Literature Notebook
For each of your books, you will need to create the following paper, which will be
turned in to the teacher when you present your book. Your presentation must be between
5 to 7 minutes. It must be centered around getting the class excited about your book
and must contain one of your activities.
Title:
Author:
Publisher:
Date:
Awards: List all awards won and nominated for. If the book has not won an award,
you need to talk to me BEFORE you read it.
Genre (3) Determine the Genre of the book by looking at its characteristics. Possible
Genres are Realistic Fiction, Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, Biography, Fantasy, Sci-fi,
and Mystery. Give Definition of that Genre and two examples of it in the book.
Theme(3) List a possible theme and give two examples from your book that show that
theme.
Audience (3) What is the age and gender of the reader that this book would appeal to the
most and the least. Explain why.
Book Summary (3) Make sure that this is in your own words! Don’t copy from the back
of the book or from an Internet review. Only a brief paragraph.
Literary Comments (5) Discuss the book based on its literary worth. Example may
include style, mood, and literary terms. For a list of specific terms, see the list by the
calendar. Give the Term (1), the Definition (1), and three examples from your book (3).
Personal Reaction (3) Your favorite parts, what you loved the best…this section is up to
you – its your opinion.
Activities Related to Book: Two activities that a class could do to learn more about the
book after reading. Include a description for the activity and the grade(s) that you think
are best fitted for the activity. For your presentation, you will present one of these
activities as a finished project. Points are distributed as follows:
10 points for completing an activity, bringing it in to show the class.
5 points for the Name, Description, that it expands their knowledge of the book,
Grade Level, and Subject Area for each of the two activities
Ms. Condon’s Literature Notebook
Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Date: 2005
Awards: Nominee for 2007 Rhode Island Teen Book Award, Abraham Lincoln Book
Award Master List, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Beehive Award Master List,
Gateway Readers Award Nominee, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, VOYA- Top
Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers.
Genre & Theme: After looking at a list of different genres that books can fall under, I
decided that this book could fall under any genre. It contains romance and action, its
science fiction, yet could be considered a documentary of our world, or what the future
world could be. Several themes run through this book. The most noticeable is the
struggle between the individual and society, natural beauty and manufactured pretty.
Audience: The audience that this book would appeal the most to would be the junior
high/high school-aged girl. I think that the reading level is low enough that a 6th or 7th
grader would have no problem reading it, although the thickness might throw them off. It
would also appeal to the older student because of the relativity to their lives. The
audience that it would appeal to the least would be the high school-aged boy. Even
though many boys deal with the issues presented in the book, the fact that the main
character is a girl and it is seen through her eyes would keep a boy from connecting with
the story as much as a girl.
Book Summary: This is the story about a young girl named Tally who lives in a world
where everyone is ugly until they turn 16 and are then given an operation to make them
pretty. One of her friends however, decides that she doesn’t want to be pretty and runs
away to join the Smokies: a group of people who believe that they are happier without
being pretty. When this happens, a secret governmental force called Special
Circumstances confronts Tally. They believe the Smokies to be dangerous because they
do not conform and the Specials inform Tally that she will have to find and return with
her friend before they will make her pretty. However, after finding and living with the
Smokies, Tally learns about the Special’s secrets and switches sides, but not before the
damage was done.
Literary Comments: This book contains several of the characteristics listed in the
textbook. It was written from the viewpoint of a teenager, it got rid of the parents so that
the teenagers could take all of the credit of their actions. It is extremely fast-paced,
optimistic, and it deals with the emotions that are important to young adults. The book
also contains a didactic message, but is done subtly enough that it doesn’t take away from
the story. The futuristic world adds some magical realism to the story and he also adds a
bit of foreshadowing that I’ll talk about in my personal reaction.
Personal Reaction: I really enjoyed this book and feel that this book can connect with a
girl of any age because it deals with a problem that we face our entire lives. One of the
best parts of this book was when their camp was destroyed by the Specials. Tally had
had dreams of dying before, so I thought that this was just any other dream. It was such a
surprise when it turned out to be real!
Activities Related to Book:
 Grade: 9-10. Content Area: Health/P.E. After reading the book, have a “Smokies
Day” in which all your students come to school without having made themselves
pretty. No make-up, hairstyles, fashionable clothes, if they wear contacts have
them wear their glasses instead, etcetera. During class have a discussion about
how the students feel. Are they more or less comfortable as they are now? How
did the other students react to the way they looked?
 Grade: 11-12. Content Area: Social Studies. Have the students create a timeline
collage poster that displays and contrasts the two types of beauty described in the
book: Natural beauty (Uglies) and Society’s manufactured beauty (Pretties) that
are seen throughout history. Students may pick their own time periods
Terms To Know
Realistic Novel. Realistic fiction, although untrue, could actually happen. Some events,
people, and places may even be real.
Non-Fiction. Written works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and
events.
Fantasy novel. Any novel that is disengaged from reality. Often such novels are set in
nonexistent worlds, such as under the earth, in a fairyland, on the moon, etc. The
characters are often something other than human or include nonhuman characters.
Historical novel. A novel where fictional characters take part in actual historical events
and interact with real people from the past.
Mystery novel. A novel whose driving characteristic is the element of suspense or
mystery. Strange, unexplained events, vague threats or terrors, unknown forces or
antagonists, all may appear in a mystery novel.
Biography. A non-fictional account of a person's life--usually a celebrity, an important
historical figure, or a writer. If a writer uses his or her own life as the basis of a
biography, the work is called an autobiography.
Science fiction novel. A novel in which futuristic technology or otherwise altered
scientific principles contribute in a significant way to the adventures.
Antagonist: a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works against the
main character, or protagonist, in some way. The antagonist doesn’t necessarily have to
be a person. It could be death, an illness, or any challenge that prevents the main
character from living “happily ever after."
Byronic Hero: An antihero who is a romanticized but wicked character. Think James
Dean.
Characters: Static (unchanging) and Dynamic (changes from beginning to end)
Coming-of-age story: A type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into adulthood
through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of disillusionment.
Understanding comes after the dropping of preconceptions, a destruction of a false sense
of security, or in some way the loss of innocence.
Didactic: refers to literature or other types of art that are instructional or informative.
Dystopian novel: An anti-utopian novel where, instead of a paradise, everything has
gone wrong in the attempt to create a perfect society.
Flashback: A device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the
time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction. Flashback techniques
include memories, dreams, stories of the past told by characters.
Foil: A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in
another character.
Foreshadowing: Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a
narrative.
Hook: a snappy, quick-moving opening that gets the reader's attention early in an essay
or short story.
Irony. A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation),
conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation. The
irony is generated by the surprise recognition by the audience of a reality in contrast with
expectation or appearance, while another audience, victim, or character puts confidence
in the appearance as reality (in this case, the pickpocket doesn't expect his own pocket to
be picked). The surprise recognition by the audience often produces a comic effect,
making irony often funny.
Motif: a recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature. A motif may also
be two contrasting elements in a work, such as good and evil. In the Book of Genesis, we
see the motif of separation again and again throughout the story.
Open Ending: Books that leave readers not knowing what happens to the characters.
They inspire readers to consider the options.
Point of view: a way the events of a story are conveyed to the reader, it is the “vantage
point” from which the narrative is passed from author to the reader.
Protagonist: A protagonist is considered to be the main character or lead figure in a
novel, play, story, or poem.
Setting: The total environment for the action of a fictional work. Setting includes time
period (such as the 1890's), the place (such as downtown Warsaw), the historical milieu
(such as during the Crimean War), as well as the social, political, and perhaps even
spiritual realities.
Symbol: Something that on the surface is its literal self but which also has another
meaning or even several meanings. For example, a sword may be a sword and also
symbolize justice. A symbol may be said to embody an idea.
Tone: The writer's attitude toward his readers and his subject; his mood or moral view. A
writer can be formal, informal, playful, ironic, and especially, optimistic or pessimistic.