Narrative Text Proposal Assignment
This sheet must be attached as a cover
page to your work before submission
You will write a proposal regarding the novel that you wish to read in English…
1. Select two of the four books for review (see list attached);
2. Gather information on the books (see Organizer attached)
3. Organize the information using the site Bubbl.us;
4. Write a proposal to indicate your preferred narrative followed the proscribed
formatting (see attached)
Rubric:
Student Name: ______________________________________________
Reading and Literature Studies:
Demonstrate effective ability to find and decode necessary information
through research into each of the texts.
/30
Writing:
Draft an effective proposal following the conventions of form and style as
establishes in the template. Demonstrate effective editing and revision in
the creation of the proposal.
/30
Media Studies:
Demonstrate an understanding of an organizational tool (like Bubbl.us)
and effective application thereof in connecting research information.
/20
Oral Communication:
Demonstrate ability to formulate and answer effective questions in
research process and demonstrate effective peer or self editing of the
draft of the proposal (attach pink revision card to this sheet).
Total:
/20
/100
DUE: Friday 3 May 2013
Selecting a Narrative Text – Preview
In Unit 2 of this course we will explore a reflective narrative text which focuses on themes of identity and self.
To this end you may select from one of the following texts:
Red Scarf Girl* is a memoir written by Ji-li Jiang about her experiences during the Cultural Revolution of China.
The book begins when Ji-li Jiang was a 12 year old living in Shanghai. Her family is considered a
"Black Family", because her grandfather was a landlord. Many people accuse Ji-li of her family's
old ways, or "Four Olds". Ji-li must deal with the difficult choice between her educational future
or her family. This book describes her experiences with the Cultural Revolution, including being
betrayed by her closest friends, helping to destroy the Four Olds, attempting to become a Red
Guard and the constant terror of arrest.
Read further: http://www.jilijiang.com/red-scarf-girl;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Scarf_Girl; http://www.enotes.com/topic/Red_Scarf_Girl.
Night* is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father, Shlomo, in the Nazi German concentration
camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945, at the height of the Holocaust and toward the
end of the Second World War. Wiesel writes about the death of God and his own increasing disgust
with humanity, reflected in the inversion of the father-child relationship as Shlomo declines to a
helpless state and Wiesel becomes his resentful teenage caregiver. In Night, everything is
inverted, every value destroyed. "Here there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends," a Kapo tells
him. "Everyone lives and dies for himself alone."
Read further: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_(book); http://www.enotes.com/night-wiesel;
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/night.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian* is a 2007 novel written by Sherman Alexie. It is a firstperson narrative from the viewpoint of a Native American teenager. Arnold Spirit, Jr., or
"Junior", is a budding cartoonist. Detailing Arnold's life on the Spokane Indian Reservation and
his decision, upon encouragement from a reservation high school teacher, to go to an all-white
high school in the off-reservation town of Reardan, Washington, the novel deals with issues such
as racism, poverty, and the following of tradition.
Read further: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Absolutely_True_Diary_of_a_Part-Time_Indian;
http://www.enotes.com/absolutely-true-diary-part-time-indian;
www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Barcott3-t.html.
I Am Legend*is a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the
development of the zombie genre and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to
disease. The main character is Robert Neville, apparently the sole survivor of a pandemic whose
symptoms resemble vampirism. The narrative details Neville's daily life in Los Angeles as he
attempts to comprehend, research, and possibly cure the disease, to which he is immune. Neville's
past is revealed through flashbacks.
Read further: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_am_legend; http://www.enotes.com/am-legend;
http://www.doorly.com/writing/IAmLegend.htm.
*Please note that each text is limited to eight copies.
As part of the process of selecting the text, you will do research on the narrative and its author for two of the
four texts above. You will next complete a short opinion piece explaining which text would be your preferred
choice and why, and then explain your second choice and why it is thus. (See over for research organizer and
guiding questions.
Date: _______________________
Name: _______________________________
ENG4C: English
Unit One: Diagnostics and Review
Selecting a Narrative Text – Research Organizer (40 marks)
Review the four options and select two of the narratives. Go online (see ‘read further’ for sites) and complete
some precursory research before you select the text you wish to engage. Complete the organizer below as you
research each narrative:
Narrative Option 1: ________________________
Narrative Option 2: ________________________
Summary of the Plot:
Summary of the Plot:
/8
Regarding the Author…
Regarding the Author…
Regarding the Characters…
Regarding the Characters…
/8
Regarding the Setting…
Regarding the Setting…
/4
Regarding themes…
Regarding themes…
/4
/4
Making Connections with this text:
Making Connections with this text:
Text to Self
Text to Self
/4
Text to World
Text to World
/4
Text to Text
Text to Text
/4
Reading:
/30
Oral Communication:
/10
ENG4C: English
Unit One: Diagnostics and Review
Organizing you information… Bubbl.us
As you collect the information for each of the books, you will use ‘Bubbl.us’ to organize your information
effectively.
Follow the directions below for instruction on using the program (or see PowerPoint). See the sample for guidance.
Note: You should create one page for each of the two books you review.
When you have completed each organizer,
print it off and attached for submission
with your proposal.
Media:
/20
ENG4C: English
SAMPLE
Unit One: Diagnostics and Review
ENG4C: English
Unit One: Diagnostics and Review
Selecting a Narrative Text – Reading Proposal
Having done some research and organized your information, you will now complete proposal explaining which text
would be your preferred choice and why, and then explain your second choice and why it is thus. Be sure to review
your notes in explaining your choice. (See ‘The proposal for further details.)
The paper should be roughly 1-2 pages in length (3-6 paragraphs), double spaced. It might be typed or written on
foolscap.
proposal [pruh-poh-zuhl]
noun
1. the act of offering or suggesting something for acceptance, adoption, or performance.
2. The action of putting forward such a plan or suggestion.
Your proposal must include the following information, in the following format:
Your Name (First and last)
Your Student Number
The Date of submission
Teacher’s Name
The Class Code
The subject (Re: Proposal for…)
Greeting:
Body
Section One: what are your top two choices and why have you selected them?
Provide a synopsis of each.
Be sure to
reference
the
informatio
n collected
in your
organizer
here.
Section Two: what is your primary choice? Why would it be most beneficial to
you to read this? What is your secondary choice?
Section Three: what do you hope to learn and do with these choices? Make sure
you refer to the connections you have made with these texts thus far.
Salutation,
Sign off
The proposal should be roughly 1-2 pages in length (3-6 paragraphs), double spaced. It might be typed or written
on foolscap.
Be sure to edit (peer or self or both) the first draft of your proposal and demonstrate evidence thereof.
Writing:
/30
Oral Communication: /10