Novel Study - Algonquin Achievement...

English Novel Study

ENG4C

Unit 4

Novel Study

Algonquin Achievement Centre of 18

English Novel Study

Novel Study

Shattered by Eric Walters

Assignment #1

Publication Data for “Shattered”

Author: _________________________________________

Publisher: _________________________________________

City of Publication: ___________________________________

Number of Pages: ___________________________________

Copyright Date: ___________________________________

Number of Chapters: ___________________________________

Forward (who wrote the Forward): _______________________

Cover Design: _________________________________________

Assignment #2

Forward:

1. Who is Roméo Dallaire?

2. Where is Rwanda?

3. Locate Rwanda on the map.


English Novel Study

Chapter 1: Comprehension Questions:

1. Why was it important for the story’s main character to get a volunteer job?

(page 1)

2. What would happen if the main character did not earn all his credits? (page 1)

3. Where was he going for the interview? (page 2)

4. Describe the downtown area? (page 2)

5. What did he think “the Club” was? (page 3)

6. Describe the young man’s character, according to the teacher’s views. Did he

agree with the teacher’s assessment of his character? (page 3)

7. Why did the stranger tell Ian to put his wallet away? (page 5)

8. What surprised Ian about the bum he met in the park? (pages 5 – 6)

9. What stereotypes do you have about people who live on the street?

10. Describe the woman Ian met along his way to his interview. (page 7)

11. What happened to Ian’s shoes? (page 9)

12. Who came to Ian’s rescue? (page 11)

13. How did the stranger say Ian could thank him? And what advice did the

stranger give to Ian. (page 17)

Assignment #3 Homelessness

1. Look at the pictures of homeless people on the following page. Read the words and pay attention to the way these people look and the way that they live. Notice the things in the background. Think about the difficulties that people have when they are homeless. List at least 5 difficulties that people will face once they are homeless.

2. Do you think that these people on the streets experience some of the same things that people who do not live on the street? Why or why not? Give at least two similarities and explain two differences.

3. Which of the stories of homeless people do you feel the most tragic? Why?


English Novel Study

Joy and her boys.Joy's story is a familiar story. She has had several men in her life all of whom have left a trail of abuse and neglect. She left the last boyfriend and has recently found a place to stay. It is shelter for women and children: she is lucky her boys can stay with her. Government housing has been impossible to get into. Although she told us it is discouraging to see others there who deal in drugs and other

illegal activities: '...those guys get in there easy enough...'.

Hagus MacKenzieHagus had been an historian for the National Museum in Ottawa. One day he decided to leave all of that and head out on his own. Now he is his own boss, collects money from singing, and sleeps where he chooses. 'Sometimes the police bother you in parks...' and some 'young punks' tried to rob him. Most times he persuaded people with his charm to leave him alone and enjoy his music.

RandyRandy and some of his friends had created their own form of alternative housing: they had dug out the earth near a footbridge by the Toronto lakeshore. Here they set up a private club where members could not fight, had to bring something to eat and drink, and generally had a safe place to stay for a while. Unfortunately they had built this place during the G-7 summit and in order to beautify Toronto the city council ordered their 'hostel' closed.


http://www.iaai.ca/otf/otfc2.htm%00%E5%A1%B9%EF%92%81%E1%B4%BB%E4%A1%BF%E2%B2%AF%E5%B6%82%E8%97%84%E6%8C%A7%00%00%EA%AE%A5



English Novel Study

DavidDavid came from a small town in Southern Ontario. He came to '..the big city...' to find his fortune. So far all he had found was work as a dishwasher, indifferent and scoundrel landlords, and not enough money. He had moved to the main hostel in Toronto hoping to have a cleaner and safer place to stay.

GeorgeGeorge liked to walk around downtown Toronto, have lunch at the missions, and then find a place for the night. He usually lives under bridges and other sheltered spots: '...they leave you alone there...'. He could not remember a time when he was not on the street.

GeorgeHe would have liked to talk to us-but we were getting in the way of other people who might give him change. He warned us away from hostels, '...they give you lice...'




http://www.iaai.ca/otf/otfa11.htm%00%E5%A1%B9%EF%92%81%E1%B4%BB%E4%A1%BF%E2%B2%AF%E5%B6%82%E8%97%84%E6%8C%A7%00%00%EA%AE%A5

English Novel Study

Assignment #4

Chapter 2: Comprehension Questions

1. Describe the scene outside “The Club”. (page 19)

2. Describe the clothing worn my the men who stood outside “The Club”

(page 19)

3. How do you get a volunteer job at “The Club”? (page 21)

4. Why does “Mac” say that Ian has a lot in common with the people who come

to “the Club” (page 23)

5. Why is Ian smart to keep his “mouth shut”? (page 24)

6. What two words of advice does Mac give to Ian on page 24?

7. Describe the men Ian served at “The Club”. (page 27)

8. What is Second Harvest? (page 29)

9. What is Centros? Why do they give food away? (page 29)

10. Where do people eat if they do not eat at the soup kitchen? (page 310

Assignment #5

Read the following news article and then answer the questions that follow. Be sure to answer using complete sentences.

Ottawa soup kitchen struggles amid soaring world grain prices (April 2008)

A charity that feeds poor people in Ottawa ran out of bread for the first time in its 25-year history this week as grain prices soared around the world.

In the end, the Shepherds of Good Hope shelter and soup kitchen on Murray Street appealed to local donors and managed to make up for the sudden drop in donations of bread from its usual suppliers this week.

But a spokesperson for one of those regular donors said high world grain prices could continue to make it a challenge to put bread on the shelter's table.


English Novel Study

"We're certainly not immune even though we [Canada] are a net exporter of wheat," Geoff Wilson, senior vice-president of shared services for George Weston Ltd., said Wednesday.

"This as I said is very much a global issue and we're feeling the effects of that."

According to the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization, reserves of staple grains are dwindling worldwide, and as of the end of March, international wheat and rice prices had doubled from the previous year.

Wilson said cutting Weston's donation to the shelter so suddenly this week was a mistake, but he warned that the company's future bread donations may continue to be smaller in the current economic climate.

"We're in business to make money for our shareholders — that's our primary objective," he said. "Secondarily, we always recognize if we do have product left over, we want to make sure we give it to the appropriate organizations that are most needy."

800 sandwiches daily

The Shepherds of Good Hope, which hands out 800 sandwiches a day, typically receives donations from Weston, its supermarket subsidiary Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Loeb grocery stores. Loeb said its unusually small donation this week was a one-time anomaly, while Loblaw wasn't available for comment.

The shelter is considering altering its menus to deal with the shortage, said Rob Eady, senior manager of public relations.

Eady said he previously thought the world food price crunch was a problem affecting countries far away.

"But it's also happening here," he said, "and I think sometimes we sort of need to wake up and realize we can all be affected."

Questions:

1. What affect has the higher grain prices had on the soup kitchens?

2. What is “The Shepherds of Good Hope” doing to help solve this crisis?

3. Who is Geoff Wilson?

4. What does he say is their primary objective?

5. How has this objective affected the soup kitchens?


English Novel Study

Assignment #6

Research Second Harvest using their web site (http://www.secondharvest.ca/) and write a three paragraph essay on what Second Harvest is and how it works.

Paragraph 1: Introduce the topicParagraph 2: Body (describe the topic, giving details)Paragraph 3: Conclusion – sum up the points you made about the topic.

Assignment #7


1. How many people worked at “The Club?” (page 34)

2. How does Mac feel about the “do-gooders”? (page 35)

3. What are the things Mac likes about Ian? (page 35)

4. Who is Mac? What do you see as his mission? (page 36)

5. Where do the funds come from for rent and Mac’s salary? (page 37)

6. Why do you think Ian was surprised to hear how many homeless were in his

city? What clues have you been given that tell you Ian is from “another class”

of society?


1. List five (5) things Ian’s class thought Canada was famous for. (page 42)

2. What was Ian’s answer to Mrs. Watkins question – “What are we famous

for?” (page 42)

3. Who was Lester B. Pearson and what was he awarded in 1957? page 43)


1. How does Ian feel about his father? Do you think they have a close

relationship – why or why not? (page 47)

2. What impression do you get about Ian’s mother? (page 48)


http://www.secondharvest.ca/

English Novel Study

3. What embarrassed Ian about being driven to the soup kitchen? (page 48)

4. Who was Berta? (page 53)

5. What is scurvy? Why do street people get it? (page 55)

6. Who is Sarge? (page 59)


1. According to Mac how many people die on the streets from year to year?

Why is the public not aware of this issue? (page 64)

2. What does Mac do on his evening rounds? (Pages 66-67)

3. Who are the adults who end up on the streets and why do they make the

streets their home? (page 67)

4. Why do kids end up on the streets? (page 68)


1. Compare the deaths of the street people in Guatemala to that of the street people in Canada. (page 78)


1. Why did Lester B. Pearson win the Nobel Peach Prize? (page 81)

2. What is the role of a peace keeping mission? (page 81 – 82)

3. How does the general public treat the homeless? List 5 words Ian’s class used

to describe the homeless. (page 88)


1. What was Sarge trained for in the military? (page 96)

2. What did Sarge’s father say to him when he enlisted into the military?

(page 98)

3. What caused Sarge to stop talking to Ian? (page 99)


English Novel Study


1. Summarize the events that took place in Rwanda that caused the U.N to send

in a Peace Keeping Mission.

2. Define the word Genocide. (page 107)


1. How did Sarge say the street people got by? (page 117)

2. What is Sarge’s real name? (page 120)

3. Where does Sarge say his family is originally from? (page 123)

4. Comment in a sentence or two your feeling after reading Sarge’s description

of what he witnessed in Rwanda. (page 125 – 126)


1. What is meant by the term “collateral causalities”? (page 128)

2. Explain what this statements means to you: “The best thing a sermon could

ever do was comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable.” (page 131)

3. What can a “Random act of Kindness” do? (page 134 – 135)


1. Who was Jacob? Why is his story important to the novel? (pages 139 – 140)


1. Why does Sarge say: “You can’t let it (fear) over whelm you”? (page 149)


1. What does Ian want to do that caused Mac to say: “You’re becoming addicted.”? (page 158)


1. What is the name Sarge’s parent called him? (page 162)


English Novel Study

2. When Sarge talks of racism, what is he really talking about on Page 165?

3. What did Ian mean when he said “He (Sarge) was just another victim of

Rwanda”? (page 168)


1. What was Berta’s father’s occupation? (page 174)

2. What happened to Berta’s family? (page 175)

3. Why did Berta’s father not want to leave Guatemala when he knew it was

unsafe? (page 176)


1. What happened when Ian suggested a detox program to Sarge (Jacques)? (page 182)


1. Who is Eduardo and why does Berta call him “her hero”? (page 191)

2. What helped Eduardo get past the things he had seen during the civil war in

Guatemala? (page 193)


1. What message did Ian give to Jacques by telling the story of the boy and the starfish? (page 202)


1. What was the birthday gift Ian got from Jacques and what did it mean? (page 208-209)


English Novel Study

Writing a Character Sketch

1. Introduce your character

Name Dress Physical attributesFacial expressions Voice quality MannerismsHome Family Ethnic background

2. Personality Characteristics

Hopes Habits ChallengesAttributes Secrets FearsPet peeves Values Favourite expressions

3. Relationships (who is this character comfortable with/uncomfortable with?)

With self With strangersWith others close to him/her With nature

4. Choices

Choices with negative results Choices with positive results

5. Changes (last sentence will sum up character in a sentence or two)

How character has changed How character has grown

Sample Character Sketch

Mrs. Sloane, a central character in Morley Callaghan’s “A Boy Grows Older,” is a middle-aged wife and mother. She and her husband are not poor, but must work to make ends meet. The newspaper and occasional movies are their only luxuries. Mrs. Sloane has spent many years worrying about a son who, now in his late twenties, is still unable to control his own finances and has fallen into a cycle of returning home frequently to “borrow” money from his parents. Mrs. Sloane is constantly pulled between letting Jim learn to survive on his own and helping him because he is her son. Before her son’s arrival, she sat in her living room and “folded her hands tight in her lap and swallowed


English Novel Study

hard” attempting to hide the tension her son’s visits have created in her life . Her feelings of helplessness and resignation are evident as she sighs and shakes her head at his accusations. “She wanted to tell him she believed in him, but she was puzzled herself.” The tragedy of Mrs. Sloane’s life is that she never realized that by giving their son “everything” she and her husband had allowed him to grow older without ever growing up.

Alfred Higgins

Alfred Higgins is a young man possibly in his late teens. He has two older brothers and a younger sister who have married and left home, while he still lives with his parents. Alfred is an incompetent, immature young man who has difficulty holding a job. As the story begins, he has been working for six months in a drugstore, but he is about to be confronted by his employer about his habit of pilfering from the store. At first he tries to bluff and then lie his way out of the situation. When that does not work, his mother has to come and rescue him. However, the selfish Alfred grows psychologically during the course of the story. He realizes how hard his mother’s life is, and he seems to be ready to make a new, more mature start to his own life.

Assignment #8

You are to write a character Sketch for two of the following characters you met in the novel “Shattered”. Use the brainstorm outline on the following page. Hand in both the brainstorm activity and the final character sketch for your two characters

Jacques “Sarge” Mac Ian Mrs. Watkins


English Novel Study

For each character answer the following brain storm questions.

Brainstorm

Step #1 –

Referring back to the box of adjectives, which words would you choose to describe character? Why? Which words would you not use? Why?

Step #2

Can you think of any words of phrases to describe your character that are not listed in the box of adjectives on the previous page?

Step 3:

Your final task is to write your character sketch. You could write about:

His/ her appearanceHis/ her strengths and weaknessesHis/ her likes and dislikesHis/ her feelings and behaviour towards the other charactersHow the other characters feel about him /herHis/ her personality at the beginning of the storyWhat happens to change his/ her personalityYour own opinions about the character

Be sure to sue examples from the novel to back up your comments.

Assignment #9

Final Essay Question:

In the novel “Shattered” on page 165, Jacques says: “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing” Comment on the truth of this statement with regards to what you learned about the street people, and the atrocities of what happened in Rwanda and Guatemala.

Use the 5-paragraph essay format found on the following pages.


English Novel Study

The five paragraph essay

Read the following information very carefully on how to write a five paragraph essay, then using the outline provided you are going to write a five paragraph essay on the topic of your choice..

Title: ____________________

I. Introduction II.

A. Introductory statement B. Thesis statement: ____________________

III. Body A. First Supporting Idea (Topic Sentence)

1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 4.

B. Second Supporting Idea (Topic Sentence):1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 4.

C. Third Supporting Idea (Topic Sentence):1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________

IV. Conclusion A. Closing statement B. Restate thesis: _______


English Novel Study

Sample Outline for a Five-Paragraph Essay

http://depts.gallaudet.edu/EnglishWorks/writing/fiveparagraph.html

Title: The Hazards of Movie Going

I. Introduction

A. Introductory statement B. Thesis statement: I like watching movies but I prefer

watching them at home.

II. Body A. First Supporting Idea (Topic Sentence): just getting to the

theatre presents difficulties

1. bad weather 2. long drive and limited parking space 3. long waiting to buy ticket

B. Second Supporting Idea (Topic Sentence): facing the problems of the theatre itself

1. old theatre’s problems such as smelly carpet, worn- out seat, etc

2. new theatre’s problems such as smaller size, noise from next movie theatre, etc

3. both floors will be rubber-like dirty at the end of the movie

C. Third Supporting Idea (Topic Sentence): Some of the patrons are annoying

1. bad behaviour such as running, talking loud, etc 2. human noise and disturbance

III. Conclusion A. Closing statement B. Restate thesis: I prefer to watch movies at home where it is

comfortable, clean and safe.


http://depts.gallaudet.edu/EnglishWorks/writing/fiveparagraph.html

English Novel Study

Example: Five Paragraph Essay

The Hazards of Movie GoingBy John Langan

Introductory paragraph (Thesis)

I am a movie fanatic. When friends want to know what picture won the Oscar in 1980 or who played the police chief in Jaws, they ask me. My friends, though, have stopped asking me if I want to go out to the movies. The problems in getting to the theatre, the theatre itself, and the behaviour of some patrons are all reasons why I often wait for a movie to show up on TV.

First supporting paragraph

First of all, just getting to the theatre presents difficulties. Leaving a home equipped with a TV and a video recorder isn't an attractive idea on a humid, cold, or rainy night. Even if the weather co-operates, there is still a thirty-minute drive to the theatre down a congested highway, followed by the hassle of looking for a parking space. And then there are the lines. After hooking yourself to the end of a human chain, you worry about whether there will be enough tickets, whether you will get seats together, and whether many people will sneak into the line ahead of you.

Second supporting paragraph

Once you have made it to the box office and have your tickets, you are confronted with the problems of the theatre itself. If you are in one of the run-down older theatres, you must adjust to the musty smell of seldom-cleaned carpets. Escaped springs lurk in the faded plush or cracked leather seats, and half the seats you sit in seem loose or tilted so that you sit at a strange angle. The newer twin and quad theatres offer their own problems. Sitting in an area only one-quarter the size of a regular theatre, movie goers often have to put up with the sound of the movie next door. This is especially jarring when the other movie involves racing cars or a karate war and you are trying to enjoy a quiet love story. And whether the theatre is old or new, it will have floors that seem to be coated with rubber cement. By the end of a movie, shoes almost have to be pried off the floor because they have become sealed to a deadly compound of spilled soda, hardening bubble gum, and crushed Ju-Jubes.

Third supporting paragraph

Some of the patrons are even more of a problem than the theatre itself. Little kids race up and down the aisles, usually in giggling packs. Teenagers try to impress their friends by talking back to the screen, whistling, and making what they consider to be hilarious noises. Adults act as if they were at home in their own living rooms and comment loudly on the ages of the stars or why movies aren't as good anymore. And people of all ages crinkle candy wrappers, stick gum on their seats, and drop popcorn tubs or cups of crushed ice and soda on the floor. They also cough and burp, squirm endlessly in their seats, file out for repeated trips to the rest rooms or concession stand, and elbow you out of the armrest on either side of your seat.

Concluding paragraph

After arriving home from the movies one night, I decided that I was not going to be a movie goer anymore. I was tired of the problems involved in getting to the movies and dealing with the theatre itself and some of the patrons. The next day I arranged to have cable TV service installed in my home. I may now see movies a bit later than other people, but I'll be more relaxed watching box office hits in the comfort of my own living room.


English Novel Study


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