Assignment Details & Rubrics

Honors English 9:  November 16-December 18

2001:  A Space Odyssey

Compare/Contrast Paper:  See Assignment details for more info.

Speech to Inform:  See assignment detail for more info.

Click calendar for assignment due dates.

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2001:  A Space Odyssey

Overview.  Beginning this week, we will finish the Odyssey and begin reading 2001: A Space Odyssey.  We will divide into groups of 4-5 and each day you will have a new responsibility for your group.  Each day you will fill out a Literature Circle Form.  These are your only assessments so they must be written in ink, in complete sentences, and reflect a thoughtful assessment of your purpose. Look for 3-4 examples to prove each point.

Purpose:  Your goal is to become a “close reader”.  That means you move past the “what happened” and be able to explain what the story events mean. When analyzing a book or a piece of nonfiction, one should consciously examine each of the text for each of the following:

·        Discussion Director:  Leads the discussion and serves as the facilitator for that day.  Must be able to identify the major events, new characters, and shifts in the story.  After conducting a group discussion, the discussion directors will move to the front of the room and participate in a fishbowl discussion.  They will discuss the book while the rest of us watch.  The audience may ask questions of the discussion directors.  The DD may receive up to 10 points for their participation in the fishbowl.

·       Character Watcher:  Choose several of the characters from the day's assigned reading adn describe their actions, thoughts, and/or other character's perceptions.  Explain how these characters impact the story and/or what the character should learn from their actions. 

·         Summarizer:  Prepare a brief summary of the day's reading  Use the questions provided to help you decide what to include.  You might ask yourself what details, characters, or events are so important that they might be included on an exam.  Also, be on the look out  for words that the group might not know and examine the author's use of language, syntax, and voice.

·         Illuminator:  Searches for universal themes and motifs.  Looks for archetypal images or concepts and explains their significance.  Find ways to compare/contrast this novel to The Odyssey.

·         Passage Finder:  Your job is to look for 3-5 critical passages in the section worth hearing and discussing.  These passages should be memorable, interesting, puzzling, funny and/or important.  Also pay attention to passages that illustrate a character's motivation and/or predict future behavior.

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