The questions:

Book assignment A

1. The story

1. Copy a fragment from the novel that really appeals to you. Motivate your choice.

2. The writer has asked you to write the plot for a sequel to this book. Include events, the setting (time + place) and characters.

 

1. The issue/problem

1. What seems to be the issue/the problem of this story?

2. Does the problem get solved in the end? How or why doesn’t it get solved?

3. How would you deal with this problem? Would you do the same or would you do things differently?

 

1. Characters

1. Fill in the grid for two characters:

 

Character

Mention five Characteristics /

Qualities

Characteristics /

Qualities of a hero/ heroine?

Your comment

Name:

 

 

 

 

 

Name:

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Is there someone in the story that reminds you of yourself or of someone you know? Give at least one example.

 

 Book assignment B

1. Title and cover

1. Write a sales talk about the book you read. Pretend the students in your class are clerks in a book store and you want them to push the book.

Explain the title and give a very short and catching summary of the plot.

.

 

1. Genre and themes

1. To what genre does your book belong?

2. What is the main theme of your novel? How is the protagonist (main character) affected by this? Give 2 examples (100 words in total). If there is more than one protagonist then choose one of them.

• Possible themes: loss of innocence, growing up, family relationships, relationships, getting to know yourself, a journey through life, death, etc)

 

1. Characters

Interview a character from your book. Write at least ten questions that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story.

 

1. Time and setting

Make a time line of the major events in the book you read. Be sure the divisions on the time line reflect the time period in the plot. Include the setting.

Answers:

Book assignment A: The Safe House

1a: 2 fragments:

1: page 76: “Finn was a chilly presence in the house. I'd see her out of the corner of my eye: slumped somewhere, shuffling somewhere. In all the debates about safety and status, what hadn't been discussed was what she was actually meant to do in my house from hour to hour.”

2: page 189: “'But it is more than that, Sam. I have this image playing over and over in my head. I don't know whether it's a dream. I imagine this house in the middle of the night. (…) Then they move to your room. Then to Elsie's...'(said by Finn)

'Finn, stop that,' I was almost shouting. 'You mustn't say that. You have no right to say that.'(said by Sam)”

I chose these two fragments, because it indicates very good that Finn is first traumatized(and shy) and later on she is not shy anymore, only scared of what (didn't) happen(ed).

b: Sequel:

Sam Laschen would set up her trauma unit at a hospital and someday the fake Finn would come and asks for treatment, because she is traumatized by what happened and she would tell the whole story and what happened after all. It would happen a few years after this book.

2a: The issue of this book is the question who is Fiona Mackenzie and what happened to her, the real one.

2b: This problem get solved, the real Fiona Mackenzie got found in a burnt car and the fake Fiona went missing.

2c: I think I wouldn't investigate what happened as much as Sam Laschen.

 

3a:

 

Character

Mention five Characteristics /

Qualities

Characteristics /

Qualities of a hero/ heroine?

Your comment

Name: Sam Laschen

 

 

Messy, friendly, changing moods, trusting, inspecting

A little bit,

- Looks like a nice person.

Name:

Fiona Mackenzie(fake one)

Quiet, peaceable, friendly, smart.

No

- Seems like a very cruel person, to act like someone with a very bad trauma.

 

3b: Yes, Elsie(Sam's daughter) reminds me of my niece, she is the same age and they have the same characteristics.

 

 

Book B: Room

1a: Room: the book is called room, because the main character, he is 5, lives his whole life in a small room till he escapes from it with his mother(She got kidnapped when she was 19, now 26) and then he has to learn all the things from the real world, which he has only seen on television, so he thinks it is all fake.

2a: the genre: Sort of detective, but not too much.

2b: Theme 1:The real world: Jack doesn't know anything about the real world, he thinks that only the room is real and everything on TV is fake and that everything outside of the room is outer space. When he escapes he find out that the real world is very different and is shocked about it. The question for Jack is what the real world is.

Theme 2:Family: In his room he and his mother lived with some things he find his family, Blanket, Rug and more stuff, which he isn't allowed to take with him to his new house, which is then a shocking for him. Secondly: He has got new family: Grandma, Grandpa, step-grandpa, an uncle, aunt, niece and it is weird for Jack to get used to them.

 

3: Questions:

For Jack:

What is the thing you most miss from Room?

What is the thing you don't miss from Room?

What thing do you like the most in the real world?

What do you miss doing, what you did in Room?

What wouldn't you want to miss from the real world?

For Ma:

What did you miss the most in Room?

What didn't you miss in Room?

With what thing were you happy that it wasn't in Room?

Do you miss something from Room, or don't you?

Is there something you want to change in the real world which you had/liked in Room?

 

4: Time

 

When (in book)

Thing:

Where:

Begin:

Jack's birthday.

Room

Few days later:

Jack sees Old Nick and screams and then the power is cut.

Room

Week after birthday:

Ma told a lot of things about the real world, what there is, who she is. They come up with an escape plan.

Room

Escape evening, 2 days after:

Jack escapes (acting dead) and gets out of the van and escapes, Old Nick tries to get him, but goes away.

Room → outer Space

''

Old Nick got picked up by the police and Ma gets out of Room

At Old Nicks home

Rest of the book:

Jack discovers all sorts of new things, family and friends.

Outer Space, at Grandma's house, at Jack's house, etc.