Book Project Options/Instructions

The goal of this project is to get you reading. The more your read, the better your read; and you will become a better writer by becoming more familiar with what good writing looks like. You have been given a list of books to choose from (which should appear just above these instructions in Canvas), so let’s talk about what you can do with them once you read them.

Complete, before the end of the semester (the date will be given later), one of these project options:

– College application

Create the application that a character/person you have just read about could write and submit to a college. Use all the information you know about the character/person, and make up the details not in the book. On the application, include Name, Academic Rank in Class, High School Courses Taken and Grades, Extracurricular Activities and Personal Activities, and Work Experience. Choose one of the following questions to answer in a two-page essay from the character’s point of view: what experience, event, or person has had a significant impact on your life? Discuss a situation where you have made a difference. Describe your areas of interest, your personality, and how they relate to why you would like to attend this college.

– Word collage

Write the title of the book in the center of a thick sheet of paper. Then look through magazines for words, phrases, and sentences that illustrate or tell something about your book. As you look, think in terms of the theme, setting, plot line, and characters. Work to get fifty such words, phrases, or sentences so the whole sheet of paper will be covered. The visual impact of the collage should tell a potential reader a lot about the book. You will present this collage to the class and explain at least a handful of the words/phrases/sentences and why you chose to use them.

– Music

After reading the book, figure out how you would divide it into sections. Then, for each section, select a piece of music that you think captures the theme or tone of each section. Record the pieces, and, if possible, do voice-overs explaining what is happening in the book during the selection of music and why you felt this piece of music fit that section. If you don’t do the voice over, you will explain this in front of the class.

– Draw a scene

If you are artistic, think of an important scene/chapter and draw it the way you see it. Place the characters/ideas in the scene too and then figure out where you were in relation to them when you read the book. Then write or tape your explanations of why you drew the scene the way you did and why you think you were where you were in the scene. What does it tell you about who you related to in the book or how you understood the ideas? Present your findings in front of the class.

– Write a letter to your pre-book self

In about two pages, summarizes the most important parts of the book for yourself, and tell the you who has not yet read the book the kinds of insights you might gain or new interests or concerns you might develop from reading the book. Give details that only someone who has read the book can give.

Can you do it on write a letter to your pre book self.