Book Club discussion of summer reading assignment:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Objectives:
1. Students apply literary terms to reading selections and analyze the
author's success in using them
2. Students then judge the selection based on details from the selection 
3. Students present their assessments in class during a discussion and
consider other's points of view
4. Students will begin building their self-confidence in analysis and
evaluation of literary works
5. Students will conduct discussions observing rules of courtesy

Materials needed include index cards and categories written on the
board as a reference.

	After students have read a story, they then rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, using 
the following categories:
1. plot
2. characterization
3. theme
4. style
5. readability
6. point of view
7. other elements, for example, irony as appropriate
8. literary merit
9. Would you recommend or not and why?

	Review with students what each category entails in judging. In
particular, students may need clarification in differentiating between author's
style and readability. Explaining the difference briefly will enable students to
distinguish in their own writing between the author and the speaker's styles. In addition,
these two categories are important in later assignments in order to understand
context of the piece, word usage at the time of the story and how style affects
readability.

	Students individually rate the story in class, then discuss and defend
their ratings in a Siskel/Ebert discussion where students' become really
involved.

	At the end of the 15-minute discussion, I will ask for any revisions of
their ratings and reasons, and students will share their findings. This discussion
approach also lays the foundation for analysis and evaluation of point of view in A.P.
English classes and also in the students' own creative writing.
This plan includes Dr. Saylor's recommendations of compacted introductions or
review of previously learned material and moves students quickly into Bloom's higher
order of thinking of analysis, synthesis and evaluation while stressing
consideration for others' points of view.