<p>Okay, this is what I have to do for my Honors Novel Independent Reading Project on The Good Earth
1.Read the Book (duh)</p>
<li><p>As I read the book, I had to do a “Reader’s Log” for every chapter consisting of the following:
Characters Introduced
Summary
Vocab Words
Significant Quotes
Explanation of significance
Reactions</p></li>
<li><p>1-2 page biographical sketch of the author</p></li>
<li><p>10-15 sentance explanation of each of these
-genre
-time period
-location
-significance of the title-- I pity the child who had “Christy” as her book. 15 sentances about how that is, in fact, the main character’s name.</p></li>
<li><p>Character listing with descriptions</p></li>
<li><p>1-3 page plot summary</p></li>
<li><p>I already took the novel test, which was amusing-- we each had a test one day, and we all had different books, all but 5 of which the teacher had never read, including mine.</p></li>
<li><p>Vocabulary Section-- 50 “unfamiliar or interesting” words from the novel, each with
-page # and sentance where used first in the book
-part of speech/definition
-original sentance
I personally feel sorry for the girl who read Call of the Wild-- how does she plan on getting 50 words? Unless she plans on defining “dog” “man” and “snow”. Which is what I would do.</p></li>
<li><p>Create a test with 5 true/false, 5 multiple choice, 5 matching, and 5 short answer questions.
I have a theory about that. I believe our teacher is going to give next year’s Honors Novel class the tests we created.</p></li>
<li><p>Essay about the main character (why he or she is worthy of praise/criticism)</p></li>
<li><p>Essay about a major change in main character</p></li>
<li><p>10 favorite phrases/sentances/passages from the novel, with justification of choices</p></li>
<li><p>List main themes of novel, providing 5 examples from the text.</p></li>
<li><p>essay discussing stand on a controversial issue from the novel (Dang I wish I had signed up for Catcher in the Rye first- My Stand on Phoniness)</p></li>
<li><p>Novel Review “essay” answering the following questions:
-Would I recommend this novel? Why or Why not?
-Would I have changed any element of this story, such as:
–plot
–characters
–setting
–resolution
–conflicts
–point of view
-What did I learn from reading this novel?</p></li>
<li><p>A Powerpoint/ Oral Presentation, 20 slide, 10 minute minimum. I will spare you the details <em>this</em> time.</p></li>
<li><p>Works Cited, duh.</p></li>
<li><p>Appendix with at least 2 of the following:
-new book jacket
-theme/symbol collage (ugh. collage.)
-newspaper
-3 character sketches
-recipe for food from the novel (i’ll do boiled eggs)
-comic strip
-political cartoon
-song
-travel brochure
-movie poster with cast of stars and justification of choices
-poem
-timeline of events
-plot map
-crossword puzzle</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hate it when teachers pile a lot of homework right before APs . . kind of inconsiderate, especially if the class itself is AP . . they know that the last of April kids check out to study lol . . i dont know why they do that and expect a good job on all of the work.</p>
<p>I see where you’re coming from- we have to do something like that for every novel we read in AP English Lit… Except for the powerpoint and appendix stuff.</p>
<p>There’s so much hw for AP towards the end of the year… I’m currently working on a SLR (Student Led Review) for AP Chem and a comprehensive “portfolio” for AP Calc BC. That plus review for AP English Lit and AP Music Theory, PLUS additional test prep MC and free response problems. Crazy, crazy.</p>
<p>I had the exact same thing in my english class, but I was in a group of 8.
Few difference though… maybe 100 vocabulary words, 100 question test, 10 question essay test…Yeah anyway it worked out to over 100 pages (1.5 spacing). Another group had over 200 double spaced…</p>
<p>Our teacher made us do that for two novels in the beginning of the year. We called them “writer’s notebooks”. Everyone in the class had to do their own separate notebook…my notebbok turned out to be 30 pages single spaced. Someone else turned in a 50 page project. Our teacher walked away with a humongous stack since each notebook had to be at least 25 pages…</p>
<p>She hasn’t collected another notebook since Hamlet…</p>
<p>Now we mostly just have to answer questions/themes for the novel. They may last anywhere from 20 minutes to the whole classroom block.</p>
<p>Part of what is causing my breakdown is that, not only do I have to do this for The Good Earth, but I’ll also have to do a (slightly) watered-down version for the books on my summer reading list.</p>
<p>I’ve never had a summer reading list before. I’m pretty sure that I’m the only CC’er who can say that.</p>
<p>Martha’s Summer Reading List:
The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)
Le Miserables (Hugo)
Mythology (Hamilton)
Brave New World (Huxley-- this won’t be so bad, I love this book)
Hamlet (Shakespeare-- see above, change “love” to "like)</p>
<p>I have to perform delicate brain surgery, perform a lecture on the Roman Empire at Harvard, and meet with the president of the USA this eve. Your course load is quite easy in contrast. Just kidding, of course!</p>
<p>We have a book for history classes and one for English classes: this year I will have to read: Too Late the Phalarope (Paton) and The World Is Flat (Friedman).</p>