Never Cry Wolf
Novel Study
(Quotation Journal for Fall 2017)
Reason:
Recognizing themes in fiction deepens readers’ understandings of writers’ messages; especially if readers support them directly with quotations from the text. Identifying quotations that relate to common themes is a valuable skill to develop because students will have to do this in grade 10, 11 and 12 in more complex and challenging literature. This assignment is designed to help strengthen students’ strategies for identifying and incorporating quotations into their writing.
By exploring five underlying themes within the novel Never Cry Wolf, thisunit will examine the way we identify and incorporate quotations into written work. We will refer to the themes as“fields of study” from here on in. In each chapter, one or more of these fields of study may be apparent. They are, Wolf Behaviour, Predator/Prey Relationships, Human Behaviour, Misconceptions, andWolf Relationships. After reading each chapter, identify which one or maybe more, best fit that chapter. Next, explain why this is so. Please use at least one quotation in each answer to support your reasoning. For example, there are 24 chapters in the novel and let's say that the first four chapters will be our practice shots; therefore, in your rough journal you should have at least 20 paragraphs of possible choices. Out of that rough selection pool, you will choose the best representation for each one. In other words, your final report will include five connections, one for each field.
Your rough copy of twenty possible choices must be included. Please see the example below to help you articulate your own choices.
My Example: Misconceptions: After spending almost a full week in Churchill Manitoba looking for a pilot, Mowat can not make it out of town to his final destination because nobody will take him. He subsequently begins talking to the locals, a collection of "trappers, missionaries, rum runners, prostitutes and other interesting characters, all of whom were authorities on wolves"(p.16.), about wolves and is told a variety of the most outrageous stories. One example told to him by a missionary explained that wolves will attack almost any living thing in the Arctic but will always refrain from attacking a pregnant Eskimo. This seems to be one of many misconceptions that sounds so outrageous that it just might be believable. It reinforces Mowat's idea that people would sooner accept fairytales/folktales as the truth rather than the actual truth.
A written journal that connects to a theme: After you have decided on the five best examples, you are required to write a final report about his book as if you are the character assigned in the pre reading activity. In other words, using the theme and perhaps a few examples you determine are most important, write your report from Mowat’s P.O.V. We will decide on a few guiding questions that you might choose from as we read the novel.
Assessment:
25 marks for the five paragraphs explaining the themes using quotations.
30 marks for the final report. The six traits of writing will apply to this final piece of writing.
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Total 55 Marks