Chapters from Ten Books for Young Adults. We highly recommend this approach for teaching literary analysis. Each unit is built around a concept illustrated by a chapter from a best-selling novel. It begins with information about the author, story, and concept. The selection itself is followed by the lesson, "Reviewing and Interpreting" with questions for the student, discussion guides, and ideas for using the concept. The story by John Steinbeck contains some swearing. You may elect to skip this or white it out. The units and novels from which the chapters are taken are
- Character (Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene)
How Authors Use Language (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou)Setting (Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George)Tone and Mood (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)Theme (The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin)Conflict (Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck)Symbolism (A Separate Peace by John Knowles)Autobiography and Biography (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank)Fantasy (The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien)The Historical Novel (The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi).
The book has a reference section explaining the major steps in the writing process with a handy one-page writing checklist, two-color illustrations, and a glossary of literary and nonfiction terms. There is a teacher's edition available and Hewitt has a junior-high syllabus using the Best series (see Related Items below).
Related Items:
Best Jr. High Syllabus for Jamestown
Best Teaching Notes/Answers: Middle
Best-Selling Chapters: Advanced Level
