Example Written Summary for the Reader S Notebook

Example Cartoon Vocabulary

Example Visual Summary

Visual Summary for Freak the Mighty

Caption for the exposition: Max’s frustration is evident in day care. Freak acts like a robot to mask his handicap. / Caption for the rising action: Max is constantly compared to his father, the antagonist who is in prison for killing Max’s mother. / Caption for the rising action: Freak is riding high on Max’s shoulders as he watches the fireworks. In order to escape their conflicts, they turn to each other for friendship and become Freak the Mighty.
/
“Kevin knew from a very young age that he wasn’t going to have a very long life.” /
“And that’s the truth, the whole truth. The unvanquished truth is how Freak would say it . . .”
Caption for the climax: Max’s father kidnaps Max but Freak saves the day with a squirt gun full of sulfuric acid, a.k.a. vinegar and curry powder. / Caption for the falling action: Freak’s disease ends up being his demise, and Max (overwhelmed by grief) hides in the down under. / Caption for the resolution: Max emerges from the down under, realizes that doing nothing is a drag, and overcomes his perceived mental handicap by writing the story of Freak the Mighty.
unvanquished: a state of remaining undefeated or unconquered
Link: Indiana Jones

Caption: Indiana Jones remained unvanquished in the test for the Holy Grail.
1. The team was unvanquished throughout the year and won
the championship.
2. Antonio and Felix remained unvanquished in their pursuit to stay amigo brothers.
3. The unvanquished army pushed forward far behind enemy lines. / perspective: a way of seeing things
Link: The sun

Caption: From a certain perspective, the man seems to be playing hacky sack with the sun.
1. From my perspective, Ionly saw the back of the burglar, so I cannot make a positive identification.
2. His perspective was limited because of the torrential rain.
3. From the police officer’s perspective, both individuals seemed to be at fault because they were both speeding.

Example Written Summary for the Reader’s Notebook

Rodman Philbrick’sFreak the Mighty is set in rural America. This is apparent because one of the main characters, Maxwell Kane, is unable to escape his father’s reputation, of which everybody in the town seems to be clearly aware. The time period is likely the late 1980s or early 1990s because the characters are not enslaved by cell phones and social media, but Max does seem to be fond of his “Walkman” (57). Through a first-person perspective, Maxwell Kane begins the book by revealing an obviously frustrated day-care Max who lets out his anger on others, including adults. The other main character, however, seems to be a source of fascination rather than frustration. Even in Max’s early memories, he is apparently captivated by the unique Kevin, who is more commonly known as Freak, and whose genius brain (along with his other internal organs) seems to be exploding from a handicapped body that no longer grows.

As the story progresses, Max and Freak quickly develop a friendship, if not a symbiotic relationship: Max needs Freak for his brain, and Freak needs Max for his physical capabilities. Consequently, the two characters embrace the name of Freak the Mighty and (inspired by the legends of King Arthur and his knights) go about on imaginary and some not-so-imaginary quests, “slaying dragons and fools” (1). During these quests, the conflicts become apparent. Ever-curious Max and Freak hear what others say about them. Max is constantly compared to his father, who is in prison for allegedly killing Max’s mother, and Max—blinded by the natural frustration that arises from this knowledge—thinks that his trouble in school, his trouble with learning in general, is due to a mental deficiency. Max continues to struggle with these thoughts (and with Freak’s challenges to be something beyond people’s expectations) throughout the book. Freak, on the other hand, often too obviously tries to mask his feelings—feelings of frustration toward a father who seemingly left his mother because of Freak’s handicap, which (as Freak knows all too well) will end his life early.

Throughout the rising action, both characters are on a collision course with the inevitable: Max’s encounter with his father and Freak’s final battle with a disease, which readers later learn is a form of dwarfism with serious medical consequences. The climax for Max’s story begins whenever his father is paroled from prison. Killer Kane kidnaps Max and with what he thought was the help of Loretta and Iggy Lee (leaders of a rough neighborhood gang), hides out in an old lady’s house until he can get what he needs to escape with his son. Although Kenny adamantly maintains that he is innocent, the truth is revealed whenever Loretta tries to free the tied-up Max, who (as Killer Kane is choking Loretta) lets his father know that he remembers when Kenny choked Max’s mother to death. Consequently, Killer Kane begins to choke Max, but Freak saves the day by firing from a squirt gun what Killer Kane believes to be sulfuric acid in his eyes. It turns out that Iggy had brought the cavalry (the police) to the scene, so Killer Kane is arrested again.

Freak’s story ends shortly after in a climactic scene at the hospital. Max, realizing that Freak has died, goes ballistic at the hospital, breaks things and tries to run into the medical research facility, but is finally consoled by Dr. Spivak. The falling action features a Max who,clearly devastated by the loss of his Freak, refuses to leave his room for a long time. Even after he does emerge from the “down under,” his conflict regarding his mental capacities remains unresolved until he sees Loretta again (5 &158).

As mentioned, his chance meeting with Loretta helps resolve matters for Max because Loretta’s words are reminiscent of Freak’s challenge for Max before Freak dies. During one of Freak’s final conversations, he challenges Max to write the details of Freak the Mighty’s quests. Max tells Loretta that he is up to nothing, and Loretta responds by saying, “Nothing is a drag, kid. Think about it” (160). Max does think about it, and (eventually) his thoughts turn into written words on pages that feature the story of two kids who overcame incredible odds and truly did slay dragons and fools. Freak’s conflict with his disease is, sadly, resolved by his death. However, Max’s conflicts with his dad and his perceived mental deficiencies are resolved by giving birth to a Max who has escaped the evil shadow of a murderous father and who has overcome the idea that he needed Freak’s brain to think for him.

Example Main Idea PLEA

The main idea of Freak the Mighty is that Max’s friendship with Freak enables him to overcome his handicaps—both real and believed. Rodman Philbrick’sFreak the Mighty is a realistic fictional novel, which features Max as an unusually tall and large kid whose father was convicted for murdering Max’s mother. To add to his unfortunate circumstances, Max feels that he is learning disabled: “Writing the stuff down is not like talking . . . it’s like the pencil is a piece of spaghetti or something and it keeps slipping away” (82). Moreover, Max is naturally and emotionally scarred by his father’s actions: “They [Grim and Gram] never talk about it . . . They don’t have to because I can never forget it, no matter how much I try” (130). However, Freak teams up with Max and helps him overcome his many obstacles in life—so much so that Max eventually writes the story of Freak the Mighty (129). Max’s actions show that he, in his short life, has had to endure more heartache and trauma than most people will encounter in lifetime, but Max’s friendship with Freak—a young man who is no stranger to emotional shock—has taught him to rise above his circumstances. In fact, even after the steepest obstacle in Max’s life—Freak’s death—Max is able to face his fear of writing and put his thoughts down on paper.

Example Theme PLEA

The theme of Freak the Mighty is that real friends provide the motivation needed to ignore low expectations and to realize true potential. Max, the main character in Rodman Philbrick’s realistic fictional novel, naturally harbors issues with his mother’s death and father’s conviction, coupled with Freak’s physical handicap and his absentee father. These issues rise to a climactic scene whenever Max’s father abducts Max, but Freak manages to save the day with a clever bluff: “'Guess what I have for Christmas, Mr. Kane . . . This squirt gun [filled with] . . . sulfuric acid’ . . . That’s when Freak squeezes the trigger and sprays him [Killer Kane] right in the eyes” (131 & 132). Later, Max follows in Freak’s brave footsteps and overcomes his fear of writing: “So I wrote the unvanquished truth stuff down and kept on going . . . and now that I’ve written a book who knows, I might even read a few (160). Freak the Mighty’s courageous actions demonstrate that the friendship between Max and Freak enabled them to defy the expectations that people would naturally have for young boys who have experienced a lifetime of distress. Freak uses his final hours physically to rescue Max from his dragon-like father, and Max uses Freaks advice to write down the tales of Freak the Mighty, thus conquering his fear of the written word.

Example: Main Idea and Theme Cartoon Vocabularies

Main idea: the most important and central concept that reoccurs throughout a text

Link: Max

Caption: Max missed the main idea whenever Loretta Lee rubbed Freak on the head and told him about his father.

The main idea of Freak the Mighty is that Max’s friendship with Freak enables him to overcome his handicaps—both real and believed
The main idea of “Amigo Brothers” is Felix and Antonio’s friendship is strong enough to overcome a fight that placed them between each other and their dreams.
The main idea of “Seventh Grade” is that Mr. Bueller understands that his student, Victor, will learn more about French as the result of his crush on Teresa than he will ever learn from his teacher.

Theme: the life-lesson learned from a text; the key message about life that reader’s should receive from a text

Link: handicaps

Caption: Max and Freak’s refusal to allow their physical and mental handicaps to overcome them helps readers understand the theme of the novel.

The theme of Freak the Mighty is that real friends provide the motivation needed to ignore low expectations and to realize true potential.
The theme of “Amigo Brothers” is friendship is more important than winning.
The theme of “Seventh Grade” is that romantic admiration can often provide much motivation for learning.

Example Literary Devices

Simile: “It’s a plastic bird, light as a feather” (Philbrick 12).
Metaphor: “Thus television is the drug of fat heads” (19).
Personification:“I’ll bet we’ve gone ten miles at least, because my legs think it’s a hundred” (50).
Idiom: “Instead, I just shut my face and go down under” (54).
Hyperbole: “I watch tons of tube, but I also read tons of books” (19).
Suspense: “Which as it turns out, is almost true. The real deal is that she is a damsel who causes distress. Which we find out the very next day” (62). - - - end of the chapter
Foreshadowing:“This isn’t a pretend quest . . . This is why we came here . . . I understand this much even if I don’t understand about bionics” (52).
Allusion: “My mom’s name is Gwen, so sometimes I call her the Fair Guinevere” (16).
Onomatopoeia: “When the quarter stick of dynamite goes off, your heart thuds to a stop for a microsecond, wham” (6).
Alliteration: “Freak is whistling, and the cop car spotlight comes beaming around . . .” (39).
Repetition: “I invented games like kick-boxing and and kick-knees and kick-faces and kick-teachers . . .” (2).
Symbol: “A dragon is a fear of the natural world” (45).
First-person perspective bias/unreliability: “It was Freak himself who taught me that remembering is a great invention of the mind” (2).
Tone: “The little freak is staring at me bug-eyed, and he goes, ‘Oh, it talks’” (12).
Mood: “As we go into the Testaments, though, Freak shuts right up. It’s this big falling-apart place . . . looks sad and smells like fish and sour milk . . . and toys . . . mostly bashed up and broken” (64).
Direct characterization: “Grim and Gram . . . they’re my mother’s people” (1).
Indirect characterization: “Iggy says, ‘What if Killer Kane hears that I was messing with his kid? No thank you’” (70).

Example Descriptions of Literary Devices

Simile: Because Max compares the ornithopter to a feather, this appeals to readers’ sense of touch. Most people have lifted feathers and know how light they are. The effect is that the ornithopter becomes a symbol for Freak: small, fragile, and seemingly flimsy things can do extraordinary things.
Metaphor: Freak compares television to a drug, which diminishes a person’s intellect. His point is that people become addicted to t.v., and the consequence is that time for reading is often sacrificed. The effect is that readers equate intelligence with people who read often—people such as Freak.
Personification: Max’s legs are given the human quality of thinking. Therefore, his legs have the ability to tell him something. The effect is that imagery is produced because most readers can connect with a time when their legs seemed to be telling them to go no farther.
Idiom: If taken literally, readers would think that Max’s face was like a jar that could actually be closed. However, given the context and the culture, reader’s understand that Max has decided not to talk, and the effect is that Max reveals a habit of his: bottling things up whenever he wants to speak.
Hyperbole: If taken literally, readers would think that the amount of television that Freak watches would weigh a ton. The point is that Freak watches t.v. frequently, so the effect is that readers understand that television is not a bad thing as long as reading time is not sacrificed.
Suspense: Rodman Philbrick ends this chapter by introducing a mystery. Naturally, readers become curious about who Lorretta Lee is and about how she can “cause distress.” This delay ensures that the audience will want to continue reading.
Foreshadowing: Because Freak makes a point of taking Max all the way out to this medical-research center, readers can infer that Freak’s medical condition will likely cause problems for him later. At this point in the novel, not much has been revealed about Freak’s physical handicap, but the result of these clues is a strong sense that his condition is really serious.
Allusion: Freak is referring to King Arthur’s wife, Guinevere. Most readers have at least a basic knowledge of the Arthurian legend, so the effect is that the audience thinks of knights and chivalry.
Onomatopoeia: The “wham” is Rodman Philbrick’s attempt to reproduce the sound of dynamite exploding. This sound device produces imagery, and the effect is that reader’s think back to the typical sounds of Independence Day.
Alliteration: The repetition of the “c” sounds at the beginnings of the words in this line is Philbrick’s attempt to replicate the hard sounds that fill this scene. At this point, Max and Freak need anything to save them from Tony D. This saving grace first appears in the form of sound. The effect is that these harsh sounds are actually soothing because they are basically like warning shots to the gang members.

Example Visual Demonstrations of Literary Terms

is light as a
Caption: The ornithopter is a symbol for Freak. Both are light and seemingly flimsy but capable of extraordinary feats.
Freak often refers to the Fair Gwen, which is an allusion to the Fair Guinevere, who was not only King Arthur’s queen but also the face of the utopian idea of Camelot.
Freak compares television to a drug, which creates “fat heads.” This meataphor shows that the addictive nature of television causes people to sacrifice time that they should spend reading. According to Freak, reading “tons of books” helps people determine what is true and what is false.

Example Leveled Questions for Freak the Mighty

Level one: a question that does not require an inference

In Freak the Mighty, what is Freak’s first name?
Point: In Freak the Mighty, Freak’s first name is Kevin.

Level two: a question that requires an inference and is limited to the text