Creative Responses  (100 pts.) 

The following is a list of options for creatively responding to a book of your choice.  An approach for each intelligence style has been included, so this project should be enjoyable for each of you!  This is your chance to inspire others to read your book.

Read through the options and choose one that BEST fits your story and appeals to you personally.  A great fit will help to spark your creative response! 

Projects will be evaluated based on the following aspects:

1. Ability to capture key elements, giving others a clear idea of the story……without giving the ending away!  Builds interest, making others want to read the book.  Effort to make a personal connection with the main character/s; demonstrates understanding of the characters’ likes & dislikes, feelings toward self and others, dreams, strengths, weaknesses, fears, etc. especially those that relate to the storyline.) 

(30 pts.) ___________

2. Following directions for your chosen option 

(30 pts.) ___________

3. CREATIVITY:  Adds words, pictures, or examples to make presentation more interesting. 

(25 pts.)  ___________

4. Presentation skills (Vocal variety, gestures, volume, clarity) 

(15 pts.) ___________

                                           Total: ______________

Directions

1. Create a childhood for a character.  If your main character is an adult, try to figure out what he or she would have been like as a child.  Write a minimum of a two page story of his or her childhood in such a way that it shows why he or she is the way he or she is in the novel.

2. College application.  Create the application that a character you have just read about could write and submit to a college.  Use all the information you know about the character and infer and create the rest of it.  On the application include name, academic rank in class, high school courses taken and grades, extracurricular activities and personal activities, and work experience.  Choose one of the following questions to answer in a two page essay form the character’s point of view:  what experience, event, or person has had a significant impact on your life?  Discuss a situation where you have made a difference.  Describe your personality, your skills, and your interests and how they relate to why you would like to attend this college.

3. Create a home page.  Select several characters and design a home page for each of them, picking out appropriate backgrounds and pictures and then creating information that would tell a viewer about your character.  Also, create links to at least five different sites that you think your character would be interested in.  Then write up and post on the page an explanation of how you made the decisions you did and what you believe this tells us about the character.

4. Awards.  Create a minimum of 4 awards for main characters based on their actions in the novel.  One might be awarded “most courageous” for fighting peer pressure, another might be awarded “wisest” for the guidance he or she gave other characters.  For each award, write a paragraph that explains why this character deserves this award; pull one to two examples from the book.

5. Dream Vacation.  Where do you think your character would most like to go on a vacation?  Pick a spot, describe it, and explain with logical, well-supported reasons why he or she would want to go there.  Then write a week long day-by-day itinerary of what the character would do on this vacation.  Include statements of why you think the character would enjoy each activity. 

6. Music.  After reading a novel, figure out how you would divide up the book into four or more sections.  Then select a piece of music that you think captures the feel or tone of each section.  Record the pieces and if possible do voice-overs explaining what is happening in the novel during the piece of music and why you felt this piece of music fit the section of the novel.  Find an additional piece of music that would fit one of the main characters of the novel.  Explain why it fits.  (A written explanation of why each song was chosen must be handed in as well.)

7. Poetry.  Write three longer or six shorter poems in response to the novel.  The poems can be about the characters, the setting or the themes in the books. The poems must show evidence of thought, effort, creativity, and poetic elements.

8. Point of view column.  Write three opinion columns like those that appear on the editorial page of the newspaper.  For the first two columns, choose a theme or topic from the novel you just read and write from the point of view of two of the characters who would have different view points. If you do not have two characters, you may write one of the editorials from your own perspective.  Write an additional column regarding a different topic in the book or about one of the character’s actions from your own perspective.

9. Character Monologues.  Select an event in the story that characters have different views on.  (For instance, Willies in Crazy Horse Electric Games, his girlfriend, his mom, his dad, and friends all had different views on his running away.)  Then write up three characters’ opinions on the same event in the form of a monologue (one person talking to him or herself about a situation or concern). If you do not have three characters in your book, you may write two monologues from characters’ perspectives and one from your own. Each monologue must typed and performed and be one to three minutes long.

10. Draw a scene.  If you are artistic, think of three important scenes and create detailed drawings of the way you see them.  Make sure you place the characters in the scene too.  Then write or tape explanations of why you drew the scenes the way you did and how you felt when you read and visualized each scene.  Include what that tells you about who you related to in the novel.

11. Create a character’s room.  We learn a lot about people by what they keep in their closets, what they have on their walls, what they select to put in a room.  Select a character you know well and create a living room, bedroom, kitchen, or some other room that would mean a lot to the character.  Create a detailed model, making sure to include a one page written explanation of why you designed the room as you did.