Summer reading for 7 th grade Rithmatist By Brandon Sanderson Linda Breitenkamp

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1 Summer reading for 7 th grade Rithmatist By Brandon Sanderson Linda Breitenkamp I am excited to teach 7 th grade Pre-AP ELA! I can t wait to meet you next school year and look forward to getting acquainted over the summer. Pre-AP ELA will begin the year with your summer reading assignment. You are asked to read Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson in its entirety during the summer. It is available at libraries and at any bookstore. Here is your focus for the novel. You are a book critic for Mountain Valley and they want to include new books for ELA. Your job is to read and analyze Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson to determine if 7 th grade students would find this novel interesting. I have set up a blog so we can discuss the novel as we read during the summer. You do NOT have to create an account to post a response. Simply click on Comments under the question you wish to respond to and then click Reply.The blog site you will use is: When you reply, you need to either use your first and last name, or your id number. I will check in on Wednesdays each week and pose questions for your response. If you do not have internet access, please use the graphic organizer to gather information about characters in the novel and explain in a one page essay why the author included at least two of them in the novel.(for example, How does the character s presence help tell the story.) Your first grade for the year will be based on your participation on the blog or writing the character essay. For the blog, you will need to respond to at least two questions during the summer for your grade. Each response will be worth 50 points. This is what we will be looking for in your responses. Break down of points for your response. 10 points your response needs to have a clear focus and not be a onesentence answer. 10 points You must use the novel to support your response. What in the novel caused you to think about your response?

2 10 points Be sure you are using vocabulary that helps explain your response. Look up words that you use to make sure of their meaning. 10 points You must use proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure (no sentence fragments). 10 points your response needs to makes sense and applies to the novel. Bring any questions you have that will stimulate conversations. If you have any questions, please contact me at Below are some literary terms we will introduce or review during your 7 th grade year. As you read Rithmatist, please analyze the story for the following elements, as we will discuss these in our blog. I have included a graphic organizer at the bottom to help you describe the main characters. Characterization - Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character. The basic techniques include physical description, speech and actions, thoughts and feelings, and others reactions to the character. Examine the main characters and decide what type of character they are from this list. Archetype The archetypal hero appears in all religions, mythologies, and epics of the world. He is an expression of our personal and collective unconscious, as theorized by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. All archetypal heroes share certain characteristics. For example, the hero as warrior in Star Wars, the hero as a sacrificial lamb in the person of Jesus, the hero as lover in Prince Charming. Character Foil A secondary character that contrasts with the protagonist in order to highlight aspects of the main character s personality. Foils may be sidekicks (e.g., Han Solo to Luke Skywalker) or enemies (e.g., The Joker to Batman). Protagonist and Antagonist

3 The protagonist is the main character in a story, novel, drama, or other literary work, the character that the reader or audience empathizes with. The antagonist opposes the protagonist. In the most archetypical narratives, this boils down to bad guy vs. good guy: Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vadar in the first Star Wars movie, for instance. Flat, Round, Static, Dynamic Characters When the author chooses to focus on one trait of a character, that character is referred as a flat character. On the other hand, a character that appears complex with a complete personality is said to be a round character. Characters that don t change much over the course of the story are considered static. There may be things that happen to them but they don t seem to change. Characters that change because of a situation are said to be dynamic. Plot - The basic sequence of events in a story. In conventional stories, plot has three essential parts: rising action, climax, and falling action. A plot, typically, moves chronologically and has a causal chain of events. Study the types of plot here and determine which type of plot you see in the novel. Action Plots and Character Plots The action plot--often Adventure, Science Fiction, and Mystery--focuses on what happens next. Characters such as James Bond, Luke Skywalker, or Indiana Jones are involved in action plots. The character plot--focuses on human nature and relationships. The characters are searching for meaning in their lives. An example would be Percy Jackson. The plot includes conflict, climax, and falling action. Identify these parts in the novel, according to the definitions. Conflict In literature, conflict is the opposition of persons or forces that brings about dramatic action central to the plot of a story; conflict may be

4 internal, as a psychological conflict within a character, or external (e.g., man versus man, man versus nature, or man versus society). Climax Climax is the point of greatest tension in a work of literature and the turning point in the action. In a plot line, the climax occurs after the rising action and before the falling action. Resolution The point in a literary work at which the story s problem is worked out. If you have any questions, please me. L.breitenkamp@comalisd.org Name By Brandon Sanderson Character Who They Are Appearance/Personality Traits Significance in Novel

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