Weebly



PEERWISE READING LOG SUBMISSIONSSUBJECT: ENGLISHYEARS 9 – 11The Slaughterhouse Five?by Kurt Vonnegut?Year level and use:?Year 10-11 - advanced readers; classroom study and / or wider reading?Publishing detailsVonnegut, K (1968). Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Dell Publishing.?SummaryVonnegut’s fantastical, surreal, sci-fi masterpiece – a satirical study of the WWII fire-bombings of Dresden from the perspective of a young American soldier - tells the story of Vonnegut’s own personal experience of the war through the musings of the book's protagonist, semi-autobiographical Billy Pilgrim. The narrator leaps around space and time and grapples with the fleeting moments that make up the essence of one man's living memory - in equal parts the trivial, the loving, the funny, the horrific. From alien abductions to war-torn Germany to raising a family and starting a business in small-town America - Pilgrim experiences a rich life of many wonderful and absurd experiences - each one pulling tight the rope of life he so precariously walks as he makes his way from birth to death - but not in that particular order. It is truly one of the most profound, original novels ever written.?Reaction and teaching ideasThis novel makes rich, profound, material for study of war, perspective, and the human condition. It also would make an interesting addition to a study of science fiction literature. Although the book is officially deemed "science fiction", the novel’s pathos and satirical heart is so gripping, it will engage and gratify even the most cynical reader. The comedic elements are spontaneous and fraught – you are laughing and crying throughout. This book will resonate - and will linger in the minds of young readers, opening doors to ideas and perspectives never imagined before.The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad?Year level and use: Year 11 - advanced readers; classroom study and / or wider reading?Publishing detailsConrad, A (1902). The Heart of Darkness. Middlesex: Penguin Books.?SummaryThe Heart of Darkness tracks the journey of one man’s search for a British trading post commander who has, in the eyes of the Empire, gone rogue and must be brought back to his senses - and returned to the civilized fold. The mysterious and elusive Kurtz?conducts himself as a demigod among 'natives' in central Africa, 1899,?and it is the job of the book's narrator - young Marlow, a pragmatic ship merchant -?to 'bring him home'.?Told from Marlow's perspective,?The Heart of darkness?is a dense, poetic narration of an arduous and life-changing journey up the Congo River into the heart of the African jungle. Marlow recites his story to a group of fellow sailors – hidden and silent and listening from the shadows of the night on a ship sailing up the Thames, returning to London. Marlow tells of his time in Africa – a journey wrought with difficulty, the grim daily toils brought about by harsh realities of land and weather; and strange interactions with locals, cannibals, slaves, pilgrims and lone (often mad) merchants. The experience is retold as a single, unending event that became intolerable for the young narrator - one of survival, confusion dipping into madness, reflection, contemplation and ultimately dissonance and unknowing. It is also the study of character, personality and sanity – how one individual (or perhaps even just the idea of an individual) can be so completely captivating and consuming that they can upset “rational”, “civilised” sensibilities, and drive fanatic followers towards a place of primal lunacy.?This is a story of survival, loneliness, resilience, futility and perspective. Kurtz’ final dying words - a proclamation of some kind of truth - resonate throughout the work: “The horror! The horror!”?The Heart of Darkness?is a metaphorical journey into the dark heart of the human condition - a grim and powerful study of the colonial experience.?Originally a piece of experimental writing,?The Heart of Darkness?is now considered one of the great canonical works of all time.Reaction and teaching ideasThis text would not suit all readers / classes. The novella works in shifting, recurring layers of metaphor and motif. The dominant, grim theme of ‘mortality’ seeps into and stains every word, every sentence. The novella itself was an experiment in surrealism and absurdist literature. It would therefore suit students interested in form, language, the human condition – all of which could be studied at length and in depth, but which would require scaffolding and learning support (much like reading / studying Shakespeare).?Research into studying this text in the classroom shows that a key element of engaging students with the text is to consciously study the text through a modern lens - that is, to find a key point of contention within the text that can be related to and contextualised with a modern audience. For example, asking the question: What exactly?is?the heart of darkness? How can we relate this "heart of darkness" to a modern experience of the human condition? How could the heart of darkness be undestood today, in terms of technology (social isolation); or capitalism (crimes against humanity); or globalisation (lost identity)? There is a vast array of robust notes and suggestions available to assist with teaching?The Heart of Darknessto secondary students - which would most likely be extremely useful when tackling a text of such complexity.?This text could also be studied in conjunction with the classic Vietnam War film?Apocolypse Now?(1979) - which was loosely based on the journey of Marlow and his meeting with Kurtz in the 'heart of darkness'.The Outsiders?by S.E. Hinton?Year level and use:?Year 9 - 11, suitable for all readers as a classroom study and / or wider reading?Publishing detailsHinton, S.E. (1970). The Outsiders. London: Penguin Books.?SummaryThe Outsiders?follows the story of Ponyboy, a 14 year old "Greaser" who gets himself into trouble when his friend, Johnny, stabs and kills a rival "Soc" gang member. Even though Johnny was trying to save Ponyboy's life when he killed the Soc, they are afraid they'll be accused of murder and either sent to prison or (worse) a boys' home. The boys run away and hold up in a dilapidated church in the countryside where they cut and bleach their "greaser" hair to avoid capture. The boys spend several lonely, terrified, bored days in the church, sharing their deepest fears and hopes - cementing an already intense and unusual friendship. Ponyboy and Johnny eventually decide to return home and turn themselves in, only to discover the church alight. Realising a group of young school children are trapped inside, the boys rush in to save their lives. They manage to save the children and Ponyboy escapes unscathed, but the burning roof collapses on Johnny before he can get out. Johnny's back is broken in the fall - and he spends his final days in hospital, listening to Ponyboy's stories of the upcoming rumble between the Greasers and the Socs. Johnny warns Ponyboy not to fight the Socs - that the Greasers will never win. The rumble plays out. Although the Greasers are the official 'winners', the high is short lived as Ponyboy begins to understand what Johnny meant when he said fighting will never change the way things are. Still, he returns to tell Johnny they won. Johnny tells Ponyboy to "stay gold" - and dies. Driven to despair, Ponyboy tries to claim responsibility for the murder of the Soc and refuses to accept that Johnny is dead. The community (including several Socs) rally around Ponyboy and - thanks to the unexpected, honest testimonies of the rival gang members - the court rules that Ponyboy is not guilty of murder, allowing him to continue living with his two older brothers. Reunited with his family, Ponyboy slowly manages to overcome the grief of losing his best friend. Under the mentorship of his teacher, Ponyboy decides to put his story down on paper - scribing the book?The Outsiders.?Reaction and teaching ideasThis novel works in a range of contexts for classroom study at the Year 9 and Year 10 level. It also suits wider reading from Year 9 to Year 13 (and beyond!)?In particular, it is an ideal text to study with a low reading ability Year 9 class, especially if the class relates to experiences of social marginalisation, living in poverty, broken homes, social neglect, gang life and fear / antagonism towards institutionalised authority.?I had the opportunity to study this text with a Year 9 Te Reo bi-lingual Maori class - most of whom had never had a novel read to them or had read a novel themselves - and the entire group was deeply engaged in this text and the process of studying the ideas presented within it. To contextualise the novel in a Maori classroom setting, some activities that proved hugely succesful with the class included inviting the students to:-create their own "gang" dress code (identifiable group markers), symbolism (in the form of property and dress) and language (original slang / borrowed from their own cultural background)-mock act / script "rumbles" (fights) between imaginary 'gangs' in unique ways (spoken word slams, hip hop slams, debates, song contests, staring games, letters)-create and perform a formal pepeha (traditional Maori introduction to one's identity in relation to certain geographic features or people) or for some, just a basic mihi (greeting) for one of the characters in the book (a thoroughly enjoyed activity)-write their own piece of creative writing that offered up an unvoiced perspective of one of the subsidiary characters (this was - interestingly - the most successful of all the activities)-write an essay linking character, events and ideas to a personal response to the text?Written by SE Hinton at the age of 17, this book also makes for inspiring supplementary reading for young budding writers who may benefit from seeing what others before them have been able to achieve so young.?In addition, there is a film version of the book, directed by Coppola (starring Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe) which could be viewed in conjunction with the literary study.THE BEST OF OWEN MARSHALL'S SHORT STORIES by Owen Marshall?Year level and use:?Year 9 - 13, all readers, the human condition, New Zealand setting & voice, short story?Publishing detailsMarshall, O (1997). The Best of Owen Marshall's Short Stories. Auckland: Random House.?SummaryThis masterful anthology of short stories by one of New Zealand's greatest writers offers a rich and varied wealth of material to draw from to enhance and inspire learning in the classroom. Providing over 60 short stories to choose from - ranging in length from 3-15 pages - this body of work is an ideal reservoir of diverse New Zealand stories covering a range of subject matter, characters and themes - all skilfully crafted explorations of the human condition in a distinctly New Zealand setting. Marshall's compelling voice, his unusual, probing perspective and the familiar, identifiable New Zealand context provide a depth to the writing that allow for rich student engagement, analysis and self-reflection. Marshall's work is the epitomy of how much can be said in so few words.??Reaction and teaching ideasHow do I even begin to summarise the wonders of Owen Marshall and the value his writing offers in a classroom setting??My immediate impression is that Marshall's short stories could (and in New Zealand,?should) be studied alongside any piece of writing as a means to enhance learning and persuasively re-contextualise ideas, characters and themes in a New Zealand setting. His writing is not only a powerful tool in the study of literature, but also as an inspiring reminder of what can be achieved by local writers. These stories could equally be studied as a body of work as part of an author-focused study on style, voice and narrative. Marshall's short stories consistently move in certain narrative form, returning to recurring motifs within texts and between them, telling the stories from a (usually outside) perspective, and focusing on certain types of human experiences - especially that of 'grim' realities of life, which recur throughout this compilation of his work. In particular, pieces of work from this anthology could be incorporated into a study on "perspective". His writing usually embodies a sense of voyeurism, invasion of interior space, the uncanny and a distinct way of telling a story and looking back - not with nostalgia, but rather - with a harrowing understanding of the complexity and beauty of human suffering.?Some of the stories from this anthology most regularly used in the classroom include?The Fat Boy, Mr Van Gogh?and?Father & Son. However, to give some idea of a few of the other, less well known, pieces of writing, below is a brief summary of my top four - with themes noted.?Supper Waltz Wilson:Told from the perspective of a young boy, this is the sad story of the teller's friendship with a boy called 'Supper Waltz Wilson' whose father goes mad (he hears voices in the moreporks) and is then taken away. The boy, young Supper Waltz Wilson, cannot handle the situation and runs away from home. The final line of the story crystallises the tone of the story: "Keep runing, Supper Waltz, don't let the morepork get you."?(Themes: friendship, difference, personality, madness)?The TsunamiTold from the perspective of a university student, a tsunami is predicted and so the student goes to the top of a hill to watch it. He sees hundreds of people standing on the beach below - waiting for the wave - and marvels at their lack of care at the possibility of drowning. He realises that someone he knew from school is there on the hill with them - and this man tells him that his landlord (and lover) is pregnant. "The tsunami certainly came for old Les Foster, though, didn't it? ... as they drove away ... that inward smile upon his face. As a drowning man might smile ... " ?(Themes: mortality, futility, meaning(less) of life)?Descent from the FlugelhornTold from the perspective of a young rugby player, this is the story of a young man's car trip around the local countryside with his mate selling tickets to collect money for his rugby club. They come across an old man whose wife tells them the old man used to play rugby himself. The young man and his friend recognise the old man's name and are shocked by his age and condition. After meeting with them, the old man dies - and they leave, having sold all the tickets. Rather than talk about what just happened, or the significance of the experience, they run out of the gate - fleeing what they saw: seeing themselves in someone else who they could barely recognise and the fleeting quality of life. They do however eventually manage to articulate the experience: "Do you think everyone gets the feeling some time or other that they've passed themselves going the other way?" "Yes." (Themes: mortality, identity, community, friendship, desire, narcissism)?The Giving Up PartyTold from the perspective of a young garden hand who by chance meets the beautiful daughter of his boss and becomes enraptured with her. The daughter admits she is giving up being a poet and invites him to her "giving up party". Obliged to follow orders, he joins her. She gets drunk. He instantly idolises her - she is older than he is. They enjoy each other for different reasons. He tells no one. "You are the only person, the only person who came to my giving up party and I thank you for it." "I'll always remember it." (Themes: attraction, desire, loss, grief, secrets of life)Trash?by Andy Mulligan?Year level and use:?Year 9 - 11, all readers, thriller with socio-political undertones?Publishing detailsMulligan, A (2010). Trash. Oxford: Random House.SummaryTrash?is the story of three teenage boys surviving on the margins of Brazil's corrupt and segregated society. Raphael, Gardo and Rat live in a massive?dumpsite on the outskirts of Rio - their lives spent wading through other people's trash searching for food and items to sell to make a living. They live in amongst the trash - with their families, the rats, and the pervading stink of?stupp?(human excrement). They're content and happy, living day by day with no real plans for the future and no real desire to leave what they love and know.?That is, until the day Raphael hooks up the wallet of Jose Angelico - and with it, a bag holding a key, a coded letter and a map. The find is nothing too unusual, until the police turn up and start asking questions. Raphael is instantly curious. If the police are after something, there will be a political connection - and that means money. Knowing he has something of real value in his hands, Raphael and two other dumpster boys ("starved and stinking" Gardo and Rat) set out on a mission to find out exactly what it is they have in their possession and what it's really worth - a mission that sees them discover not just the value of a hidden treasure, but the true value of humanity itself. Their hunt sees them traverse the landscape of Brazil's city sprawl and its range of inhabitants - from overpopulated squatter hoods to the lush, expansive estates of the rich. They come face to face with mortality and destitution at every turn (either their own, or within others around them). Their encounters with the police are brutal and violent. Death is on their heels (the living scent of death on the police's breath) and in the form of ghosts (drawing close for All Saints Day). However, the underlying will to survive is all-pervasive.?One-part illiterate, one-part fearful, one-part reckless - together, all three boys become a singular force of strength, cunning and resolve. They eventually?uncover a political conspiracy and find themselves in possession of more money than anyone ever imagined possible. What the boys do with the money (they release it into an oncoming typhoon over the Behala dumpsite) is telling of how their journey has changed them. Raphael, Gardo and Rat may be thieving, lying runaways - but at their core they are kind, affectionate and brilliant young men who just want to do the right thing - and break the chains of inequality.?Reaction and teaching ideasTrash?is superb. Written in extremely simple language (almost childlike) and told using a seemingly tame mystery novel structure, the actual events that take place in the story are brutal, realistic acts of terror against innocent citizens. The story never shies from the reality of survival for people like Raphael - and at times is sickening (from the descriptions of living amongst rats to the police brutality). Strangely, the story is told in an upbeat, cheerful, youthful kind of way - creating a real dissonance between tone of the novel and the events unfolding within it - making it a great text to study tone, purpose, audience and representation. Each chapter is told by a different character - sometimes by one or two at once, which is a really unusual play on classic narrative form - and makes the text an ideal study for voice and perspective and collective consciousness. The boys'?spontaneous almost fatalistic act of defiance at the end of the book would make for a fascinating class study on characterisation and narrative (in terms of "the Hero's Journey"). Obvious socio-political themes to study alongside this text include inequality, police states, corruption, life on the margins, how society's treat their children and their vulnerable, life as a lottery and justice.by the river?by Steven Herrick?Year Level and Use:Year 9-11 - close reading, personal reading, novel told in verse?Publishing details:Herrick, Steven (2004). By the River. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.?SummaryThis is the story of young Harry Hodby - and his beat-up life in small-town Australia. His mother is dead and his dad spends his waking hours working in the local factory - so Harry is free to fill his day doing whatever he pleases - which generally means going down to the river and not really doing much - which suits him just fine. While the rest of the kids in Pearce Swamp get a kick out of beating each other up, Harry tends to avoid conflict. He's funny,?curious and smart - and prefers to spend his time imagining his great escape. Harry may be?dirt-poor like everyone else in Pearce Swamp,?but unlike the rest of them, Harry is?story-rich.??by the river?(told in verse)?is a collection of Harry's stories about a life of freedom and adventure - in the middle of bloody nowhere. Told from Harry's perspective as a young adult looking back on his childhood and early teens, this novel is a splattering of unusual and (seemingly) unfiltered memories - most very ordinary, uneventful, yet all somehow poignant (eating watermelon with his brother and father, throwing rocks at the old gossiping bats who live next door). A few of the stories are quite unexpected and terrifying (crossing the bridge when a train comes, spying on his neighbour 'courting' girls). The rest (his mother's death, his best friend's death in a river flood, his father losing his hand in a factory accident) are harrowing, sad, devastating moments where life changes and something is lost and grief sets in, just a little bit - just enough to make things feel more deeply, even the ordinary and the uneventful things - until even they, the most mundane moments (the gossiping about good-for-nothing boys, swimming naked in the river, eating watermelon with his brother and dad) become charged with meaning. The journey - spanning one young lifetime -?is emotional, rather than chronological; the?poems linking through mood, rather than time. And so the narrative unfolds - embedded with ritual, routine, hum-drum life - until every last memory has become heavy with the residual essence of what it means to truly live life - full of emotion, full of laughter, full of mischief and full of love. This is a story about real people living real lives and experiencing the real grit of humanity.?It is utterly extraordinary. A masterpiece of young adult fiction.??Reaction and teaching ideasThis was a truly fantastic read and a text well worth pulling into the classroom as a text for group study - or at the very least suggesting to students for personal reading.?I couldn't put it down. (A very quick read.)?Thematically,?by the river?explores issues around adolescence, loneliness, the loss of a parent, the loss of a friend, friendship, sibling love, small-town life, setting, landscape, ritual, identity, belonging, catastrophe, grief, gossip, poverty, neglect. The novel lends itself to a close analysis of structure - in particular how long-form narrative storytelling techniques can be hidden behind and embedded in the guise of short-form poetry. Herrick is a master of structure - his bundling up a pile of poems into a carefully crafted story is a superb play on form. Likewise, his unusual use of language features - particularly those employed to inform narration, voice, characterisation and perspective - would also be excellent study points for this text. It's also worth noting that, as a piece of Australian fiction, this would fit nicely into a study of literature from the colonies / Australasian lit. On that note - Herrick is known for generously visiting schools (including in New Zealand) and giving inspirational (and funny) talks about writing poetry and fiction - a pretty terrific addition to classroom study.??Suitable Reading Age / Reading Level?-Although the novel is written in verse - the writing is accessible, straightforward and prose-like. The voice is colloquial and closed first person speaking in present simple tense - so it reads very much more like a screenplay (action first) than a standard poem (ideas first). Although the protagonist a teenage boy - the issues he's grappling with really are human issues that speak to us all (male or female) - breaking the potential reading audience wide open. Even the ideal reading age feels malleable. Although the story does touch on significant moments in the main character's childhood, it lingers mostly in his late teen years. Although this novel would be an excellent suggestion for high-level readers, especially those with an interest in the structural elements of storytelling, my gut feeling is that?by the river?would equally serve more reluctant readers who perhaps find reading a longer novel daunting. This text reads fast - half the pages are white space (it's verse!) and this translates into a superbly gratifying read - I imagine for reluctant readers especially.?Riding Tycho?by Jan Mark?Year Level & UseYr 9 Level 4: all readers, personal reading, dystopian future??Publishing detailsMark, Jan (2004). Riding Tycho. London: Macmillans Children's Books?SummarySet in the distant future on a distant planet,?Riding Tycho?follows the story of (nearly) 12-year old Demetria who, like all other girls her age, endures a bleak existence under the tight fist of the men of High Island, including her own particularly brutal brother. The island - surrounded by cliffs that drop to the swift-moving current of Tycho below - acts as her natural prison.?Regular physical beatings and repeated 'truths' about how women are 'made wrong' and 'will sink like stones' if they try to swim away keep the women trapped there. ?Demetria, like all the other girls, does as she is told. She never asks questions (she's never had to) and accepts her place as divined. Until, one day, her family is given a 'Political' to look after. Naive and conforming Demetria does everything she can to avoid the 'stranger'. But after a chance meeting during which he defends her against some of the village boys, Demetria becomes drawn to him and hooked on both his kindness and his wild 'stories' about a planet called Earth, a society where men do not beat women, where animals can fly and - most importantly - where women can?swim. These 'stories' ignite in Demetria an instinctive rebellion towards the status quo. She begins to question everything - and these questions act as triggers of discovery that will eventually lead to her 'escape'. When the Political shows her what a kite is (because Demetria flatly refuses to believe that objects can fly), the army shoots the Political for sending a 'coded message' to the mainland. Although the Political is shot dead, his ideas take on a new life in Demetria's consciousness. Having seen that an object can fly, the Politcal's 'stories' are confirmed as 'truths' for Demetria - and this prompts her to cautiously begin to wonder whether, perhaps, the 'truths' of the High Island could be nothing more than stories. When Demetria attempts to vocalise her feelings, her family and friends disown her. With no one to left to turn to, Demetria withdraws to a secret cove where she steps into the water and?does not sink. Demetria teaches herself to swim and, in so doing, defies the 'natural' order and grows strong in her conviction that those in power are wrong. But her freedom and empowerment is short-lived. Demetria is caught swimming by her brother and his cronies. Her only option is to return to the island and be beaten, possibly killed, or to swim out to sea and ride the tide Tycho into an unknown future. She chooses escape (death?) over a return to subjugation.?It is a very lonely story.?Reaction and teaching ideasTold within the clear constructs of a dystopian science fiction novel -?Riding Tycho?would make an excellent supplementary text within a unit studying genre, language and structure, particular alongside texts centred around prison life, escape for survival and institutionalised power.?Riding Tycho?is thick with symbolism relating to isolation, imprisonment, and a clear 'escape plot' narrative structure. It is also densely packed with motifs around freedom of speech (or lack of it), the significance of who gets to write history, the importance of language and how naming things helps us make sense of the world - and as such would marry well with Witi Ihimaera's?Whale Rider?(which is almost uncannily similar in narrative and characterisation - though Ihimaera's book came out almost 20 years earlier.)?Thelma & Louise?as a potential co-text also immediately comes to mind (with death being the only option for the subversive female protagonists.) It would be an excellent book to read alongside mythical "warning" tales - in particular the tale of Icarus (for its related theme of 'flying too high'). In a broader context, the book would feed beautifully into socio-political discussions around gender, racism, censorship, freedom of speech, mythology, theory of knowledge, science in literature, women's rights, citizenship, outlooks for our future - and many more. Although the book is written in rather simple, prosaic language, and the narrative structure and characterisations are formulaic to the end,?Riding Tycho?is nonetheless a gripping read. It is a page-turner and - yes - Jan Mark's blatant, unbeautified portrayal of life in a broken down society where not all citizens are treated as equals is enough to get anyone thinking.?The recommended reading age for this book is 12+ for independent reading.Blankets:?an illustrated novel by Craig Thompson?Year Level:?Y9, Y10; graphic novel; suitable for close reading; suitable for personal reading; suitable for reluctant readers; suitable for deep, critical analysis ??Publishing Details:?Thompson, Craig (2004). Blankets: an illustrated novel. Marietta: Top Shelf Productions?Summary:Blankets?is an award-winning autobiographical 'coming of age' graphic novel that tells the story of a young man's journey from a somewhat brutal and lonely Evangelical childhood into adulthood on his own terms. Told through expressively illustrated vignettes and minimal first-person narration, Thompson recounts his early life with depth and personal intimacy - tragic moments of never quite fitting in, of degrading self-consciousness, ridicule and humiliation, of the harrowing realities of strict and devout family life, of brotherly angst, of falling in love for the first time, of obsession and escapism, of shame, and of the eternally cold, windy, snowy Wisconsin winters.?The highly stylised "cartoonish" sketches (all in black and white) run fluently alongside the narrator's simple written text - personal musings in classic comic-book style of the author's confused, obsessive and vulnerable state of mind. Each vignette reads like a confession - clunky, spatty, pathetic, wonderful, honest, tragic and all told in a humble, singularly powerful voice. Each decision made by the author and those closest to him - his parents, his brother, his teachers, his babysitter, his girlfriend, her parents, her disabled adopted siblings, his bullies - is laid bare for judgment. At its heart,?Blankets?is a messy, vulnerable, triumphant story of 'first love'. But this heart beats fast and hard in a confused and tormented body of emotion, suffering and joy - a body in the painful, spiritual process of transitioning from a devout, conformist Christian child to a young, liberated adult of his own volition.?The Bloomsbury Review called it "a superb example of the art of cartooning: the blending of word and picture to achieve an effect that neither is capable of without the other."??Reaction and Teaching Ideas?Blankets: an illustrated novel?would make an excellent close reading text as well as general?recommended reading to a wide range of students - including: female, male, readers at different levels, students with an interest in art and writing, and students with reading difficulties. Even though it is a whopping 582 pages long - given its predominantly illustrative nature and simple, colloquial written style and controversial subject matter, it would particularly appeal to reluctant readers. The more edgier elements to the book - namely some of the antics the boys get up to (they spend an angry night urinating on each other), the young love affair (kissing, not-quite love-making) and subtle allusions to abuse (the babysitter 'tells them a joke' in the other room) - give the book its dark, human quality that make it truly accessible, engaging and credible, especially to more cynical readers. The 'God' element is in itself highly controversial and therefore may need to be 'pitched' to some readers for what it really it is - an in-road to studying broader societal (non-religious) themes. (Ultimately, this is not a religious text - quite the opposite.) The simplicity of the images and the direct (almost superficial) openness of the text, directly contrast the serious nature of the story being told - making it an ideal text to study form (using language, symbols and text).?Blankets?could also be discussed in relation to numerous topics and themes - including identity, difference, community, perspective, religion, disability, fostering, adoption, responsibility, coming of age, home and grief, to name a few. The confession-like nature of the novel specifically lends itself to discussions around themes of personal value and moral systems: cultural capital, empathy, understanding difference and others. Although the book is set in North America, it would tie nicely into studies of New Zealand / Maori / Pacific Island stories of a similar ilk, alongside?Whale Rider?(Witi Ihimaera),?Once Were Warriors, Sia Figiel's?Where we Once Belonged?and?The Girl in the Moon Circle, many of Owen Marshall's short stories, as well as local performance / slam poetry. It goes without saying that this novel is a live-wire candidate for getting the students to reflect on their own world views, values and moral systems, as well as think about their place in society - in relation to their families and whanau, their wider social group and the international community. As a multi-platform text (illustrations and written word) it opens itself to creative ways of readings and interpretation. No doubt much fun could be had here with creative writing / illustration exercises in response to the text.?Blankets is a rich text - a moving, compelling graphic novel - dripping with material just asking to be ransacked by young minds.?"But in that little pathetic clump of blankets there was comfort."??Supplementary Reading / Research Material:Craig Thompson's blog provides insight into the author's creative process and provides access (by email) for students / teachers to directly ask the author questions about his work"The Beautiful Ambiguity of Blankets: Comics Representation and Religious Art" - a study guide by Benjamin Stevens?"On Teaching the Graphic Novel" by Alexander Chee?"Blankets: an illustrated novel Summary and Study Guide" - author unknown (available for purchase at Bookrags:?) ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download