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You are going to create the Spark Notes or the Cliff Notes for the book you have chosen to read during our "Choice Book" unit. Below are the directions for each section you see on the left side of the screen under "Navigation." When you click on each of the links at the left, you'll find an exemplar for what you need to do for you book (I've based the exemplars on //American Indian Stories//).

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__**Context:**__ __ **For this section, you will need to consider how your book relates to life. Think of the things in life that, if you knew a lot about, you’d better understand your book. For example, I would better understand Melinda’s experience in Speak if I knew more about depression.** __

__ **Think of 3-5 examples from your book and write a paragraph describing each. In your description, comment on the way culture or history views the topic or issue as well as how it plays out in your book.** __

** __PLOT OVERVIEW:__ **
__**While this section encompasses the entire book, it is actually a relatively easy section because it simply requires you to summarize the book. This means that you need to think of the most important events in the book, from start to finish, and describe them here.**__

__**Primarily, you are summarizing, which means that you will be asked to understand the book literally. With that said, you should also provide a brief explanation of why each event is important, and this will give you the opportunity to provide some interpretation.**__

__**I am looking for 3-5 paragraphs.**__

** __CHARACTER LIST AND ANALYSIS:__ **
__**While this section encompasses the entire book, it is actually a relatively easy section because it simply requires you to describe each of the major characters in the book. This means that you need to think of** **WHO** **the most important characters in the book are and describe them here.**__

__**Consider these questions for each character:**__


 * 1) __**What do they look like?**__
 * 2) __**What is their personality like?**__
 * 3) __**What is their role in the book?**__
 * 4) __**How did they change throughout the book?**__
 * 5) __**Are their any truly important quotations (or examples of the character's thinking) that are worth citing?**__

** __THEMES:__ **
__**I personally find this section to be the most interesting because it requires you to think critically about the book. This means that you need to think of the most important themes or lessons in the book, from start to finish, and describe them here.**__

__**Theme: an idea that recurs in a piece of literature (ex. love, friendship, being an outsider, loss, self discovery, etc.)**__

__**For each theme, please consider the following:**__
 * 1) __**Why is the theme important?**__
 * 2) __**How does the theme affect the major characters in the book?**__
 * 3) __**Has this theme shown up in other books you've read?**__
 * 4) __**Do you see this theme being relevant in our lives at SPHS?**__

__**Study Questions and Essay Topics:**__ **In this section, I want you to brainstorm 5-7 questions about your book that you might use to evaluate whether someone understands your book. While you can ask plot based questions, I’m especially interested in questions that ask your reader to think critically about your book. As we’ve discussed, “how” or “why” questions are best. Finally, be sure to answer your questions with a paragraph. In essence, you are writing your own quiz.**