American Literature Novel Project
Mr. Arends
At the end of the semester you will create two projects and provide a presentation on an American novel and author.
The following list contains novels I have already approved. If you choose a novel not on this list you must gain my
approval. If you want to read another book by an author who is on this list you will likely be approved but you still
need to check with me.
Novels
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850)
Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851)
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899)
F..Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929)
William Faulkner, Light in August (1932)
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
John Steinbeck, The Red Pony
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
Richard Wright, Native Son (1940)
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953)
John Updike, Rabbit, Run (1960)
Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1962)
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughter-House Five (1969)
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987)
Bernard Malamud, The Natural
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Chaim Potok, The Chosen
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Ernest J. Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses (1992)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006)
Peter Hedges, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
Don DeLillo, White Noise
Alice Walker, The Color Purple
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
Drama
Thornton Wilder, Our Town (1938)
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (1949)
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
Non-fiction Prose
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (1845)
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
1776,David McCullough
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich
Hiroshima, John Hersey
Assignment requirements:
Your assignment is to read one of the novels, plays, or books on this list. While you read you
must write weekly plot summaries:
Weekly Plot Summaries
You will write your weekly plot summaries as a record of your reading on a Google Document. Weekly
plot summaries will be graded as daily assignments.
Instructions
1. Post your weekly summaries by Thursday of each week.
2. Write the date, book title, summary number, and pages read at the top of your summary
3. Write your summary in your own words (approximately 150 words).
4. Share the document with me at jlarends@hlv.k12.ia.us
After you have read the selection you will complete a 2-part assignment. The first part asks you to
provide a presentation on your selection. This presentation should be no shorter than 6 minutes and no
longer than 10 minutes for individuals. Groups will be responsible for a 10-14 minute presentation. The
teacher must approve groups ahead of time. These elements will be required in the presentation:














An introduction that hooks the audience and a conclusion summarizes the important points from
your presentation.
Transitions between each important part of your presentation
Title of the selection you read
Author and a short biography
Date of original publication
Setting (time/historical era and place) of the story.
A list and short description of the main characters and their relationship to one another
A concise summary of the plot (The summary should not consume more than 2 minutes. Do not
give away the ending)
Symbols and their meaning within the story.
Your personal evaluation of the selection (What do you feel about the selection? Why do you
feel that way? What is your opinion of the author’s style and ability to tell a story? Why?)
What did you get from the book? What did you learn about human nature? What will you
remember about this book? What should we learn from this story?
To whom would you recommend this book (not a particular person but a group)? Why?
Balance these major points of your presentation so you can cover all aspects. If you do not cover
these within the presentation, no credit will be given for those areas.
The presentation will be worth 100 points
Presentations will begin May __________. All groups must be prepared to speak on May ___________.
NO LATE PRESENTATIONS will be given. If you are not finished on time you will receive a zero and
this will likely result in failure of this course.
I advise you to finish reading your chosen novel by May _____________. This will give you two weeks
before presentations begin to work on projects and meet as a group to discuss your presentation
responsibilities. Due to time constraints we will not have much time to work in class. It is quite likely
that you will need to plan time to meet outside of class to plan and prepare.
You may use note cards for your presentations. These should contain notes only and not written out
word-for-word statements. Practice will be necessary to be successful on your presentation.
Project Ideas: When completing each project, type at least one page, double-spaced unless other wise
specified. Choose 2 of the following projects. If there is a movie version of the book you will be
required to complete that project along with one other project. This list is a work in progress. We
will work together to find the best fit for each project. If you come up with a project idea that is not on
this list, run it by me first and we will talk about it. The teacher must approve all projects before you
begin working on them. Both projects will be worth 50 points each. Any project requiring research
must be accompanied by a works cited page written in MLA format. Remember that ability does count. If
you are not artistic, do not choose an artistic project. If you are creative, do a creative project.
1. Summarize the book in poem form with rhyme (minimum 20 lines).
2. Discuss in depth the relevance of the title.
3. Write a letter to the author.
4. Use two other sources to research and write a report on an issue from the book.
5. Write a one-minute radio advertisement persuading the public why they should buy and read this book.
6. Research and write a report on the author.
7. Q & A - Pretend you're interviewing a person from the book. Write your interview in question and
answer format. Write and answer at least 7 questions.
8. Compare and contrast the book with another you have read.
9. Discuss cause and effect relationships you found in the book.
10. Write a newspaper editorial based on a controversial issue in the book.
11. Design a time-line for events in the book using an artistic representation of events from the book.
12. Write a letter to one of the characters in the book.
13. As a literary agent, write a letter to the publishing company designed to persuade them to publish this
book.
14. Create a glossary of unfamiliar words and phrases. Find at least 20 words.
15. Choose your favorite passage from the book. Copy it down and discuss what you found appealing
about it.
16. Top 10 List - list ten things you learned from this book citing specific passages.
17. You're the reporter. Write a front page news story or a report live from the scene.
18. Write your own test - a combination of matching, multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay.
Must write at least 20 items. Can not be all of one category, use at least 3.
19. Journal as you go - As you're reading the book, keep a two-sided reading journal. The left side should
have quotes from the book and page numbers. The right side should have your questions, thoughts,
observations, revelations, etc. 2 sides of notebook paper, hand-written completely filled.
20. Compare the book to the movie version of the book. This will be required for books that have a
movie version. Because these books are classics, some of the movies have tried to be, too. They have not
often succeeded. Be sure to cite difference and the effect those changes.
21. Design and make your own t-shirt to illustrate some aspect of the book.
22. Design costumes for the movie version of the book. Explain them.
23. Do a dramatic reading of a scene in the book. This can be included in your presentation but will not
count for the 5 minute minimum.
24. Make a new book jacket for the book. Look at an actual book jacket and notice that all exposed
surfaces are used. Your cover should do the same thing.
25. Prepare a TV commercial about the book.
26. Put together a cast for the film version of a book. Explain each choice in detail including why that
person would be the right choice for their respective character (liking the actor/actress or thinking they are
attractive is not a legitimate reason; think about the other films the character has been in and how that
may demonstrate they are a good choice). Include photos.
27. Turn your book into a soap opera. You can write the script or you can put it on tape as if it were
designed for radio.
28. Write a comic book version of your book.
29. Write a different ending for the book (How things would be different if the main character made
different choices) or write an epilogue (In other words, what happens next-after the end of the novel).
30. Write an episode of Jeopardy based on the plot, setting, theme, character, etc. from the book.
31. You are a fortune teller and have been asked to predict what each of the characters in your book will
be doing ten years after the story ends. Be sure to explain why you feel this will happen.
32. You are planning a party with a theme based on your novel. Describe your ideas, invitations and
decorations as well as food and entertainment. If you‘re ambitious make samples of the invitations.
Explain what the theme is and which characters you will invite. If you have a costume party, describe the
costumes of the characters. Be sure to explain why and how this theme relates to the book.
33. You can give a gift to a character of your choice and you have as much money as you need. Tell what
the gift you would buy would buy and why it would be appreciated.
34. You have been asked by one of the main people in your book to write a letter of recommendation for
him/her for a college admissions committee. Describe good and bad points as honestly as possible.
35. You have been asked by the chairman of your political party to nominate some of the characters for
high government positions. Tell which one would make the best president, governor, judge and
ambassador. Explain the reasons for your choices and don’t take age into consideration. If some are unfit
for any offices, explain why.
36. You have just been informed that every character in your book has a fatal disease. You are a doctor
who has some medication that will ease the pain of only one of them. Which one would you choose to
help and why?
37. You have just completed a “time tunnel“ that can transport one of your characters to another era. You
have the power to select the period in history. Tell how the person would or wouldn’t adapt to that time.
38. You‘re out with the main characters from your book at a Chinese restaurant. On this night the fortune
cookies are amazingly appropriate. Describe each character in terms of personality as developed in the
book and tell what his/her fortune cookie said and why it’s fitting. Don’t forget to include yourself.
39. You’re a real estate agent and want to sell a family house in the neighborhood in which your book
takes place. As part of the job, you must inform your clients about the community, the kinds of people
living there, the existing organizations, the types of jobs available and the schools. Make your description
brief and to the point or you may lose the interest of the clients.
40. Make a video or put on performance re-enacting one or two of the chapters from the your novel (This
will work only for groups who are reading the same book. All group members must have equal parts in
the performance.)
41. Make a map of the books important places. Note the significance of each place.
42. Create a 3-dimensional model of the setting or plot of your novel.