Literature in Period 1 - Review for a Great PTA Speech in H5

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Literature in Period 1 - Review for a Great PTA Speech in H5

What You Need to Learn - and Why

The first PTA in HAVO 5 is a speech about 2 books. But can students get low marks because of poor character analysis and description of plot development. 

HAVO 4 Prep

Students often need step-by-step guidance to students to become good at applying a skill. That is why we need to review what you have learned this period.  

What You Need to Learn - and Why

Reading books is also important for helping you do well on your exam/PTA because you learn to "read between the lines". You form an idea based on the text, but not in the text.

You practice this when you follow the development of the main character in a book.

What Do You Remember?

In Period 1 you  have learned about:

1.  Character Development, 
2. Plot development, 
3. the relationship of the books to themes in real life and 
4. found out how to figure out the theme (message) of the book. 

Inferences in Character Development

Read pages 1 - 5 in iBoy and while you do answer the following questions:

1. How does Tom describe his own personality/character? (what he says)
2. What is he doing and what does this say about him? (what he does)
3. What is thinking about? (what can we guess because of this)
4. What does he wish was different? How would he like to change? (guess)

Character Development: the beginning

In Chapter 1, we can form this picture of Tom's character/personality:

1. normal, lonely but not alone, not happy but not sad (what he says).
   
2. walking alone in a poor neighborhood where there are gangs (what we see him doing).
   
3. Thinking about Lucy and regretting that their relationship has cooled off since childhood; he feels bad that she probably only wants to talk about Ben; he is so eager to see her that he is too early (what we read him thinking).
   
4. Tom might feel like a bit of a loser, or at least not good enough, for Lucy to have a romantic interest in him (reader's interpretation).
   
5. He wishes that there was something he could do to make her like him, that he were somehow more interesting or more attractive to Lucy (reader's interpretation).
   

Looking for Proof

The reader has interpreted the information about what he says, does, and thinks and added his or her own ideas. Now look for proof:

1. When Gran tells him about the story she is writing, who the girl goes with in the end, and what he did when Lucy wanted to marry him as children ("I always have been slick with the ladies," says Tom, sarcastically.)

Looking for Proof

2. In every scene of the book in which he is with Lucy before they kiss: he always feels like an idiot or that he is saying the wrong thing 

EXCEPT when he is pretending to be iBoy on mySpace. When he takes on the personality of iBoy, he is more confident.

Looking for Proof

3. The fact that he has never known his father, that his mother died when he was young, and that he grew up with Gram also influenced his character. 

Many boys would have become angry and aggressive, but Tom remains thoughtful, kind, and grateful to his grandmother. That says something about his inner self.

On to Plot!

Now that you have a pretty strong case for his character at the beginning, you can start looking at plot development and how that helps his character change. Read p 6 -16. What is the CONFLICT?

Plot Development

Plot Development –  find   the CONFLICT in the 1-2 Chapters.

Most stories talk about an INTERNAL conflict the protagonist has with him- or herself (inner problem)

and an EXTERNAL conflict  with somebody else (the antagonist) or a situation.

By solving the external conflict the protagonist also is helped with the inner conflict.

Plot Development

1. Internal conflict – he really likes Lucy but doesn’t feel handsome, smart, interesting, or strong etc. enough to be worthy of her love.

2. External conflict – while the gang is raping Lucy, somebody throws an iPhone from the building. It fuses with his brain and gives him unlimited mental and physical power. How should he use it to solve the rape/gang problem?

Plot development - How does the protagonist try to solve the conflict(s)? 

Plot Development

A general rule of thumb is that the key turning points in the plot development occur at 25% of the book, 50%, 75%, near the end. These crucial turning points are sandwiched in between the Exposition (when you find out what the conflict is) and the Resolution (when you find out how the conflict has been solved and the protagonist goes on further in life).

Plot development

1. Skim pages pages 70 - 79. What happens that is important in the development of the story?

2. Answer the same question about pages 135 - 150

3. Answer the same questions about 224 - 230

4. Answer for 255 - 260 

Plot Development

Always keep in mind the interaction between the internal conflict and external conflict. 

For instance, the plot of iBoy could be explained thus:

Plot Development

1. at the beginning of the story Tom doubts his worthiness to be loved by Lucy

2. Lucy is raped by one of the gangs that terrorizes the area.

3. an iPhone shatters his skull and links up with his neural network.

4. suddenly he has the power to a) get revenge on the gang; b) become a superhero and create an alternate identity for Lucy to like him more.

Exposition';

Plot Development

5. Yet we see in the book that Tom worries about what he does with having ultimate power, that he is becoming bad. He also worries about lying to Lucy, that she might like iBoy more than he likes him. But he cannot stop. (Rising action)

6. But finally, he decides he has to do something to get Lucy to like him for himself, and she does. This is a major turning point. He decides to tell everyone the truth. (climax)

7. He is challenged one more time however by Ellman, who quite possibly is his father and killed his mother. (falling action)

8. He protects Lucy and destroys all Ellman and his gang. (resolution)

9.  he feels so bad about what he has done he doesn’t want to go on but Lucy’s love saves him. (conclusion)

Character development – change at the end of the story.

If you have identified the internal and external conflicts correctly, you should be able to understand how the protagonist has changed.

1. Tom has learned to use the iPhone in his brain well and defeated the criminals (external).
   
2. Tom realizes that he doesn’t have to be a superhero to get Lucy to love him, he is good enough just being the caring, funny, intelligent, kind guy that he is (internal).
   

Genre and Themes

The nice things about literature is that everybody can understand it in their own way. For some people, the book iBoy was about people and technology, for others about a teenage boy growing up, and others might focus on gang life. Each of these ideas will lead to a different theme.

1. Coming of Age: stories about teenagers discovering who they are, improving themselves so they can be the way they want to be, or accepting themselves for who they are very common themes in YA.

2. Science Fiction/Fantasy/Future: stories involving the use of science/technology often have a theme which points out the dangers involved in too much dependence on technology.

3. Power and Gangs: some stories like to point out what happens to people when they are given (too much) power and how that changes them. Another possibility is that the story shows how the little man can stand up to gangs, groups, or other powerful organizations and still triumph (David and Goliath).

4. The Power of Love: some stories like to show the way that love is able to heal people, to motivate them to do fantastic things, or to become better people.

5. What type do YOU think iBoy/the Outsiders is?

Theme

Once you have decided on the Genre or Subject of the story, you can start thinking about the message that the writer wants to communicate through the characters and the plot. 

For instance:

Possible Themes i Boy

1. You do not have to pretend to be somebody else or to be better than you are in order to receive love.

2. The use of unlimited technological power can get out of hand unless it is guided by a strong sense of ethics and morals.

3. No matter how powerful evil people and organizations seem to be, an individual can still be victorious if he remains true to goodness.

4. Love motivates people to become greater than they are in order to protect their loved ones.

Which is Them is Right?

Look at the themes on the previous slide and decide which one you think is the best.

Then give three reason why you think that it is the best theme for the book.