MLA Heading Name

Mizerak 1 Name______Mizerak/Littell English _____ Block______Date______

Independent Novel Project Assignment

Directions: For one book you read, create a one-page book information sheet. Then, select one of the projects to complete based on your strengths and that book’s content. Each project has a list of six items for the rubric each worth ten points for a total of 60 points. The book information sheet is 15 points. The total project is 75 points.

Book Information Sheet: Here is the formatting and information to include. (See sample on back page.)

MLA Heading Title of Book

MLA citation of book read Example: Last, First. Title. City: Publisher, Year. (paperback/hardback)

SUMMARY: Write a paragraph with a brief summary.

PAGE NUMBERS / LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: 323 pages Long book, but easy read

BOOKTALK: Select three quotes from the novel: one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end. Be sure to use an internal citation. Underneath it, write one or two sentences explaining its importance to the novel.

THEME: Write out the theme statement. Create one SAY – MEAN – MATTER chart based on the theme.

BOOK RATING: Quality: on a scale of 1-10

POTENTIAL CONTROVERSIES (when you suggest this book to someone, what would you warn him/her about? OR what would a teacher have to warn students and/or parents?)

Possible Projects

1. Advertisement 2. Artwork 3. Design (Set) 4. Diary 5. Game 6. Map 7. Movie Poster 8. Newspaper 9. Photo Essay 10. Scrapbook 11. Song Mizerak 2 12. Other – talk to me first so that we have an agreed upon rubric

Advertisement Rubric: Create an advertisement for something within the book, not the book itself. 1. Minimum size: 8.5” x 11” OR a pamphlet/brochure 2. White Space (want very little) 3. Picture 4. Catchphrase 5. Contact Information (how to buy) 6. Quality

Artwork Rubric: Create a piece of artwork that represents a scene, a theme, or a character from the novel you have read. (painting, drawing, sculpture) 1. Minimum size: 8.5” x 11” (check with me for sculpture) 2. Use of space 3. Creativity 4. Color or lack thereof (give explanation during booktalk) 5. Accuracy (give the scene, theme, character info. from book) 6. Quality

Set-Design Rubric: Create an architectural drawing of a building or room or create a diaghramma. 1. Minimum size: 8.5” x 11” or medium shoebox 2. Use of space 3. Creativity 4. Layout 5. Accuracy (give info. from book; you can add what is missing, but there should be logical reasoning that explains why a character has a room painted black) 6. Quality

Diary Rubric: Create a diary for a character in the book from that character’s point of view. 1. Minimum five entries 2. Diction (words that character would use) 3. Punctuation and usage 4. Tone information (in parentheses…if yelling, tell me) 5. Accuracy (give info. from book; you can add what is missing, but there should be logical reasoning that explains why the character thinks something not presented) 6. Quality

Game Rubric: Create a board game that incorporates elements from the novel. This project includes the board, necessary playing pieces, and rules. 1. Board on posterboard or cardboard 2. Easy-to-understand rules 3. Pieces (relevance to game) 4. Purpose of game (how does one win?) 5. Applicable (links between novel and game) 6. Quality

Map Rubric: Create a map or a series of maps that reveal an aspect of the novel. 1. Minimum size: poster board 2. Relevant to novel (location is important to the novel) 3. Color 4. Key clarity 5. Accuracy Mizerak 3 6. Quality Mizerak 4 Movie Poster Rubric: Create a movie poster for a book that you have read. If your book was already turned into a movie, you must choose different actors and actresses. 1. Minimum size: poster board 2. Actors and actresses that represent the characters 3. Minimum of two reviews 4. Picture or design (if taken from Internet, must be cited) 5. Rating (G, PG, PG-13, R) 6. Quality

Newspaper Rubric: Create a mini newspaper; this is not simply one article. 1. Number of articles: one advertisement, one headline article, one mini article, two other aspects in newspapers, which can repeat earlier ones (total of 5) 2. Layout (should look like a newspaper…can be handwritten or typed) 3. Picture 4. Mechanics and usage 5. Accuracy 6. Quality

Photo Essay Rubric: Create a photo essay for a character with a cover. A photo essay tells the story through pictures and captions. Each picture has its own page and caption. The pictures should be drawn or taken with a camera. These pictures should not come from the Internet. You may add pictures to the background, but be sure to cite the source! 1. Minimum Number of pictures: seven 2. Cover for photo essay 3. Clarity of picture 4. Caption connection 5. Accuracy 6. Quality

Scrapbook Rubric: Create a scrapbook for a character or a family. If any pictures are not drawn or not taken, be sure to cite the source in MLA format. 1. Number of pages (8.5”x11” – if using larger pages, see me for number): seven 2. Captions or associated words 3. Picture(s) 4. Layout 5. Accuracy 6. Quality

Song Rubric: Create and record a song. You may use instrumental music already recorded and put lyrics to a song, or you may write both lyrics and music. Have a copy we can hear in the class via headphones – on a CD, mp3, etc. 1. Minimum length of song: three minutes 2. Lyrics 3. Music 4. Lyrics and music synch 5. Accuracy 6. Quality Mizerak 5 Gregory Hannigan Littell English 11A B8 15 January 2010 And Then There Were None Mystery

Christie, Agatha. And then There Were None. New York: Pocket Books, 1986. Print. (paperback)

Summary: And Then There Were None is a mystery involving ten guests who are brought to an island under false pretenses. The guests are each accused of a crime and quickly begin dying one by one on the island based off of an old nursery rhyme. The unknown host is the presumed murderer, but it is one of them.

Booktalk: “Ulick Norman Owen! In Miss Brent’s letter, though the signature of the surname is a mere scrawl the Christian names are reasonably clear – Una Nancy – in either case, you notice, the same initials…each time, that is to say, U.N. Owen. Or by a slight stretch of fancy, UNKNOWN!” (43). The guests begin to realize that everything is slightly suspicious, and the judge points out that the host is not be discovered.

“Mr. Owen could only come to the island in one way. It is perfectly clear. Mr. Owen is one of us…” (91). Now, the guests all begin to be suspicious of one another more so than before, and each guest is a suspect.

“He sighed. He shook his head. He leaned forward. ‘But in that case,’ he said., ‘who killed them?’” (153). Even at the end of the novel, people who come to the island realize that the mystery is too difficult.

Theme: When someone does something suspicious in one area of life, it is difficult to trust him or her in other areas. SAY MEAN MATTER “Eons passed…worlds spun Vera and Lombard had Christie continues her suspense building in this passage. and whirled…Time was finally begun trusting each The reader is also questioning who could possibly be the motionless…It stood still – other after all of the events murderer along with Vera and Lombard. The use of ellipsis it passed through a of the novel. When they demonstrates the inability to figure it out and how thoughts thousand ages…No, it was looked down and saw are trying to formulate as the time passes. The repetition of only a minute or so…Two another body, they were in the word “slowly” in the last sentence, is when it dawns on people were standing disbelief, but in the last the characters that the other is guilty. It is also when the looking down on a dead sentence, they immediately reader is still questioning and trying to track with the man…Slowly, very slowly, suspected each other. characters. Christie ends her chapter with the ellipsis Vera Claythorne and Philip allowing the reader to fill in Vera and Lombard’s thoughts Lombard lifted their heads respectively as they looked in each other’s eyes. and looked into each other’s eyes…” (Christie 151).

Length/Difficulty: 173 pages: Although confusing at the beginning, the mystery is hard to put down once I became involved in the book.

Quality: 10/10

Potential Controversies: I would have to warn people about the language in the book. It is slightly old-fashioned, and cursing is frequently used by some characters.