Textbook Reflections: Peck's Questions

Richard Peck's "Ten Questions To Ask About A Novel" can be asked by students or readers so they can do in depth analysis of what they are reading. The ten questions are higher order thinking questions and make the readers think critically, they probe and prompt for informative responses.
These ten questions will be of great use when reading a novel and using this as an extension once the reader is done.

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Fourteen- Graphic Novels

Graphic novels are a format of literature, the subject matter covered ranges from nonfiction, fantasy and history. The target audience for graphic novels ranges from elementary, secondary and even adults.

 A graphic novel can be defined as a book in comic format, but resembles a novel with its narrative development and length. In other words, it is not watered down literature, some educators tend to not want to assign this format of literature, eventhough readers of all ages are engaged by it.

The authors and illustrators of graphic novels combine text and illustrations to convey the story, just like picture books do.

A graphic novel page consists of panels, gutters, dialog balloons, captions and sound effect boxes.

My personal opinion as an English High School Teacher is that graphic novels are fantastic! There are some reluctant readers who are hesitant to even grab a book, so graphic novels are great for those readers, any comic book lover and can also cater to ESL students who are barely learning the language. Graphic novels tend to be very visually appealing and catch the reader's eye.

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Thirteen- Fantasy/Science Fiction

Under the Fiction umbrella falls Fantasy. Science Fiction is a sub-genre of Fantasy. Fantasy and Science Fiction have similar themes as other genres. Defining the genre of fantasy fiction is a bit complex, stories might begin with realistic scenes and then something can happen like an animal speaks or something out of the ordinary happens. When a story defies the laws of physical reality, that is when the reader knows that it is fantasy.

Moreover, apocolyptic refers to the end of civilization, some examples are "Tumble and Fall" and
"A Matter of Days." Post Apocalyptic is when many years after a major catastrophe, the following are example, "The Testing," "The Hunger Games," and "Divergent." As for Dystopia, stories encumber propagnda, restrictions on information and thoughts, individualtiy, some examples are "Gulliver's Travelers," "White Mountains."

Ways to know if you are evaluating Science Fiction and Fantasy are:

1. Despite the fantastic aspects of the story, characters must behave in consistent and believable ways.
2. There must still be rules for the fantasy world.
3. Authors must assist readers in the "willing suspension of disbelief."
4. The themes should explore universal truths.

A great resource for Science Fiction is Dr. Karin Perry's "Sci Fi on the Fly," it can help educators make suggestions or references for books in this subcategory.

This chapter was a bit challenging for me, internalizing all the formats under these subgenres was a bit overwhelming due to the fact that there are some many differnt types within. I do not have a lot of knowledge when it comes to Science Fiction, so I did learn very important information on the subject matter. The video was very helpful and the criteria is definitely very helpful. The criteria is very helpful and will be extremely useful when evaluating these formats.

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Twelve- Nonfiction

Nonfiction is a main genre, in it there are formats that fall under its umbrella. Sub-categories that fall under this genre are informational,biographies, autobiographies and memoirs, then narratives and expository.

Non-fiction is such a huge genre. A great Teacher Resource for this genre is "Nonfiction for young adults:From delight to wisdom" by Betty Carter and Richard F. Abrahamson. Nonfiction can cover so many different types of topics.

There are five basic criteria questions when evaluating Nonfiction for Children:

1.What are the qualifications of the author?When it comes to the qualifications of authors for nonfiction, it is important that they experential knowledge in the subject matter that they are writing about. It is important that the author is qualified, have they written on this specific matter before? Do they have credible sources? Those questions can assist a reader in regarding the author as credible.

Well-known authors with qualifications for Nonfiction are: Kathleen Krull, James Cross Giblin, Steve Jenkins and Seymour Simon.

2. Are the facts accurate?
It is important to rely on authors or perhaps reviews or one's background knowledge to check if the facts stated are accurate. There are activities like T-charts that you can have students research to compare and contrast facts. Use resources from lists and the Children's Book Council to find credible sources.

3. What is the purpose and scope of the book?
As an educator it is important to choose the specific pupose and scope; this depends if your subject matter calls for broad, narrow or specific information, the age group your are targeting, your targeted audience.

4. How does the organization of the book assist readers in locating information?
The table of contents of the books are key in knowing the organization of the book, so students can effectively find what they are looking for. Some books also have indexes. The indexes help you narrow your search when you are researching back-matter help you zoom in to resource like notes, sources, bibliographies, appendixes, and acknowledgements.

5. What role do visual play?
Visuals elaborate on the text, and help break up the text to make it visually pleasing for the reader. Visuals can include pictures, photographs, call-out boxex, paintings, ilustrations, graphic organizers, charts and maps).

What I learned from this chapter is that it is important to have a well balanced section of nonfiction in your library. One must offer a varitey of information on all topics and not be biased in one's beliefs. Furthermore, it is said that it is easier to define the genre of nonficiton by what it is not. The criteria questions are very informative and will come in handy when I have to evaluate this genre.

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Eleven- Realistic Fiction

Fiction is a main genre, within it there are sub-genres, categories or formats. Realistic Fiction is a format that falls under the genre. Realistic Fiction stories are believable and consistent with the real world; they are filled with characters, settings, and real events. Realistic Fiction can be also referred as contemporary realistic fiction or Modern Realistic Fiction.

There are three main points in the criteria for evaluating Realistic Fiction.
-Consistency with the real world
-Theme
-Subject matter relatable to readers

Questions that you may ask yourself when evaluating realistic ficion are:

Is everything consistent with the real world in which contemporary kids live?
Does the theme emerge naturally form the story? Does it avoid being preachy or didactic?
How does the topic or subject matter of the book relate to modern readers?

This format of literature tends to be more alluring to all students in general.My sophomore English Students absolutely love realistic fiction, due to the fact that they feel more entertained with the characters and can relate to situations in these books. In my eight years of teaching, I have noticed that overall the fiction genre is the most popular. This chapter provided very good questions that I can use when evaluating this format of literature.

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Ten- Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction is a made-up story that is based on a real time and place in history, in other words, fact is mixed with fiction.

This format has an award for it, it is the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Historical Fiction has characters, plot, a setting, conflict, dialogue, and descriptions.

Characters all behave in realistic ways, some are fictional and some are real.

The setting is the most important element in Historical Fiction.

The plot is based-on real events mixed with fictional events that make sense for that time period.

There is a criteria for evaluating Historical Fiction. The five basic questions are the following:

Does the book tell a good story that effortlessly blends the history in the story itself?

Are the facts of the historical period accurate?

How are the values of the time brought to life?

Is everything consistent with the social milieu?

Does the theme of the story relate to contemporary readers?

All those criteria questions are used for probing and when evaluating historical fiction for children.

This format of literature is more popular with young adults and high school students. I teach sophomores and I know they would be interested in something that is relevant, and especially political or historical. They tend to gravitate for this format sometimes because it is more straightforward than others. This chapter is definitely a great tool to have saved, especially because of the criteria questions that will serve as a guide when I have to evaluate stories in this format.  

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Nine- Poetry

Poetry is a format of literature in which the writer can express their feelings or ideas using their unique style. Poetry is sometimes referred to as “the most neglected format out there,” in part because of the mindset of the one teaching it. Most teachers have reservations when teaching it, due to the fact that it is hard to teach poetry and to teach to analyze it. According to research, there were five conclusions, kids prefer narrative poetry, and they love poems that tell a story, kids dislike free verse and haiku. In poetry, rhythm, rhyme and sound devices are very important, it catches readers’ attention, especially young ones. The research was conducted with children and they learned they like funny poems, animal poems, poems about familiar experiences and they have a preference for contemporary poems. Poetry can be a great way to capture young adolescents’ attention and can promote literacy. If young adolescents feel drawn to poetry that they identify with or find interesting that is the best possible outcome, the point is to get them hooked on reading, no matter the genre or format.

In this chapter, I learned that some have reservations on teaching this format, I personally do enjoy teaching it, and I used to write poems back in my undergrad days. This was a wholesome chapter that provided valuable information such as the research results. This will have a constructive effect when I am evaluating young adult literature myself and when I am writing the book reports. 

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Eight- Awards

Awards and Reading Lists serve to recognize and honor a book for its contribution to literature. Thera are many types of awards. When books are given an award or included in a list it is because they exemplified literary excellence in a certain genre, category, or format. The Printz Award is sponsored by Booklist and is awarded for literary excellence in Young Adult Literature. The Nonfiction Award honors the best nonfiction books published.

There are countless awards and lists, like the Caldecott, Bluebonnet, ALEX, Morris, Edwards, Pura Belpre, NCTE, Sibert, and Stonewall Awards that all are given to deserving books. The lists include Lone Star, TAYSHAS, Maverick Reading, and others. As a reader, teacher and librarian it is important to be able to know the different type of awards, the reason they are awarded, their history, their seals and formats in order to assist students better and make recommendation of books based on merits.

This chapter was filled with the names of awards and lists. It is important to have that foundational knowledge on the awards in literature and the reason lists are important. As a future librarian, I understand that a big part of the job is to understand its history, so that when you are tasked to evaluate literature you can confidently do it. 

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Seven- Literary Elements

In literature there are certain basic elements that most writers tend to rely on. Stories must have a setting in which the story takes place, characters (people or animals in the story), a theme or overall message, the plot-which is the action that makes up the story, stories must have a protagonist (main character) and they usually also have an antagonist (the person or force working against the protagonist). Furthermore, a story also usually contains a conflict (problem or issue that needs to be resolved), and will create a mood (evoke a certain feeling from the reader as a result from the story) and finally the tone or writer’s attitude toward the subject or topic being discussed.

It is of the utmost important to know the basic terms in literature, in order to be able to evaluate literature. The following are basic definitions for the Literary Devices:
Hyperbole- a purposeful exaggeration

Metaphor-comparing two unlike thing without using like or as, one of the most common literature terms

Simile-comparing two things using like or as, one of the most commonly used term in literature

Allusion-alluding to a famous person or work, usually done to compare or establish credibility

Imagery- words or phrases that the writer uses to appeal to the reader’s senses, this helps you imagine the scenarios

Point of view- the perspective from which the story is being told (there are four basic POV)

Symbolism- is when a person, place, thing or idea are used to represent or symbolize something and allegory is a symbolic device

Motifs-are things or ideas repeated through the story as a symbolic reference, as well as an archetype

Deus ex machine-an implausible concept for the purpose of resolving a conflict

Focus on: Theme is a very important term, the theme is a message stated or suggested by the author, it must be stated in a complete sentence, must be a truism, it is not necessarily singular, and it has to be something that can be demonstrated based from the text.

Reflecting on this chapter as an English Teacher, it is always great to review and make sure that one understands how to explain the literary terms and devices in the simplest manner possible. In the school that I teach in, we have a LEP Population of 52%, so I have learn to explain in a clear and concise manner. As for how the content in this chapter will affect me, it had a very positive effect, it is always good to refresh on terms and can be used to compare and contrast when evaluating YA Literature.

Textbook Reflections: Chapter Six- How do adolescents develop?

     

This chapter discussed the development of adolescents: the intellectual, moral, developmental, physical and reader.

The intellectual aspect, Piaget’s Theory states that we progress from sensory motor to concrete operational stage to the formal operational stage. At age 10, a child’s developmental thinking develops from concrete to abstract. Then at age 14, they develop into more abstract thinkers, in this stage they can better scaffold, this is where it is important for the level, type, and Lexile of the book questions must match this stage.

When it comes to the physical aspect, puberty is a time in which the child changes, transitions and grows. During this time period, adolescents become interested in books that offer assurance, that are relevant, and in which they identify with some of the characters in books.

According to Havighurst’s Development Stages, during this stage is where they learn to get along with peers, they form easy relationship with the opposite sex, working for pay, changing relationships with parents, finding a vocation, developing morals and values, adapting to their physical bodies, and defining appropriate sex roles. During this stage they transition from childhood to adolescent. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy consists of five stages, physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

Moreover, Kohlberg’s Moral Theory, relates that kids have preconventional morals, their decisions are based on reward and punishment. Conventional morals follow the rule, overall a good person who abides by the rule, regardless it be dictated societal rules or religion based. Post conventional morals are those we recognize the laws but, this is where it gets blurry, because the sense of humanity is more important than the law sometimes, therefore on occasion leading to civil disobedience.

Readers are developed through empathy, unconscious delight reading, reading autobiographically, reading for vicarious experiences, reading for philosophical speculation, and reading for aesthetic purposes. Through the “cake model” and its stages are where and how lifelong readers are developed.

After reading this chapter, I learned about how adolescents develop, and how that correlates with the literature they want, need, or become interested in reading as a result of those changes. The information was very insightful and will be very useful for when I have to reference back to review Young Adult Literature. It is very important to know what kind of mindset your reading audience is coming from and how their mindset will affect their reading preferences.