English 9 Name: ______
Mrs. Hoover
Keesha’s House
by Helen Frost
Before you read, please consider these essential questions:
· What makes a house a “house”?
· What makes a house a “home”?
Write your own definition of a house: ______
______
Write your own definition of “home”: ______
______
Before you read (continued)
· What is responsibility?
Write your own definition of “responsibility”: ______
______
What are your responsibilities in your life at this time (Summer 2012)? In your home, your family, your activities . . . ______
______
Does anything get in the way of fulfilling your responsibilities? What?
______
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
(pages 2 – 15)
· The EXPOSITION of the story reveals the characters, their conflicts, and the setting of the story.
· Your task: As you read, take quick notes (one or two sentences) about each character and his/her situation in the boxes provided here. / Stephie
Jason / Keesha
Dontay “how i see it” / Carmen
Harris / Katie
Part I – Line endings
Each character speaks to the reader in six stanzas of six lines with a seventh stanza of three lines. Pick your favorite character. Write down the last word in each line of each stanza.
My Favorite Character (so far) is ______
Stanza 1: ______Stanza 3: ______Stanza 5: ______
______
______
______
______
______
Stanza 2: ______Stanza 4: ______Stanza 6: ______
______
______
______
______
______
Stanza 7: ______
______
______
Wow! Are you surprised? What do you notice about the words? Does this tell you something about the character? If so, what? ______
______
______
What is your reaction to the author, Helen Frost, so carefully crafting her writing so that the story
of this character emphasizes these six words? ______
______
Reading Strategy – As you read, highlight what you think is the most important line for each character. Below, read examples of possible most important lines for “Part I – how i see it.” Re-read your favorite character’s page and select your own “most important line” for him or her.
Stephie – “All my questions are like wind-tossed//
papers in the street, and after they’ve been tossed/
around, rain comes, and they’re a soggy mess.
Jason – “This is not a game.”
Keesha – “I’m never going to live like that, scared/
of what a man will do to me.”
Dontay – “--they locked me out!”
Carmen – “I’ll be sixteen in seven months.”
Harris – “Freeze frame on that one word: Did you say//
him?
Katie – “My choice is to be safe.”
My “most important line” for my favorite character, ______, is: ______
(Frost ____) ß insert page number for your quote!
Part I. Who is the most interesting character (so far!) to you? Why?
______
What does your favorite character say about his/her “home” and “family”? You may use your own words and/or quote from the book.
______
Who seems to be the main character of the story? Support your answer. (support = tell how you know this is the main character with evidence from the novel).
______
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
(pages 18 – 31)
· The rising action of the story
· Your task: Take quick notes on what new struggles and information are revealed by each character / Stephie
Jason / Keesha (look for an example of alliteration*)
Dontay / Carmen “white walls”
Harris / Katie
alliteration – the repetition of the consonant sound. Examples: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, . . .
Advice Letter. Imagine you are a good friend of one character in this story. Write a letter to him or her. Tell him your thoughts, concerns and best advice. What do you think he should do? What can you do to help? Who can help?
______(date)
Dear ______,
______
______, (closing)
______
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
(pages 35 - 41)
· We hear from the adults in the lives of the teenagers we’ve met.
· Your task: Take quick notes on what the adults say.
· Do you think they believe in the teenagers of whom they speak? / Joe (Keesha’s Friend)
Laura (Stephie’s Mother) “on her own” / Coach Harden (Jason’s coach)
Mrs. Mason (Dontay’s Caseworker) / Roberta (Carmen’s Grandmother)
Mr. Hyde (Harris’ Asst. Principal) / Mrs. Goldstein (Katie’s English Teacher)
Notice in part iii that the adults only get 14 lines, where the teenagers were allowed to speak for 39 lines! Look at the words that END each line when Joe speaks to us on page 35. Fourteen lines that share a rhyme scheme are two elements of a sonnet. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet and read about sonnets. Especially pay attention to how “rhyme scheme” is marked. For example: ababcdcdefefgg .
What rhyme scheme do you see below in Joe’s words?
this ___
floor ___ Quatrain - four lines with
door ___ an alternating rhyme scheme
fists ___ ( “quatre” means 4 in French)
(Think 4 quarters in a dollar.)
14 lines stay ___
of poetry kept ___ Quatrain
with left ___
rhyme scheme say ___
(but no iambic pentameter)
ask ___
need ___
I’m ___ Sestet - the last six lines with
task ___ of an Italian sonnet considered a unit
dad ___ ( “ses” means “six” in Italian)
time ___
Pick one of the other adults in Part III and analyze the rhyme scheme for his/her fourteen lines.
Adult: ______End Word Rhyme
______
Page ______
______
What object or item would you pick ______
to represent this adult character? ______
Create a visual of it: ______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
Symbolism in Keesha’s House:
Start looking for symbolic items and objects in the lives of each character.
Definition of “symbolism”
Dictionary definition: the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.
Mrs. Hoover’s definition: when an item or object stands for itself and something beyond itself. For example, a smiley face : ) stands for a smiling face (itself) and for happiness (something beyond itself).
Practice:
Symbol / Stands for Itself / Stands for Something beyond Itself/ heart / love
/ light bulb / bright idea
Symbolism (continued)
As you continue to read, take a few minutes from time to time and write down items that seem to be symbolic for the different characters in Keesha’s House.
Character / Symbol 1 / Symbol 2 / Symbol 3Stephie /
baby bottle
Jason
Keesha
Tobias /
hiding child
Dontay
Carmen
Harris
Katie /
paintbrushes
When you’ve completed the chart above, circle your favorite symbol for each character. Then highlight or star (*) your favorite character and your favorite symbol for that character.
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
(pages 44 - 57)
· Your task: Take quick notes on new developments in their lives.
· Look and listen for objects or items that are symbolic in their lives. / Stephie
Jason / Keesha
Dontay / Carmen (Note an example of allusion*.)
Harris / Katie “the deep end”
*allusion – a reference to a person, place, thing or statement in literature, sports, history, religion, mythology, popular culture, science which accesses an entire wealth of knowledge and information the reader already knows related to that reference. (Example, “I have a dream . . . “ is an allusion to whom? ______)
Half way!!!
Who is the most interesting character to you (at this point)? Why?
______
______
What is the conflict this character is facing? What are your thoughts and opinions on this conflict? Is this a real and significant issue for teenagers today? How do you think his/her problem might be resolved? ______
______
______
______
What does this favorite character say about his/her “home” and “family”? You may use your own words and/or quote from the book.
______
______
______
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
(pages 60 - 73)
Definition of “aware” – cognizant, conversant, hip, knowing, mindful, sensible, sentient, wise.
· What is each character aware of in this section? / Stephie “we pass each other”
Jason / Keesha
Dontay / Carmen (Note an example of an allusion.)
Harris / Katie
“Tobias”
(pronounced “toe-buy-us”)
Who is Tobias? (Re-read “Keesha,” pages 6-7)
What does Keesha’s tell us about Tobias? (Read “Keesha,” pp. 64-65)
Why can’t Tobias stay with Keesha?
What does Dontay tell us about him? (Read “Dontay,” pp. 66-67)
What has Tobias told Dontay to do?
What would be a good
symbol for Tobias?
Why?
Create a visual of the symbol
you’ve chosen for Tobias in the
box. à
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
(pages 77 - 83)
· The adults are back!
· Are they speaking in sonnets?
Yes! No.
· What do they have to say? As you read, take quick notes (one or two sentences) about each adult reveals to us, their readers. / Joe (Keesha’s friend) “keesha’s house”
Charles (Dontay’s Father) / Anthony (Dontay’s foster father)
Judge Davison (Carmen’s Judge) / William (Keesha’s father)
Jeannine (Harris’s Mother) / Martha (Katie’s Mother)
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
PART VII – finding heartbeats(pages 86 - 99)
· Reality checks for each character . . . what new realizations do they have?
· What is the climax of the story?
· Keep looking for objects or items that are symbolic in their lives. / Stephie
Jason / Keesha
Dontay / Carmen
Harris / Katie “finding heartbeats”
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
PART VIII – paint and paintbrush(pages 103 - 109)
· Resolution
· How does each character’s story end?
· What lies ahead for each character? / Stephie
Jason / Keesha
Dontay / Carmen
Harris / Katie “paint and paintbrush”
In conclusion, . . .
Look at the cover of your Keesha’s House book. The illustrations are symbolic of the lives of the teenagers in this story. Explain the symbolism of the images on the cover of this novel. ______
______
______
What have the lives of these seven teenagers (plus Tobias) revealed to you about “home” and about “responsibility”? ______
______
______
Keesha’s House Project
Keesha’s House Character Reduction
Choose one character from Keesha’s House, analyze him (or her), and “reduce” him on to a 12” x 12” scrap book page. Your “Character Reduction” should include:
· The title of the book and the author’s name
· The name of the character being focused upon
· Illustrations/visual representations (drawings, magazine clippings, photos, other) focused on the character and his/her life, such as:
o his/her appearance
o his/her actions – where does s/he live? what does s/he do?
o the important people in his/her life – who are they? where are they?
o significant “things” in his/her life – pets, places, jobs, hang outs, other
o what are his/her private thoughts about life?
o what do other characters think about him/her?
o other ideas??? setting, conflict, symbols
· One to three meaningful quotes for that character (something he or she says, or something that someone says about him or her). Write down the words from the novel verbatim (word for word) inside quotation marks and cite (write down) the page number where the quote can be found in the novel.
Your “Character Reduction” must be neat, must be complete, and must be your own unique work. BE CREATIVE AND USE COLOR. Here is an example using another text (depending on your printer, it may print in black and white):
QUESTIONS? Email Mrs. Hoover at
21