Book+Rationale+for+final


 * Unit rationale:**

Why this book? It’s an easy read, revolves around high schoolers and is appealing to boys and girls. Covers many topics that teenagers deal with.

Why not some other book, don’t others do that too? This book is pretty different from others. It covers a dark topic and some very serious material, but the story is funny enough that it can still be read. The book also has two characters that it speaks from, which gives a change in voice, which in and of itself is a great style for English students. Because the story is written from the perspective of two different characters, it also gives the reader a look at two different times. Both involve one another, but it unravels the past through the present, thus showing how to integrate multiple stories and timelines into one cohesive story. This book also can be a great example for story writing and plots in a creative writing class. The plot is all based on that first rumor, everything always intertwines and seems to bring us right back where we started. This is a rather impressive and intricate story. Overall this book, while a tad morbid and perhaps unbelievable at times, is a fantastic read for anyone, but specifically it is great for high school. The fact that it is a slightly edgier book may also be an advantage as it will make the students feel more adult or perhaps that they are somehow getting away with something. Either way, it is likely that such circumstances could only boost the student's interest in the novel.

The book is about a teenage girl who feels alone and frequently feels her reputation is falsified through rumor and assumptions. This results in her greatly needing others to tell her who she is and help identify her self worth. Meanwhile we also read from the perspective of a boy named Clay, who sees Hannah for who she is outside of her reputation, but is too late to help Hannah see it herself.

Our hope is that this book will open the class up for some very deep discussions. Discussion is rarely used to its fullest potential in a class, we hope to change that, but to do so, the book selected would need to leave a lot of room for discussion. What discussion brings is an open environment for the students to share their thoughts and interpretations, to learn about literature from their peers rather than just the teacher. This is important because it can greatly aid the confidence of students, both to read and to share. Both they do to an extent with the instructor, but the bond and the interest is stronger, or at the very least different when the peers are involved instead. This book naturally instills an interest to discuss, because the story is both captivating, but is also very relevant to students these days. Especially with bullying becoming such a struggle these days, discussing suicide, and finding an environment that feels safe is absolutely a must now. Also by reading a book such as this one and incorporating it in a unit, such as the one suggested may be eve more important because it can help the students identify what is great in them, and to seek what makes others great with a more open eye. These are genuine concerns nowadays, among students and parents, but reading and discussing a book such as this one may help with some of those concerns. In order to learn about suicide, to stop bullying and to become better we cannot just sweep such topics under the rug. This allows the students to face these issues head on and discuss them with their peers, while learning more about who they are and what makes them great. All in all, if this book and unit can be approved by a principal, it should absolutely be done without a moments hesitation. The unit would be on “swagger,” in a sense where swagger IS your identity. We want the students to realize who they are to them, and to other circles of their life including: family, friends, school, and exracurriculars. The students will learn what it would be like to have no self-worth from the book, then they build from there to identify their own. Another important sub-theme we wish to get across is something we are calling “the ripple effect.” Essentially that everything effects everything and even the smallest thing can have a huge effect on someone else. As another piece to this we would want to teach. Not only would this unit incorporate a lot of discussions and reading, it would also have a composition aspect. We will have the students write journals, about themselves. We may sometimes give them a topic to write on, for instance, write a two page paper from the perspective of such and such character. Essentially the unit would cause the students to engage in reading, writing and discussions, thus establishing multiple media__s__involving English. Through the discussions the students will become more comfortable with talking to the class, which is vital as we want to show them the importance of a community rather than solidarity. This unit could be a great final senior project, ideally it would leave the student with a feeling of closeness with their classmates and help them learn more about themselves. This unit is bold, but the payoff would be a class, or a unit unlike most in high school. This would fully revolve around life-lessons and higher learning.

The intention would be for students to end the unit on a multi-genre project. They will be to identify who they are through multiple circles of their life as I mentioned before and present it to the class.


 * They could make a documentary in which they ask a few people they consider family to say who they are to the student and who the student is to them, not just literally. (for instance "I'm his mom, he's my son." It should be a more in depth look). Then they would do the same with a few people they consider friends, they should talk to at least one teacher or school member. Perhaps teammates if they are in a sport or club. It would also be fun if they could have a five minute discussion with a complete stranger, then interview the stranger and get a sense of who they think you are. Finally they interview themself and tell the audience who they are to them.