The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky

Required Work to be Graded Mixed-Tape Project & Presentation Personal Journals (6 in total) Character Assignment - Part One Literature Circle Participation (3) “Asleep” Analysis Character Assignment - Part Two Playlist/Song Analysis Assignment Anticipation Guide Reflection Final Test

The Mixed-Tape to Your Life: Playlist Project Who doesn’t want to have a DJ make a list of songs that tells the story of their life? Well, you’re all in luck because that’s what you get to do for yourselves today! You get to pick a list of songs that corresponds to some of the best and/or worst experiences in your life. So what do you have to do? Create a 7-slide Power Point Presentation. 1. Include a playlist with no fewer than ten songs. Make sure that all songs are clean or edited versions before you put them in your presentation. 2. Choose an event in your life before you choose a song and then write a 3-5 sentence explanation for five of the songs on your playlist. 3. For one of the songs, be sure to include the YouTube link as you will be presenting it to the class. 4. Include at least 3 visuals in your presentation.

Mixed-Tape Presentation You will present your 7-slide presentation (title slide, playlist, 5 songs w/explanations, video on final slide) You will be responsible for choosing your favorite song/memory from your playlist and we will listen to that one song as a class and watch the video (if there is one). How much is this worth? This project will be worth 50pts including presenting your playlist to the class. See Rubric.

Anticipation Guide Complete the handout and pass it in.

Journal #1: Introduction Take out a sheet of paper and write about how you felt coming into high school as a freshman (grade 9)? Good experience or bad experience, anything that you were feeling or thinking on the beginning of a new chapter in your life. (15 min) You will be creating these journal-type entries throughout the unit. You will need to have at least six of them completed by the time we finish the book. Be prepared to share them from time-to-time. Outcome: You will create a relationship with Charlie (main character, take a risk in your writing and use personal experiences and write about them.

Pg. 2-12 & Journal #1 Extension Read through Charlie’s entry on September 16, 1991 (pg. 2-12). After you finish reading, go back through your first journal and decide how similar or dissimilar your first day(s) in high school were compared to Charlie’s. Write an additional 3-5 sentences in which you include these difference or similarities being sure to use examples from Charlie’s experience.

Assignment for today: Continue reading pg. 12 through the end of the entry on pg. 39. Answer the following questions and pass this in as an assignment: 1. Name three incidents which have greatly affected Charlie prior to being a freshman. 2. In the form of a chart, explain how each of the following eleven people have had an impact on Charlie to date: Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Aunt Helen, Michael, Sean, Bill, Patrick, Sam & Brad.

What is a Literature Circle? Your literary circle will be a place for you and your group members will discuss sections of the literature that we have completed in our class. Ideas and opinions will be exchanged and none will be rejected or put down. Protocols/Guidelines: 1. Each group member will be given an opportunity to share his/her ideas with the rest of the group. 2. No group member will be interrupted by another. 3. Thoughtful and constructive questions are the only ones that will be allowed. 4. NO HUNTING = No looking up information on the internet. 5. This if your group and your experience, so make the experience a positive one! 6. Be prepared to share any and all ideas that you group has discussed. Always be ready. 7. One person from the group will record the important points of discussion addressed. This will be passed in and up to 10pts will be awarded for participation in this exercise. Attendance is mandatory in order to receive this group grade.

Literature Circle Discussion Get into your literature circle groups and discuss the following questions: Who do you think Charlie is writing these letters to and also look at the very first line on the very first page at the word “she” that Charlie mentions? Who do you think “she” might be and why do you think that?

Assignment for today: Continue reading pg. 42 through the end of the entry on pg. 63. Complete Journal #2

Journal Entry #2 What did the reading that you completed for today make you think? About Charlie, his friends, his family, anything that you encountered that stood out to you is all things you can talk about.

“Asleep” by The Smiths http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D9ae_hdkUM Answer the following questions on looseleaf and put the page in to the back of your duotang for grading: 1. Does the song fit well in the book, and if it did, why do you think so? 2. What emotions does a song like this create for you when you hear it? Complete this question for yourself and then think about Charlie and the things that he is dealing with then answer this question again. 3. Does the music give the words in the book more emotion/meaning? Outcome: Students will relate Charlie’s experiences with their own real-life experiences. Students will see the impact that music can have on a reader as they move through just about any book.

Assignment for today: Continue reading pg. 63 through the end of the entry on pg. 117. Complete Journal #3 Complete Character Assignment Prepare for Literature Circle Discussion

Journal #3: Decisions Think of a time when you had to make a tough decision in your life. Write about that situation and the decision you made. You might want to talk about how you came up with the decision that you made. You might also want to talk about any regrets that you may have looking back. If so, what why and what would you change about your decision? Objective: Students will once again use real-life experiences to create more meaning as they move through the reading.

Character Assignment: Part Two You will receive a list of characters from the book. You will work their way through the list and find connections that do and don’t exist between yourself and the characters on the list. You will need to explain why you feel the way you do about the characters.

Literature Circle Discussion Get into your literature circle groups and discuss the following questions: Relationships are one of the most important themes that Charlie deals with throughout his experiences. What are some types of relationships that that Charlie has to deal with? Objective: Students will relate Charlie’s experiences with their own real-life experiences.

Assignment for today: Continue reading pg. 117 through the end of the entry on pg. 161. Prepare for Literature Circle Discussion. Get handout and begin Song Analysis Assignment

Literature Circle Discussion Get into your literature circle groups and discuss the following questions: Why does Charlie choose that moment to be honest? Why could he never be totally honest before that night? What could he have done differently to change the outcome of that night? Was there anything that he could have done that would have made his friends look at him differently after that evening?

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” – Song Analysis Assignment Choose one of the songs from the original playlist to analyze using the handout given. 1. The Samples – Could It Be Another Change 2. Dexys Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen 3. Galaxie 500 – Tugboat 4. New Order – Temptation 5. The Innocence Mission – Evensong 6. The Smiths – Asleep 7. Cracker – Low 8. Sonic Youth – Teenage Riot 9. XTC – Dear God 10. Cocteau Twins – Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops 11. David Bowie – Heroes

Assignment for today: Continue reading pg. 161 through the end of the entry on pg. 213. Complete Journals #4, #5 & #6.

Journal Entry #4: How do you feel? After finishing the book, what do you think about Charlie now? Do you still feel the same as you did at the beginning? What do you think about Charlie’s Aunt Helen? Was she a good influence or something different? What is something from the book that has changed your opinion(s)?

Journal Entry #5: So, what did you think? Did you like it? What did you like the most? What did you like the least? Do you think you will do anything differently in your own life after reading about Charlie?

Journal #6: Final Assignment Anticipation Guide Reflection In a final journal, reflect on how your ideas/opinions have or have not changed after the reading of this novel.

Final Test: 50 Marks Choose any five of the thirteen “Topics & Questions for Discussion” found at the back of the novel except for #2. Each answer must be a paragraph of no less than 8-10 complete sentences. Provide as much evidence as possible to receive the highest grade. Use the novel if you need to 

Literature Circle #4 Before we watch the movie version of the novel, your group will name the top 10 essentials of the story which you believe to be crucial and must be shown in the movie. Then your group will discuss the top 10 non-essentials which you believe do not have to be included in the movie version for it to be completely understandable.