Mrs Macadam - Yr 10 - 2012
Crime and Punishment
Creating a study guide for your novel
In pairs, you will create an online study guide for one of the following books:



Trash by Andy Mulligan
Letters from the Inside by John Marsden
Jolt by Bernard Beckett
Your name:
Your partner’s name:
You will do the rough draft of your study guide in your class book. Ensure that you divide the work evenly
between yourselves. You do not need to duplicate one another’s work in your classwork book. The final
study guide will be completed on the computer as on online study guide using wikispaces or another wiki
platform that you are familiar with e.g. pbworks. Each study guide will be linked to our class website:
mrsmacadam.wikispaces.com (However, if you prefer, you may create an actual book using ‘word’ or
‘publisher’.)
The completed study guide is due:
Completing this assignment will ensure you have all the information needed for answering an essay
question. Each student will write a literature essay and write a comparative paragraph(s). You will
also have the opportunity to be creative, as each student will do some creative writing. Finally, each
student will select for assessment, one other piece of work which was contributed to the study guide,
that you feel most proud of e.g. new cover. There are several links and resources on my website to help
with your study guide preparation. Feel free to add attractive pictures and/or useful links to your wiki!!
Your study guide will need to cover the following sections:
1) Author Biography
Write a brief biography for the author of the novel. You might like to include information about their
writing style and some info about the period in which they were writing. Do not just cut and paste
another bio. Make it interesting and relevant to other students.
2) Title and cover
a) Explain the significance of the title and how it relates to the novel. Explore whether there are a
number of possible meanings. e.g. ‘Fluke’ = a whale’s tail, or, a random event or coincidence
(the story involves whales beaching.)
b) Create a new cover for the book. In a text box or separate document, explain what difference
your cover makes, e.g. why you have used a certain font or colours.
1
(These wordles may help you with #3 by giving you names of character traits)
3) Character
a) After reading the book, choose five words you would use to describe the main protagonist. Give a
specific example and quote from the novel to support each word.





………………… e.g.
………………… e.g.
………………… e.g.
………………… e.g.
………………… e.g
b) Describe the relationship that the main protagonist has with one other character (or with society)
Find a quote/example that supports this.
c) What did you like or dislike about the protagonist? Using specific quotes explain why they are
worthy of your praise or criticism.
4) Themes







Friendship
Death
Revenge
Hope
Redemption
Appearances vs. Reality
Violence
a) Select two themes. Rewrite each word as a thematic statement that reveals a truth you have
learned from reading the novel. You may select from the list above or come up with your own.
Back up your statement by describing 2-3 events from the novel (with quotes) that illustrate each
theme.
b) Explain how a character helps to convey the two themes you have chosen. Give specific
examples from the text to support your answer.
5) Setting
a) Describe where and when the novel is set. Explain the impact this had on the characters and
events in the novel.
b) Select two physical settings (places). Describe them (with quotes)
2
6) Important Event
a) Describe what you believe to be the most important event in the text. Find two to three quotes
that refer to the event.
b) What does the event show the reader about:
 Each character involved
 The themes in the novel
 The setting (time and place)
6) Beginning and Ending
a) Describe what happens at the beginning and at the end of the novel. Include a quote from each.
b) What are the links between the beginning and ending? E.g. characters, setting…
7) Using a Graphic Organiser
A graphic organiser helps us to organise information in a simple, easy to understand visual
format. Choose a controversial issue from the text and fill out the problem/solution chart on the
issue.
Problem-Solution Chart (You will probably need to make the chart bigger)
1. What is the problem? (identify it)
2. What are the effects? (list the consequences)
3. What are the causes? (brainstorm all the possible causes)
4 What are some solutions? (how can you solve it?)
e.g complete an assignment
e.g. do badly in exams
e.g. not enough time
e.g. work with a partner
8) Creative
Each student will choose one of the following activities and complete a piece of creative
writing of 300 – 400 words.
a) Write a diary entry for a character.
b) Rewrite an incident from a different point of view.
c) Rewrite the ending of the novel.
9) Pop Quiz
Write 10 questions about the novel in T/F format or multiple choice format. Provide the answers
on a linked page or at the bottom of the page.
10) Beyond the text (Each student to complete this activity using separate short texts)
Choose one of the following short stories:







God sees the Truth, but waits – Leo Tolstoy
An arrest – Ambrose Pierce
The Landlady – Roald Dahl
The Tell-tale heart – Edgar Allen Poe
The Speckled Band – Arthur Conan Doyle
Lamb to the Slaughter – Roald Dahl
A Retrieved Reformation – O. Henry
OR
3
Choose one of the following poems:




A Poison Tree – William Blake
To Althea from Prison - Richard Lovelace
Hope is the thing with feathers – Emily Dickinson
The Highwayman – Alfred Noyes
OR If you have come across a short story or poem that you would prefer to use, please bring me a copy
of the text and I’ll decide if it is suitable.
You will write a paragraph (or paragraphs) which will:
 Identify a connection(s) which is significant between your texts.
 Explain how the connection(s) is significant between your texts by showing your ideas about the
connection(s).
 Give evidence from each text which shows the connection(s) across your texts.
Make a connection between the short story/poem and the novel. A good connection topic is something
you understand and are interested in and want to know more about. Look at the following areas to focus
your thinking:
 ideas - what is the main theme, knowledge or experience?
 purposes and audiences – who was it written for and why?
 language features – what methods /techniques have been
used?
 structures – how has the text been organised?
Texts may be linked by common elements such as:
 Same subject or theme, e.g. friendship
 same genre, e.g. historical
 similar characters, e.g. innocent victim, villain, hero.
 similar time setting, e.g. texts set in the future.
 similar place setting, e.g. texts set in Europe
 similar narrative perspective, e.g. an innocent narrator.
11) Review of the text
Write a review of the novel OR Copy a review of the novel that has already been published, and
imagine you are the author who has decided to write a letter response to the review. In the
response you should state whether you agree with the reviewer’s opinion, explain what was
challenging about writing the novel, and whether you would like to change anything after having
read this review.
12) Literature Essay
You will write an essay using one of the following questions. Use the format you have been taught.
1. Describe the setting, and the effect it had on the text.
2. Describe the main climax, and explain how this was/was not a surprise for you.
3. Describe a character you felt strongly about, and explain what made you feel this way.
4. Describe an important decision, and explain why it was important.
Key competencies are the capabilities people have, and need to develop, to live and learn
today and in the future. The key competencies focussed on in this assignment are:



Managing self – self-motivation, personal goals, appropriate behaviour, resourcefulness.

Relating to others – listen actively, recognise different points of view, negotiate, share ideas.
Thinking – using creative, critical, meta-cognitive and reflective processes, drawing on personal knowledge and intuitions.
Using language, symbols, and texts – interpreting language and symbols, using ICT.
4