Literature Circles

Narrative

Which simply means story and includes both fiction and nonfiction.

• We will see different points of view throughout each of these stories:
• 1st Person
• Reliable
• Unreliable
• 2nd Person
• 3rd Person
• Limited
• Omniscient
• Objective

Free Verse

• A form of poetry that uses basic stanza structure
• Does not have to rhyme

Haiku

• A form of Japanese poetry that has a very unique structure!
• Haiku’s must use 17 syllables, in 3 lines of 5-7-5

Possible Jobs in our Literature Circles are:

• Character Critic
• Conflict Captain
• Tone & Mood Mediator
• Setting Supervisor

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

As Character Critic, your job is to pay attention to character personality traits. Each time, choose a character on which to focus. What personality traits do they show? Are they brave? Cowardly? Funny? Smart? Innocent? Outgoing? Generous? As you read, look for things the character says or does, or ways in which other characters react to them.

The questions you will answer daily include:

• Select a character from the reading.

• Identify a personality trait they showed today.

• Find one piece of quoted evidence that supports this (include page #)

• Explain how your character impacted by the setting, conflict, and/or mood of the story today?

• Ask the members of your literature circle how they feel about this character. Do they agree with your assessment of this person? Do they have different opinions, or different evidence that they would use? Write a short note about your discussion. Be specific!

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

As Conflict Captain, your job is to pay attention to the conflicts as they arise. Each time, choose a conflict on which to focus. It may be a smaller, specific incident of conflict, or the conflict of the novel as whole.

The questions you will answer daily include:

• Identify a conflict type in the reading.
• What type of conflict is it? Character vs. Character? Nature? Society? Self? Machine? Supernatural?
• Briefly explain/summarize that conflict
• Find one piece of quoted evidence that supports this (include page #)
• Explain why this conflict is important to the story as a whole?
• Ask the members of your literature circle how they feel about this conflict. Do they agree with your assessment? What does everyone think about the importance of this conflict in the story? Write a brief statement that summarizes your discussion.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Your job is to analyze the author's’ word choice in order to determine the impact it has on the tone and mood.

• Remember that the tone is determined by the author
• Their style of writing, use of figurative language, words of emphasis, etc.
• While the mood is determined by how you (as the reader) feels

The questions you will answer daily include:

• How would you describe the tone of today’s reading?
• How would you describe the mood of today’s reading?
• Identify three words in today’s passage that you think contributed to the tone and/or mood. Be sure to include the page number and the meaning/definition of each of the words.
• Ask the members of your literature circle how they would describe the mood of today’s reading. Compare and contrast your feelings. Do each of you feel the same way? Why, or why not? Please use a specific example in your explanation.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Your job is to keep track of the time, place, and circumstances of each section in the story. You will be responsible for analyzing how these aspects change the setting itself and impact additional story elements.

The questions you will answer daily include:

• What is the setting of today’s reading (time, place, weather, etc.)? Has it changed since your last reading? How so?
• Find a quote (with its page #) that highlights and/or helped you to determine your answer to Question #1.
• Which of your senses were heightened during today’s reading? That is, what could you see, feel, hear, smell, as you read?
• Discuss the following question with your group members: Does the setting impact the characters, conflict, tone, and/or mood of today’s reading? If so, in what ways? Write the answers that you all discussed below.