Southwest Licking School District Literature Selection Review

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1 Teacher: Whitson Southwest Licking School District Literature Selection Review School: Watkins Memorial High School Book Title: Feed Genre: Fiction Author: MT Anderson Pages: 299 Publisher: Candlewick Copyright: 2004 Book Summary and summary citation: A New York Times Best Seller Notable Book of the Year Horn Book Honor Winner An American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults Book Flap Summary: We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck. So says Titus, a teenager who s ability to read, write and even think for himself has been almost completely obliterated by his feed, a transmitter implanted directly into his brain. Feeds are a crucial part of life for Titus and his friends. But then Titus meets Violet, a girl who cares about what s happening to the world and challenges everything. Titus holds dear. A girl who decides to fight the feed. Provide an instructional rationale for the use of this title, including specific reference to the curriculum map(s): Rationale: This novel is taught utilizing the themes and concepts of the modernism and postmodernism authors and points of view. Students are encouraged to utilize their knowledge of these two literary periods and apply them to a contemporary novel that addresses present day issues and outlooks.

2 Acquisition of Vocabulary Use context clues and text structures to determine the meaning of new vocabulary. Recognize the importance and function of figurative language. Use multiple resources to enhance comprehension of vocabulary. Explain the influence of the English language on world literature, communications and popular culture. Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self- Monitoring Strategies Apply reading comprehension strategies to understand grade appropriate text. Demonstrate comprehension of print and electronic text by responding to questions (e.g., literal, inferential, evaluative and synthesizing). Use appropriate self-monitoring strategies for comprehension. Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text Evaluate how features and characteristics make information accessible and usable and how structures help authors achieve their purposes. Identify examples of rhetorical devices and valid and invalid inferences, and explain how authors use these devices to achieve their purposes and reach their intended audiences. Explain and analyze how an author appeals to an audience and develops an argument or viewpoint in text. Reading Applications: Literary Text Analyze interactions between characters in literary text and how the interactions affect the plot. Explain and analyze how the context of setting and the author s choice of point of view impact a literary text Identify similar recurring themes across different works. Analyze the use of a genre to express a theme or topic. Identify and analyze how an author uses figurative language, sound devices and literary techniques to shape plot, set meaning and develop tone. Analyze and evaluate the five elements (e.g., plot, character, setting, point of view and theme) in literary text. Explain ways characters confront similar situations and conflict. Recognize and analyze characteristics of subgenres and literary periods. Analyze how an author uses figurative language and literary techniques to shape plot and set meaning. Critique an author s style. Writing Applications Write responses to literature that extend beyond the summary and support references to the text, other works, and other authors or to personal knowledge Use documented textual evidence to justify interpretations of literature or to support a research topic Write a persuasive piece that states a clear position, includes relevant information and offers compelling evidence in the form of facts and details. Use a range of strategies to elaborate and persuade when appropriate, including appeal to logic, use of personal anecdotes, examples, beliefs, expert opinions or cause-effect reasoning.

3 Research Formulate open-ended research questions suitable for inquiry and investigation and adjust questions as necessary while research is conducted. Compile, organize and evaluate information, take notes and summarize findings. Evaluate the usefulness and credibility of data and sources and synthesize information from multiple sources. Use style guides to produce oral and written reports that give proper credit for sources (e.g.,words, ideas, images and information) and include an acceptable format for source acknowledgement. Communicate findings, reporting on the substance and processes orally, visually and in writing or through multimedia. Communication Oral and Visual Give presentations using a variety of delivery methods, visual displays and technology. Writing Conventions Use correct spelling conventions. Use correct punctuation and capitalization. Demonstrate understanding of the grammatical conventions Include two professional reviews of this title: This is yet another book that can be added to the list entitled YA novels I d Never Heard of But Which Turn Out to Be Modern Classics and Feed may well be the best of the lot Funny, serious, sad, superbly realized. Nick Hornby, The Believer Subversive, vigorously conceived, painfully situated at the juncture where funny crosses into tragic, Feed demonstrates that young-adult novels are alive and well and able to deliver a jolt. The New York Times Book Review Review #1 Customer, A. "Amazon.com: Feed ( ): M.T. Anderson: Books." Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Amazon. Web. 13 Apr < Anderson/dp/ /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8>. This brilliantly ironic satire is set in a future world where television and computers are connected directly into people's brains when they are babies. The result is a chillingly recognizable consumer society where empty-headed kids are driven by fashion and shopping and the avid pursuit of silly entertainment--even on trips to Mars and the moon- -and by constant customized murmurs in their brains of encouragement to buy, buy, buy. Anderson gives us this world through the voice of a boy who, like everyone around him, is almost completely inarticulate, whose vocabulary, in a dead-on parody of the worst teenspeak, depends heavily on three words: "like," "thing," and the second most common English obscenity. He's even made this vapid kid a bit sympathetic, as a product of his

4 society who dimly knows something is missing in his head. The details are bitterly funny- -the idiotic but wildly popular sitcom called "Oh? Wow! Thing!", the girls who have to retire to the ladies room a couple of times an evening because hairstyles have changed, the hideous lesions on everyone that are not only accepted, but turned into a fashion statement. And the ultimate awfulness is that when we finally meet the boy's parents, they are just as inarticulate and empty-headed as he is, and their solution to their son's problem is to buy him an expensive car. Although there is a danger that at first teens may see the idea of brain-computers as cool, ultimately they will recognize this as a fascinating novel that says something important about their world. (Ages 14 and older) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Review #2 Customer, A. "Amazon.com: Feed ( ): M.T. Anderson: Books." Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Publisher Weekly. Web. 13 Apr < Anderson/dp/ /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8>. In this chilling novel, Anderson (Burger Wuss; Thirsty) imagines a society dominated by the feed a next-generation Internet/television hybrid that is directly hardwired into the brain. Teen narrator Titus never questions his world, in which parents select their babies' attributes in the conceptionarium, corporations dominate the information stream, and kids learn to employ the feed more efficiently in School. But everything changes when he and his pals travel to the moon for spring break. There Titus meets home-schooled Violet, who thinks for herself, searches out news and asserts that "Everything we've grown up with the stories on the feed, the games, all of that it's all streamlining our personalities so we're easier to sell to." Without exposition, Anderson deftly combines elements of today's teen scene, including parties and shopping malls, with imaginative and disturbing fantasy twists. "Chats" flow privately from mind to mind; Titus flies an "upcar"; people go "mal" (short for "malfunctioning") in contraband sites that intoxicate by scrambling the feed; and, after Titus and his friends develop lesions, banner ads and sit-coms dub the lesions the newest hot trend, causing one friend to commission a fake one and another to outdo her by getting cuts all over her body. Excerpts from the feed at the close of each chapter demonstrate the blinding barrage of entertainment and temptations for conspicuous consumption. Titus proves a believably flawed hero, and ultimately the novel's greatest strength lies in his denial of and uncomfortable awakening to the truth. This satire offers a thought-provoking and scathing indictment that may prod readers to examine the more sinister possibilities of corporate- and media-dominated culture. Ages 14-up. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. What alternate text(s) could also fulfill the instructional requirements? Title: The Uglies Author: Scott Westerfeld Title: Little Brother Author: Cory Doctorow

5 Document any potentially controversial content: This novel does address the present society s outlook and use of drugs. Keeping in mind the age, academic level, and maturity of the intended reader, what is the suggested classroom use: (check all that apply) GRADE LEVEL(S): INTEREST LEVEL(S): Reading level of this title (if applicable): 10 th grade Date Submitted to Website: 4/12/2011

Summer Reading Guide

Critical Reading & Writing 1 2014 15 Summer Reading Guide Happy summer and welcome to freshman English at Hathaway Brown! This year our summer reading is the novel Feed by M.T. Anderson. This book is set