The characters

Vocabulary

Book Review

Reading Guide

FILM REVIEW

(Worksheet)

1. What is the title of the film?___________________________

2. Who are the main actors in the film and what roles they play? ____________________________________________________________

3. Who directed the film?______________________________

4. Who wrote the screenplay?___________________________

5. Is this film like any other films you have seen? If so, what film is it like?

___________________________________________________________6. Who are the main characters in the story? _________________________

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7. What is the setting?_______________________________

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8. What is the film about? Summarize the story (without the ending!) in 5 sentences.

Remember that your reader want to know enough about the film to make a decision about going to see it, but not so much that there’s no need to go!

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9. What is your opinion about the actors and the acting?_________

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10. Do you recommend this film? If so, what sort of people will enjoy seeing it? _______________________________________

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11. What star rating do you give this film? (****- excellent, *** better than most, **average, *- below average, no stars – poor)

While reading put down your personal responses using the following guidelines: 1. Anticipating (your guesses about what is going to happen next, what events lead to the current situation and how the book is going to end). _________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 2. Picturing (images that come to your mind such as a character’s face or a scene described in a book). _____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 3. Interacting (your own thoughts and opinions on character’s personality and actions, feelings about events and situations). ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 4. Evaluating (comments on the skill of the writer, his use of stylistic devices, whether they are effective or not, which phrases and passages make an impression on you). ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 5. Memories from your own experience provoked by reading. ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 6. Connections to other texts and ideas (Relate the book to your own experiences and share similar moments from your life or from the books you have read). _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 7. Reflections on the ideas of the book _____________________________________________________________ 8. Comparisons (how the characters in the book behave and how you would behave in the same situation) _______________________________________________________________   9. Questions (ask questions while reading to help you to make sense of the characters and of the plot. Don’t be afraid to wonder why or indicate surprise) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Please do not try to rewrite and retell the book but write down all the things that go on in your head, make a record of images, associations, feelings, thoughts, judgments. Feel free to write your opinions and ideas. Keep the journal close at hand and jot down fleeting thoughts before they escape you. Remember that there is no limit to the type of responses you may write. Do it in a «stream of consciousness style», do not write an essay. Don’t worry about being wrong.

Extended variant of a “reading log”: While reading put down your personal responses using the following guidelines: 1. Anticipating / retrospecting (your guesses about what is going to happen next, what events have led to the current situation and how the book is going to end). 2. Picturing (images that come to your mind such as a character’s face or a scene described in the book, anything that particularly caught your imagination). 3. Emotions (How do you feel while reading? Can you point out what keeps you reading?). 4. Understanding characters and situations A - your thoughts and opinions on characters’ personalities, actions; events and situations B - thought bubbles (jot down thoughts from the «inner» dialogue that parallels the outer dialogue given in the text: what the character says / what he (she) is thinking) C- alternatives (consider what else characters might have done. What would have been the result? What if a key event(s) had turned out differently? Why do you think the author chose the situation described in the book?) 5. Evaluating (comments on the skill of the writer, his/her use of stylistic devices; whether they are effective or not in making the book vivid; which phrases and passages made an impression on you) 6. Memories from your own experience provoked by reading. 7. Connectionsto other texts and ideas (relate the book to your own life experiences, and share similar moments from the books you have read). 8. Comparisons (how the characters in the book behave and how you would behave in the same situation). 9. Reflections on the ideas of the book. 10. Discovering the author’s message (Who is the speaker? What is his/her purpose? Point of view? Value system? What is explicit? What is implied by the author and how is it done? What are her/his intentions? What makes you think so?) 11. Value judgement(Consider moral, aesthetic issues raised in the text/ Question the author’s values against your own) 12. Questions (ask questions while reading to help you to make sense of the characters and of the plot, take notice whether you can answer them as you read on or do they remain unsolved?) 13. Evoking and expanding schemata (what kind of information do you need to understand the text- historical, sociolcultural facts which form the background of the novel, etc. Have you learnt anything new? Which stereotypes, if any, fit with / contradict to what you read) 14. Shifting the perspective(How would the others on the scene report the same events? Write a diary entry from the point of view of one of the characters. Notice how your perception changes when you «change the lenses» through which you see the story) 15. Mode of response. How do you see your process of reading? Try to define it (Do you identify with some of the characters? Are you a spectator on the outskirts of events? Do you establish links between your life and the book? Are you outside, above the action? Do you understand rather than feel the emotions of characters? etc) Do you change the modes while reading?   After reading: 16. Outline (First write a summary of the chapter in 50 words, then write a summary in 100 words, choosing what is more and less essential) Please do not try to rewrite and retell the book but write down all the things that go on in your head, make a record of images, associations, feelings, thoughts, judgments. Fell free to write your opinions and ideas. Keep your journal close at hand and jot down fleeting thoughts before they escape you. Remember that there is no limit to the type of responses you may write. Do it in a «stream of consciousness style», do not write an essay. Don’t worry about being wrong. After discussing the chapter in class look again at the guidelines and try to notice changes in your reaction to situation and your perception of characters as you move from one reading to another and from reading to discussion. You may leave enough space for each guideline so that you can add something (using a pen of a different colour) after reading and discussing. Or you may divide the reading log in two columns:  

While reading	After rereading and discussing
1. Anticipa	ting
2. Pictu	ring
3. Mo	de

After having discussed the chapter in class and going over the reading log write down your overall impression (final response). Try to notice if any changes in your reaction to events and characters have occurred. Reflect here the author’s views, values, beliefs, intentions which you have discovered as well as your own. Be sure that you can not only discover the author’s position and that of your own but also prove them.

Here are some examples-extracts from the reading logs:

Anticipating / retrospecting

All these descriptions give me a feeling of misery and loneliness. I think something terrible will happen. I think this story is a tragic one. Gatsby and Daisy will never be happy.

Picturing

I’d rather compare Gatsby with an outsider- a man who doesn’t suit the society, someone utterly different. We call these people strange.

Daisy is a small pretty woman with well-made figure. She has clear blue like the sky eyes and curly fair hair. She seems to be slender and weak, but her inner being possesses strong will. I can’t refer her to the category of dull women

Evaluating

I think Nick has done a great job in describing some ways. For example: «the earth lurches away from the sun». All he wants to say is the coming of the night; however, he just transfers it another way. Nick isn’t an onlooker, he is a guide of the story. He directs our emotions and feelings.

The author describes one row of apartment houses in a very pictorial, active way, so that we can imagine the scene very easily.

Mode of response

I think that I am there with the characters, listening and seeing everything they do and say. I see myself as an invisible spectator. The characters seem to come real and you feel to know them.

When I read, the things which pass through my mind are similar experiences of my own. Sometimes I am an onlooker, trying to understand the characters. Sometimes I am one of them.

Name: __________________ Group: __________________

Title ___________________________________________ Author _____________________________________________

Who is telling the story? How is the story told? (e.g. First/Third Person Narrative, Diary etc.) _____________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Is this an effective narrative voice? …and why? ____________ ___________________________________________________

What type of book is this? (e.g. Adventure, Horror, Fantasy, Teenage etc.)___________________________________________________

Where and when is the story set?____________________ Does the setting add to the story in any way_____________ _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Setting

Briefly re-tell the plot._____________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Briefly, what did you think of the plot? (Exciting, humorous, etc.). Give reasons for your answer._______________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Who were the main characters in the story? _______________ ____________________________________________________________

Which character did you like the most and why?______________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

  Which character did you find least likable? Explain. ________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________  

What is the theme of the book? What do you think the writer’s message is? ____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Give your personal evaluation of the novel. Explain what feelings, emotions and thoughts the story gave you, giving reasons. _________ _____________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Phrases for discussing books:

1. The text(story) under discussion is about

deals with the problem of

The text in question presents

2. The story opens with the description of

(begins) the dialogue between

(ends) the review of

the comment on

3. From the opening paragraph (lines) we get to know (learn) that…

4. In the story the author reveals the problem of…

tackles

addresses

5. The author dwells on the life of

6. The author introduces… to us (to the reader)

7. He goes over (passes over) to describing (explaining)

8. The scene is laid in

The action takes place in

9. The plot centers round

10. Throughout the story the author focuses our attention on

stresses that

11. At the end of the story…

12. The story sounds true to life

13. The text can be divided into… parts

14. The turning point of the story is in line… (part…, when…)

15. The story is told from… point of view

16. The narration is conducted in the first / third person

17. I find the plot simple / realistic / mysterious / interesting

18. The story is surprising

19. The end is disappointing

20. I expected…

1. The main characters in the story are…

2. I would describe him / her as…

3. She/ he seems to be… because she/ he says…

The way she / he reacts show that…

There are some details in the text which show that…

4. His / her feelings are hard /easy to understand

5. The relationship between … changes / develops

6. The character (don `t) change. At first… but later…

7. The character appeals to me because…

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