Final Project: Songs for a Teenage Nomad DUE MONDAY, OCT. 7

Found Poem

The task is to capture the Essence of a story, chapter, theme from the book, or a character from the book, by drastically editing the text. 

You must adhere to the following guidelines:

     1. Select several phrases (groups of words) from the text.
         ♦ Each phrase must be at least 2 words long, but no phrase should be more than 10 words long.

2. The phrases you select should then be used to create a poem of at least 15-20 lines.
   
   • ♦  You may combine phrases into one line of your poem, but remember that no line in your poem should be more than 15 words long.
     
   • ♦  Remember that it is easier to create a strong found poem if you have several phrases to choose from rather than just finding the minimum number of lines you need for the activity
     
     
3. You may use the phrases in any way you like – For example, you may repeat words or clusters of words throughout your poem.
   
   
4. You may not change the order of the words in the original text.
   
   
5. You may not add any words of your own. All the words in your poem have to come
   from the text.
   
   
6. You may leave words out of the phrases you select to create a more poetic feel/ sound
   to your poem.
   

Final Draft should be typed or written in calligraphy, polished and perfected, and proof-read for spelling errors.

Creative Character Journal

In the novel, Calle’s voice is the constant narrator. For this assignment, you will write two journal entries in the voices of two other characters in the novel (e.g. Alyson, Eli, Sam, Cass, Jake, etc.). The goal of this assignment is to show understanding of the novel from a different perspective.

Each entry must:

• ♦  be at least 250 words (1 page) typed and double spaced
  ♦  focus on specific events from the novel, but retell the events from your
• interpretation of the way this specific character would have responded to the
  events (you are creating a new perspective for the same event)
  
• ♦  focus on creating sensory description to recreate the event – really put the
  reader into the situation with descriptive detail
  
• ♦  focus on being true to the voice of this character – how does Cass speak, how
  does Sam speak? – this should be reflected in the writing. 
  

Songs for a Teenage Nomad: Lesson on Character Motives/Motivation, Internal vs. External Conflict & Point of View

Character Motives/Motivation in Literature

“We never fully understand other people’s motivations in real life,” says Orson Scott Card. “In fiction, however, we can help our readers understand our characters’ motivations with clarity, sometimes even certainty. This is one of the reasons why people read fiction—to come to some understanding of why other people act the way they do.”

Definition of Character Motivation: 

Reason or reasons behind a character's action; what induces a character to do what he does; motives. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, love motivates the title characters. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, ambition (lust for power) motivates the title character and his wife to murder the king. 

Worksheets on Character Motivation

Conflict: Internal vs. External

Definition of Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces that causes the action of the story.

1. External conflicts have outside action such as man against man, man against nature, man against fate.
2. Internal conflicts occur inside the character's mind, such as man against himself or man against society.

Example: Joe the bank robber is having an external conflict with his partner Dave who wants more money while also having an internal conflict with himself about having to kill his lifelong friend Dave for his greed.

Point of View

Definition of Point of View

Point of View means that the story is told through the eyes and mouth of a certain person; the story can change considerably, depending on who is telling it.

Songs for a Teenage Nomad: Lesson on Theme

Theme

Definition: The main idea of a text, expressed directly or indirectly.

The theme of any literary work is the base topic or focus that acts as a foundation for the entire literary piece. The theme links all aspects of the literary work with one another and is basically the main subject. The theme can be an enduring pattern or motif throughout the literary work, occurring in a complex, long winding manner or it can be short and succinct and provide a certain insight into the story.

Etymology:

From the Greek, "placed" or "laid down"

Examples and Observations:

• A story's theme is its view about life and how people behave. The theme of a fable is its moral.  The theme of a parable is its teaching. Unlike the fable and parable, however, most fiction is not designed primarily to teach or preach. Its theme is not directly presented at all; readers abstract it from the details of characters, setting and action that make up the story.
  (Robert DiYanni, Literature. McGraw-Hill, 2002)

• The Difference Between Plot and Theme:  
  "If you sometimes confuse plot with theme, keep the two elements separate by thinking of theme as what the story is about, and plot as the situation that brings it into focus. You might think of theme as the message of the story--the lesson to be learned, the question that is asked, or what it is the author is trying to tell us about life and the human condition. Plot is the action by which this truth will be demonstrated."

(Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, quoted by Kenneth John Atchity and Chi-Li Wong in Writing Treatments That Sell, rev. ed. Henry Holt, 2003)

• Thesis and Theme
  "The thesis is the main point you are trying to argue [in a composition]: for instance, that abortion is every woman's right or that housing discrimination is wrong. The theme, on the other hand, is a motif established by orchestrated connotative language that reinforces the thesis. Theme differs from thesis in that theme relies on inference and suggested meaning rather than on direct statement."
  (Kristin R. Woolever, About Writing: A Rhetoric for Advanced Writers. Wadsworth, 1991)

The Literary Element of Theme

Theme is:

• the central, underlying, and controlling idea or insight of a work
  of literature.
  
• the idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject—the writer’s view of the world or a revelation about human nature

Theme is NOT:

• expressed in a single word
  
• the purpose of a work
  
• the moral
  
• the conflict
  
  
  
  Assignment:  Due Sept. 16

  Identifying the Theme in Five Steps

  
  To identify the theme, be sure that you’ve first identified the story’s plot, the way the story uses characterization, and the primary conflict in the story.
  
  

  Complete these steps to determine the theme for Songs for a Teenage Nomad.  Please respond thoroughtly and thoughtfully.  Responses should be typed:

1. Summarize the plot by writing a one-sentence description for the exposition, the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.
   
2. Identify the subject of the work.
   
3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the subject.
   
   • How did the protagonist change?
     
   • What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution
     of the conflict?
     
4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or truth about the subject.
   
5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences that state what was learned and how it was learned.
   

Theme Litmus Test

• Is the theme supported by evidence from the work itself?
  
• Are all the author’s choices of plot, character, conflict, and tone
  controlled by this theme? 
  

Assignment:  Due Sept. 16

Theme Collage

On an 8 1⁄2 by 11 inch piece of white paper, create a collage that visually demonstrates a theme (e.g. friendship, betrayal, love, etc.) from the novel.

• Write your theme at the top of the paper.
  
• Fill the paper with images that you feel capture your theme.
  
• The page should be completely filled with images. The paper should not show through at all except for where you wrote your theme.
  
• BE CREATIVE!!
  
• On the back of your collage, please include a 50-75 word explanation for your collage. This explanation should defend/ explain the images you chose. These explanations should be thorough and polished. 
  

Unit 1: Songs for a Teenage Nomad

Welcome to English 9/10 in Global Studies at Forest Charter!

Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson

Complete the following questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.  

Answers should be typed and written in complete sentences.  

Study Questions Chapters 1-5  Due Sept. 9

1. What are your first impressions of Calle? Why is her song journal so important to her?
   
2. Describe what you know so far about Calle’s father. What does Calle find that is significant?
   
3. Describe Calle’s relationship with her mother. How does she feel about this new relationship with her stepfather, Rob?
   
4. How do the drama kids make her transition to the new school different from past schools?
   
5. Who are Eli and Sam and Cass? How are Calle’s interactions with them similar and/or different?
   

Chapters 6-10  Due Sept. 9

1. How does Calle react to Sam’s line about her being a “strange girl”? What does she think makes her “strange”?
   
2. Who is Amber? How does she interact with Calle?
   
3. Chapters 8-10 are entitled “Another First Kiss,” “Yellow,” and “Human Nature.” Why are these song titles meaningful in relation to the events that unfold?
   
4. At the end of Chapter 10, Calle finds the poem on the wall. She says, “I’m sitting in the night of this poem.” What does she mean by that?
   

Chapters 11-15 Due Sept. 16

1. What’s going on with Sam and his home life?
   
2. What changes for Calle’s life when she finds the letter in her mom’s drawer?
   
3. What does she learn from Tala when she has her fortune cookies read? What happens when she confronts her mother?
   
4. Where does Cass take her? What does Calle learn in this scene?
   
5. What happens with Eli? Why does this complicate things for Calle?
   6. What’s significant about what gets said over dinner between Calle, Rob, and Alyson? What’s more significant about what doesn’t get said? 

Chapters 16-20  Due Sept. 16

1. What does Sam want from Calle? How is he different at school than when he sees her outside of school?
   
2. What happens at Lucky’s? How does this change Calle’s view of both Cass and Sam?
   
3. What happens with Rob? How does Alyson react? How does Calle respond to her mom?
   
4. How does Sam help Calle? Why do you think he does this?
   
5. Much is uncovered around mothers and fathers in these chapters – for Sam, for Calle, for Cass. What do you as a reader learn?
   

Chapters 21-25 and the Epilogue  Due Sept. 23

1. Who does Calle see at the café? What happens when she chases him into the alley? What impact does he have on Calle in the early part of these chapters?
   
2. What happens at the dance? Why is it significant?
   
3. Lucky’s becomes an important setting for Cass, Sam and Calle. What choice does Calle have to make here at the end of the novel?
   
4. What does Calle find out from Sam? How does she respond to him?
   
5. How does the last scene in Chapter 25 transform her life?
   
6. Why is the Tambourine Man so important to Calle? What do we learn about him in the epilogue? 
   

Lit Journals

Lit Journal Due Dates:

Lit Journals should be at least one page each (approx. 250 words) and typed.

Section 1: Chapters 1-5 due Sept. 9
Section 2: Chapters 6-10 due Sept 9
Sections 3: Chapters 11-15 due Sept 16
Section 4: Chapters 16-20 due Sept 16
Section 5: Chapter 21-26 & Epilogue due Sept 23

Divide the novel into five parts. For each of these five sections, you will write one Lit Journal about what you have read. However, don’t simply summarize what you have read. It is more important to include analysis about what is going on in the book. Always ask yourself the question: why? Why is the character doing this? Why are events unfolding the way they are? Why do you think characters interact the way they do? Etc. And then answer these questions in thorough detail by using specific examples from the book to back up what you’re saying. You should also comment on your opinions, thoughts, and/or concerns regarding plot, character, and/or style. This is a commentary on the book at this point in the reading. Feel free to change that opinion as you read further in the book. These entries should be at least one page each (approx. 250 words) and typed.

Lit journals provide an opportunity for you to write freely (this is not an essay); don’t get stuck on a structure, but rather follow all your ideas as they come to you. There is no “right” answer. These journals are an opportunity for you to explore the novel from your own perspective and ideas without a specific topic – whatever you want to write about in regards to your reading of the novel is okay. You are choosing your topics for each entry based on what’s grabbing you during the reading.