Name: _________________________________________
1
Opening Activity: Going On An Adventure With Your Friends
If you had to choose 3 other friends besides yourself to go on a two day over night
adventure in the wilderness with, who would they be?
1.
2.
3.
Now, you need to choose a mission as to why you are going on this adventure. What
is it that you are looking for?
Okay. It’s time to get ready to leave. Do you tell your parents or do you not? The
reason is, would they LET you go on this adventure if they knew what you were
doing? If not, what do you tell them in order to hide the truth from them?
You are going to need some things to take with you. Each of you is given a backpack.
What do you need to take in order to make this trip successful, somewhat
comfortable and will you need something specific in order to reach the goal you
have made for yourselves? KEEP IN MIND: You have to walk and carry these things
for two-three days. Be PRACTICAL.
What kinds of things might you run into along the way, as in, obstacles or difficulties
that you would have to overcome in order to finish your adventure?
2
Opening Video
After watching our opening video taken from “Mean Girls”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5veV2F7eY), try to guess what we might be
talking about today.
Write your guesses in the space below:
Answer the questions according to the video regarding “Theme” as found at the
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9s8vqztKUk.
1. What is a “Theme” according to the video?
Theme =
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. In what two ways does the author of the text let you know what the theme is?
a.
b.
3. What is the biggest mistake students make in deciding what the theme is of a
text?
________________________________ DOES NOT = _______________________________
4. What is the difference between Topic and Theme?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
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5. What does the Three Little Pigs teach us (the theme) about “hard work” which is
the topic of the story?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What do you think the possible topics of the images are and what are the images
themes?
Flower and Apple Picture:
Topic: ___________________________________________________
Theme: __________________________________________________
Pictures Along With Quotes:
Topic: ____________________________________________________
Theme: __________________________________________________
What was the theme the woman in the video was looking for? It is a sentence:
7. Now… take a look at your predictions that you made about “what you thought we
might be talking about today” after watching the “Mean Girls” movie clip and see if
you were close to the ideas you came up with in #6 above. Were you?
___Yes
___No
8. To finish, think of topics of two movies and their possible themes. You will work
as individuals first, then you will share your answers with the class and we will
work on them together.
Movie Title ____________________________________________
Topics: _______________________________________________________________________________________
Theme as a sentence: _______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Movie Title ____________________________________________
Topics: _______________________________________________________________________________________
Theme as a sentence: _______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
4
What the heck is a theme? Put in its simplest terms, THEME = THE MEssage.
Here is a list of possible themes in literature.
Beauty of simplicity
Capitalism – effect on the individual
Change of power - necessity
Change versus tradition
Chaos and order
Character – destruction, building up
Circle of life
Coming of age
Communication – verbal and nonverbal
Companionship as salvation
Convention and rebellion
Dangers of ignorance
Darkness and light
Death – inevitable or tragedy
Desire to escape
Destruction of beauty
Disillusionment and dreams
Displacement
Empowerment
Emptiness of attaining false dream
Everlasting love
Evils of racism
Facing darkness
Facing reality
Fading beauty
Faith versus doubt
Family – blessing or curse
Fate and free will
Fear of failure
Female roles
Fulfillment
Good versus bad
Greed as downfall
Growing up – pain or pleasure
Hazards of passing judgment
Heartbreak of betrayal
Heroism – real and perceived
Hierarchy in nature
Identity crisis
Illusion of power
Immortality
Individual versus society
Inner versus outer strength
Injustice
Isolation
Isolationism - hazards
Knowledge versus ignorance
Loneliness as destructive force
Losing hope
Loss of innocence
Lost honor
Lost love
Love and sacrifice
Man against nature
Manipulation
Materialism as downfall
Motherhood
Names – power and significance
Nationalism – complications
Nature as beauty
Necessity of work
Oppression of women
Optimism – power or folly
Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
Patriotism – positive side or complications
Power and corruption
Power of silence
Power of tradition
Power of wealth
Power of words
Pride and downfall
Progress – real or illusion
Quest for discovery
Quest for power
Rebirth
Reunion
Role of men
Role of Religion – virtue or hypocrisy
Role of women
Self – inner and outer
Self-awareness
Self-preservation
Self-reliance
Social mobility
Technology in society – good or bad
Temporary nature of physical beauty
Temptation and destruction
Totalitarianism
Vanity as downfall
Vulnerability of the meek
Vulnerability of the strong
War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Will to survive
Wisdom of experience
Working class struggles
Youth and beauty
5
Themes in The Body
As we begin reading the book The Body, by Stephen King, refer frequently to this
page (and the previous page) to write down possible themes that may appear in the
book and examples of where this is found including page numbers. You will need
this page in order to write an essay at the end of this unit regarding themes you
found and the evidence to support it. So… keeping good track of these along with
examples will help you write your paper!
1. Theme (in a sentence or a couple of words): _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence (a quote or scenario from The Body AND the page number):
2. Theme (in a sentence or a couple of words): _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence (a quote or scenario from The Body AND the page number):
3. Theme (in a sentence or a couple of words): _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence (a quote or scenario from The Body AND the page number):
4. Theme (in a sentence or a couple of words): _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence (a quote or scenario from The Body AND the page number):
6
Characters
List all of the main characters that you run across AND a brief description of each,
including what they look like and how you might describe each personality. You will
need this to refer back to for your essay and as an accountability that you are
following along.
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
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Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
Character: _______________________________________
Description (You may draw a sketch if you’d like):
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Vocabulary
The Body
1) Diminish –
“The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of,
because words diminish them--words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were In your
head to no more than living size when they're brought out.”
2) Incipient –
3) Sleek –
4) Illicit –
5) Supplement –
6) Monotonous –
7) Cliché –
8) Banshee –
9) Grotesquely 10) Ambulatory –
11) Profound –
12) Deflated –
13) Congregated –
14) Perceptible –
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Setting and Plot
Discuss with the class what the term “setting” means and examples of “setting”, then
write a definition in your own words below.
What are some of the details of the various “settings” in the book, The Body?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now, discuss what the term “plot” mean and examples of “plot” from your favorite
books or movies. Does the plot of a story include all of the details? If you wanted to
find out the plot of a book to decide if you wanted to read it or not, where would you
look to find out the plot of the book?
Write the definition of “plot” below here:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once the book is finished, you will need to be able to describe the plot of the story,
just like it would appear on the inside cover or the back of the book. As the story
unfolds while we read it, write some of the basic ideas of the plot below here:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
10
The Movie “Stand By Me”
As we watch the movie and after we are finished, come up with the answers to the
following questions. You will have an optional essay to write, instead of the Theme
Essay, which will be about the differences between the book and the movie and your
opinions of both.
1. When you watched the movie after reading the book, did you like the way the
characters were protrayed in the movie or in your imagination better? Why or why
not?
What were some of the differences between the movie characters and the characters
you had developed in your imagination? You may choose two characters to describe
the differences below.
Character #1: ____________________________________________
Comparison between the movie’s rendition and the rendition of the character in
your imaginiation:
Character #2: ______________________________________________
Comparison between the movie’s rendition and the rendition of the character in
your imaginiation:
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2. Did you like the movie or the book better? Write a thesis statement with your
opinion and 3 main reasons why (as stated in a topic sentence in an essay) in
complete sentences (like the sheet we used when practicing proper essay writing).
Thesis Statement: __________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Reason #1: __________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Reason #2: __________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Reason #3: __________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. In the story of LardAss, why do you think Stephen King added that to his novel
and the movie? There could be several reasons. Share your answers after writing
them.
4. When these boys first started out on their quest, they seemed like boys. But
when they finished, they somehow changed. In what ways did they change?
5. Thinking about your answers to #4, how could you state a theme for this book
that would reflect the change that occurred?
6. What kinds of things could you change about the movie and book that would
have given the story a completely different ending? Think of 3 and why that would
change the ending.
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Final Essay
You will have your choice to write an essay on two different topics. Choose one.
Keep in mind that a good essay is like a circle or a gift. It has a main idea statement
of the entire paper (Thesis Statement) included in the introduction, 3 main
paragraphs that support the Thesis Statement (using Topic Sentences for each
paragraph) and a conclusion that includes a rewording of the Thesis Statement and
some of your main points.
Choice #1:
What is your opinion of the story and did you feel that the movie was better, or the
book? Give reasons for this by using some of the differences between the movie and
the book.
Choice #2:
What do you feel is the main theme of the story? Why? Support your reasons by
using the characters, examples from the book (including page numbers), and the
plot/setting of the story.
This paper, like any good essay, must have 5 total paragraphs: An introduction
with a clear thesis statement, three paragraphs with clear topic sentences (4-5
sentences each paragraph) and a clear conclusion paragraph that neatly wraps up
your essay while rewording your thesis statement. Use our method of outlining an
essay that we practiced with the graphic organizer during the lesson on Writing
Essays. If you need a copy of it, ask for one.
Do a rough draft on a piece of paper, have someone read it to give you suggestions
and corrections, then re-write, in nice handwriting, a final copy to give to me for
grading. You may type it if you choose to do so.
Worth 60 points (10 points for each paragraph and 10 points for grammar,
spelling, word usage and clarity of expressing your thoughts).
If you decide to type your essay, you may email it to me at
emily@rainshadowcchs.org.
With time permitting in the class before break, we will plan on making a “Graphic
Novel” of The Body by giving you assigned chapters to make a book based on
pictures and art. Chapters I am assigned: ______________________________________________
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