ENG4U
Independent Study Unit (ISU)
15%
Throughout the course, you will be working on an independent project. The
Independent Study Unit provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate
understanding of the interplay of social, cultural and economic values and
perspectives on the themes and interpretations of texts. By analyzing and
comparing two texts of your own choice, you will not only demonstrate your
critical thinking skills, but also your levels of responsibility, organization,
initiative and more. We will designate some time in class for “ISU Time,” where
you can work on your independent project. For the most part, this assignment
does have to be done on your own time.
Parts of the ISU
 Text Proposal (1%)
 Comparative Literary Essay (8%)
 Rough Notes (1%)
 Oral Presentation (5%)
IMPORTANT DATES
 July 8, 2013: ISU Text Proposal due
 July 12, 2013: Student/Teacher Conference
 July 16-19, 2013: ISU Oral Presentations
 July 19, 2013: Student/Teacher Conference; Thesis due for ISU Comparative Essay
 July 24, 2013: ISU Comparative Essay and all Rough Notes due
COMPARATIVE LITERARY ESSAY
 You will write:
o A literary essay comparing two texts (The Kite Runner and a novel/play of
your own choice)
 Your essay will:
o Contain a teacher-approved thesis resulting from teacher/student
conferencing
o Be approximately 8-10 pages double-spaced (2500-3000 words)
o Follow MLA format
o Be submitted with all writing process notes (if these notes are not submitted,
your final essay may not be accepted)
ORAL PRESENTATION
 Your Presentation is to:
o Be 12-15 minutes in length
o Be presented on the chosen date
o Be about SOMETHING that is in the text of your choice – not ABOUT your text
o Be interesting and informative
GUIDELINES
Each ISU Presentation will be 12-15 minutes in length. In your presentation,
you will introduce each of your texts briefly and your thesis of your essay, explaining
how it relates to the texts you read. You must have some form of visual aid in your
presentation (handout, PowerPoint, display board, props, short video, etc).
Your presentation should be about SOMETHING that is in your chosen text that
you research and report on. It is NOT about your essay or what happens in your
chosen text; it is about SOMETHING that is in your text. For example, if a character in
one of your text lives in New York City, you could research and present on New York
City; if a character in your text is in the military, you could research and present on the
military – IT CAN BE ON ANYTHING YOU WANT THAT IS IN ONE OF YOUR TEXT!
Approximate time guidelines:
 Entire presentation: 12-15 minutes
 Brief discussion of chosen text and author: 60 seconds
 Brief discussion of your plans for your comparative essay: 60 seconds
 Presentation on topic: 10-13 minutes
TOPIC GUIDELINES
The following is a list of ideas to get you started thinking about what you might want
to explore.
 Explore the concept of social criticism in literature. What is the role of literature
in promoting social change? (You might want to focus on a particular issue, such
as social class, racism, gender politics, etc.)
 Explore the written works of those who have been historically, or are currently,
marginalized from mainstream culture. Compare and contrast the style,
structure, imagery and subject matter, or consider the critical analyses and
evaluations of these works
 Compare, contrast and evaluate the findings of several critical interpretations of
a controversial work of literature
Consider your interests:
As an independent study, it is important that your topic has relevance and
meaning FOR YOU and still be within the expectations of the 4U curriculum. Invest the
time into finding a topic that is interesting to you. Begin thinking about your interests
before beginning your research. Don’t be afraid to discuss your progress and thoughts
with your teacher. Enjoy the process of directing your own learning and have fun!
IMPORTANT NOTES:
All components of the ISU must be completed on their assigned due date – NO
extensions will be granted (unless there is a last minute emergency situation).
There are two situations where an ISU automatically receives a mark of zero:
1) An essay is submitted that has been plagiarized;
2) An essay is submitted for which I have not seen any process work, or
have not approved the text, or have not approved the thesis.
You MUST complete BOTH the Comparative Literary Essay and Oral
Presentation in order to pass the entire ISU Assignment. If you do not complete
one of them, you will not receive higher than a 50% overall for the entire 15%
unit of the ISU.
ENG4U ISU Text Recommendations
that would work well with The Kite Runner
NOVELS, arranged by topic/theme
1) Familial Dysfunction
 Wally Lamb, I Know This Much is True
 Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
 John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire
 Douglas Coupland, All Families are
Psychotic
2) Poverty and Oppression
 Charles Dickens, Hard Times
 Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes
 Gabriel Roy, The Tin Flute
 John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
3) Indiscretions
 Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
 Tom Perrota, Little Children
 Margaret Laurence, The Fire-Dwellers
 Richard B. Wright, Adultery
4) Coming of Age – Male
 Nick Hornby, High Fidelity
 David Gilmour, Lost Between Houses
 J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
 Russell Banks, Rule of the Bone
5) Racial Conflict
 Nella Larsen, Passing
 Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
 Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
 David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars
6) Youth, Angst and the Generational Divide
 Douglas Couplan, The Gum Thief
 Rick Moody, The Ice Storm
 Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex
 Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides
7) Fate/Destiny
 Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
 John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
 Carol Shields, The Republic of Love
 Margaret Laurence, A Jest of God
8) The Journey Motif
 John Irving, Until I Find You
 Mark Twain, The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn
 Herman Melville, Moby Dick
 Alexander Dumas, The Count of Monte
Cristo
9) The Disturbing Crime
 Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
 Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old
Men
 Ian McEwen, Atonement
 Joyce Carol Oates, Black Girl, White Girl
If you are interested in any of the
following novels, you will have to
research on your own to see if they
connect with The Kite Runner
NOVELS, as arranged by author (some
are repeats from the theme section)
1) Michael Ondaatje
 Coming Through the Slaughter
 In the Skin of a Lion
 The English Patient
 Anil’s Ghost
 Divisadero
 The Cat’s Table
2) Kurt Vonnegut
 The Sirens of a Titan
 Cat’s Cradle
 Slaughterhouse Five
 Breakfast of Champions
 Player Piano
3) Robertson Davies
 Fifth Business
 The Manticore
 World of Wonders
 The Rebel Angels
 What’s Bred in the Bone
 The Lyre of Orpheus
 Murther and Walking Spirits
 The Cunning Man
 Hocus Pocus
 Bluebeard
 God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
 Jailbird
 Slapstick
4) Khaled Hosseini
 A Thousand Splendid Suns
 And the Mountains Echoed
OTHER NOVELS
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Ernest Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying
John Knowles, A Separate Peace
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
John Ball, In the Heat of the Night
Jack Hodgins, Broken Ground
Jack Hodgins, Distance
F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of
Duddy Kravitz
Alan Cumyn, The Sojourn
Jane Urquhart, Away
Thomas King, Medicine River
Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Colin McDougall, Execution
Helen Humphreys, Coventry
Edith Wharton, House of Mirth
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green
Gables
Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray
Sebastian Barry, Long Long Way
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
Roddy Doyle, A Star Called Henry
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
Jack Hodgins, Innocent Cities
Paul Hoffman, The Golden Age of Censorship
James Joyce, The Dubliners
A.L. Kennedy, Day
Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
Brian Moore, The Luck of Ginger Coffey
Nino Ricci, Lives of the Saints
Mordecai Richler, Barney’s Version
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children
Shyam Selvadurai, Cinnamon Gardens
Jane Urquhart, The Underpainter
PLAYS
 Any Shakespeare play, except for Hamlet
o Specifically recommended:
 King Lear
 Othello
 Macbeth
 Richard III
 The Tempest
 Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
 Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named
Desire
 Arthur Miller, The Crucible
 Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
 George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for
Scandal
 Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House
 Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler
 Timothy Findlay, Elizabeth Rex
 Ann-Marie MacDonald, Goodnight
Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
 Anton Chekhov, The Seagull
 Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer
 Shelagh Stephenson, An Experiment with an
Air Pump
 Sophocles, Oedipus the King
 Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
 Sophocles, Antigone
 Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance
 Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband
 Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being
Earnest
 Edwards Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?
 Anton Chekhov, Ivanov
 Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya
 Anton Chekhov, Three Sisters
 Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
 T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral
 John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera
 Henrik Ibsen, Ghosts
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Henrik Ibsen, The Master Builder
Sean O’Casey, Red Roses for Me
Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Arthur Miller, All My Sons
Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv’d; or, A Plot
o Discovered
J.M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World
J.M. Synge, Well of the Saints
J.M. Synge, Deirdre of the Sorrows
George Bernard Shaw, Saint Joan
George Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s
Profession
William Wycherley, The Country Wife