taped together) into 2 halves. Each half should include the 1) quotation, 2) art representing the ideas in this quotation, and 3) at least 3 thoughtful sentences explaining why these quotations matter.

  • Theme and evidence. State a theme (message) of the book and find three passages in the book (textual evidence) supporting this theme. Explain what that evidence reveals about the theme.

WEEK 21 - March 3 - Last Week - In class essay next week

Finish your autobiography/biography/diary essay outline if you didn’t finish it in class

Your theme might be a message about one of these topics.

  • resilience - What do the people in your book rely upon for their strength/resilience?

  • forgiveness - Why can they forgive?

  • perseverance - What helps them persevere in the face of danger/ hardship/ seemingly impossible puzzles/ pain/ discrimination/ depression / addiction?

  • sacrifice - What do main characters sacrifice? What do their sacrifices reveal about what they value or who they love?

  • ego - How does arrogance/ego impact things/make situations worse in your book?

  • teamwork & cooperation - who cooperates with whom? why is that important? how does it impact their lives, their goals/missions?

  • tyranny vs. freedom - Who is tyrannical? What impact does the fascist or authoritarian gov’t or people in your book have on their community and on individuals? Contrast that with those who value freedom.

  • discrimination - Workplace discrimination? Religious and ethnic or racial discrimination?

  • facade/people aren’t as they appear

  • Or find examples of how the protagonist (main character) changes over time. What do these examples reveal?