Independent Novel Ideas

By Friday, December 16th, you MUST have your independent novel!  Get to the library and find one! :)

The Color Purple – Alice Walker

Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake

The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje

The Horse Whisperer – Nicholas Evans

Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper

Snow Falling on Cedars – David Gusterson

Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt

Atonement – Ian McEwan

Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions – Daniel Wallace

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? – Peter Hedges

Rocket Boys: a Memoir – Homer Hickman

Pay it Forward – Catherine Ryan Hyde

Push – Sapphire

Running with Scissors – Augusten Burroughs

Schindler’s List – Thomas Keneally

Seabiscuit: an American Legend – Laura Hillenbrand

The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

Shipping News – Annie Proulx

A Prayer for Owen Meany -  John Irving

This Boy’s Life: A Memoir – Tobias Wolff

A Time to Kill – John Grisham

Up in the Air – Walter Kirn

The Cider House Rules – John Irving

Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier

Gangs of New York – Herbert Asbury

Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen

The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman

Girl with a Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier

Washington Square

– Henry James

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

The Green Mile – Stephen King

The Human Stain – Philip Roth

Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

The Last King of Scotland – Giles Foden

Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

*You are not limited to the choices on this list!

Water for Elephants Movie Reviews

Taken from Google Images

Okay, crew!  The time has come to watch Water for Elephants!  To conclude this unit, your writing assignment will be to write a movie review for the film after we watch it, but you will not hand in a hard copy.  Instead, you will post your movie review to your blog by Friday at 4 pm. 

Instead of this post being worth 50 points, this one will be worth 100 points.  I advise that you take this assignment seriously and do not put off writing it until the last minute.  As always, I am expecting a lot out of your post this week, so please "wow" me!


Your movie review for Water for Elephants should include the following:

1. A Title ("Water for Elephants: Drying up Fans' Expectations")
2. Your Name (you are the author - make yourself known and give yourself some credit; and if you want to give yourself a glitzy movie reviewer name, knock yourself out!)
3. Photo(s) from the film including a caption (make sure you give credit as to where you found the photos)
4. A brief summary of the film, giving your readers background information (write this review as if your audience knows little to nothing about the book or the film)
5. An in-depth analysis of your viewing of the film.  This can include any and all of the following:
a. The characters - were they true to the book?  Did the actors portray the characters well?  How was the on-screen chemistry? (Use the actors' names - they have them!)
b. The setting - did director Francis Lawrence capture the gritty nature of the circus industry of the 1930's?  How did his portrayal of this corrupt industry compare to the book?
c. The plot - did the film stay true to the novel or did it stray from Gruen's plot?  Were the changes better or worse?  Why?

6. In addition to being graded on content and organization of your thought, you will also be graded on your mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and grammar).  Use spell-check and read through your review before you post it!

Below are some published movie reviews of the film.  I advise you to read through them to get a sense of what an actual movie review looks and "feels" like.  If you are struggling, reading these will help you get started.  Happy writing!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/water-elephants-movie-review-180802

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/water_for_elephants/
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/22/entertainment/la-et-water-for-elephants-20110422

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/movies/reese-witherspoon-in-water-for-elephants-review.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/21/movie-review-water-for-elephants/

Over the Weekend...

Finish Water for Elephants this weekend!  We will discuss the rest of the book Monday and begin the film!

Good luck this weekend, Herders!

Thursday

Crazy?  We think so.
Photo taken from Google Images



- You have a quiz today over chapters 18 and 19 (it's not a quote one - stay calm!)

- Journal Prompt (remember to post your blogs by 4 pm tomorrow!)

We have met a certifiably crazy character in Water for Elephants - August.  For this journal entry, psychoanalyze August as a psychiatrist might analyze a patient.  What makes him tick?  Why does he act the way that he does?  What is wrong with this guy?  After you psychoanalyze August, be sure that you prescribe him something that will even him out - he needs it.

- Read chapters 21-23 for tonight!  We're almost done with the book!  Nice work!

Tuesday Journal Prompt

"It's just a crazy damned life, that's all" (153).

Journal Prompt:

Write a diary entry from the perspective of one of the characters in Water for Elephants.  Think about how each character is struggling with his/her own internal battle at this point in the novel - put the frustration/confusion/fear into words...

Taken from Google Images

Happy Thursday!

Taken from Google Images



Today:

-Film Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SsSrf-jTJI

-Journal Prompt: What is a modern-day equivalent of the circus?  Explain why you think so.


-Group Discussion over Chapters 5-6 (there will be a participation grade today)

-Read chapters 7 through 9 for class tomorrow (breathe - they are short chapters).

On this Fine Tuesday...

Taken from Google Images



-Journal Prompt:

Write about a time that you wanted to run away and join the circus!

-Discussion over Chapters 1-2 in WFE

-Reading Time for Chapters 3 and 4