Story: Charles

Author: Shirley Jackson

Genre: Narrative realistic-fiction

Session 1

Before Reading

Text Opener

You are going to be reading a story about a little boy who causes problems at school.

Why do you think some children misbehave in school? Analyze the reasons below. Select the one you most agree with, and be prepared to discuss it. If you think of a different reason, write it down to share with your classmates.

  1. They are trying to show their independence.
  2. They don’t know any better.
  3. They are looking for attention.
  4. They are angry or unhappy inside.
  5. Another reason?

Quick Write

Select one reason you feel students misbehave in school. In a brief paragraph, explain why you feel the way you do.

During/After Reading

Sharing Questions

During the first read of the story, what were some things you would like to clarify? What was something you wondered about? (i.e. why an event happened the way it did, or why a character did or said a particular thing?)

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Connections Write 3 connections to this selection. Text to text. Self to text. World to text.

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Visualizing What were some images you could visualize? Describe them in a brief paragraph.

Author’s purpose What is the author’s purpose for writing this story? Entertain? Inform? Persuade? Explain?

Find/write 2 lines from the story to support your claim.

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Explain why the lines from above support your claim.

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Point of View From whose point of view is this story told? What proof can you provide?

Story at a glance Provide appropriate details regarding this story in a few words.

Who:

What:

Where:

Why:

When:

How:

Session 2

Directed Notes

During the second reading of the story, mark at least 5 places where someone seems to ADMIRE Charles, and 5 places where someone seems to DISAPPROVE of him.

Place three small sticky note with an “A” or a “D” in your book to mark the spots. Note the page number and paragraph number in the chart below. And, as always, be prepared to discuss your ideas with the rest of the class.

Places where someone ADMIRES Charles / Places where someone DISAPPROVES of Charles
pg. # / ¶# / pg. # / ¶#

After reading and marking your book, answer this interpretive question below. If you need more room, write your response on a piece of binder paper. Be sure to LABEL the response and staple it to this INB. Failure to do so will reduce your INB grade. Be prepared to share your answer with the rest of the class:

Why does Laurie say that all the other children play with Charles even though they are told not to?

Tone The author’s attitude, stated or implied, toward a subject. Some possible attitudes are pessimism, optimism, earnestness, seriousness, bitterness, humorous, and joyful. An author’s tone can be revealed through choice of words and details. In your opinion, what is the author’s tone in this story? (1 well-written paragraph)

Mood The climate or feeling in a literary work. The choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards creating a specific mood. What do you perceive the mood to be in this story? (1 well-written paragraph)

Session 3

Interpreting Words

Selection vocabulary to interpret in-depth:

Laurie says that Charles is fresh in school, but Laurie often acts fresh to his parents at home.

Fresh
·  too bold
·  very rude
·  disrespectful

Go back through the selection with a partner or group. Look for at least two examples of the following:

Laurie is fresh to his parents when he... / How his parents respond is... / They respond this way because...
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Now answer this interpretive question in a well-written paragraph:

Why is Laurie fresh to his parents?

List any additional vocabulary you don’t understand:

Session 4

Shared Inquiry Discussion

Basic Question #1:

Why does Laurie invent Charles?

Suggested pages for textual analysis: pages 1-2: from the beginning of the story to, “Today Charles hit the teacher.”

1.  Why does Laurie renounce courduroy overalls the day he starts kindergarten? Why does he forget to stop at the corner and wave goodbye to his mother?

2.  Why does Laurie start to act rowdy and fresh at home after his first day at school?

3.  Why does Laurie look at his father “coldly” when he asks if Laurie learned anything? Why does Laurie say, “I didn’t learn nothing?”

4.  Why does Laurie grin enormously when he reports that Charles hit the teacher? Why does he joyfully whisper to his father the bad word that Charles told the little girl to say?

5.  Why does Laurie make Charles bigger than he? Why does he say that Charles “doesn’t have any rubbers and he doesn’t ever wear a jacket?”

6.  Why is Laurie so eager to report to his parents Charles’s latest bad behavior?

7.  Why does Laurie make Charles violent?

8.  Why does Laurie say that they might deal with Charles by throwing him out of school?

9.  Why does the story end with Laurie’s mother finding out that there is no Charles in the kindergarten?

Other questions you might have related to the “Basic Question” above?

Basic Question #2:

Why don’t Laurie’s parents figure out that Laurie has invented Charles?

Suggested pages for textual analysis: pages 4-5: beginning, “Monday night was the first Parent Teachers meeting...” and ending, “Looks like Charles.”

1.  Why are Laurie’s parents more interested in Charles’s behavior in kindergarten than they are in their son’s?

2.  Why are Laurie’s parents critical of Charles’s behavior, even though they accept fresh behavior from Laurie?

3.  Why does Laurie’s mother think that kindergarten might be too “unsettling” for Laurie? Whey does she think that Charles might be a bad influence on him?

4.  Why does Laurie’s father think that there are bound to be people like Charles in the world? Why does he think that Laurie might as well meet them now as later?

5.  Why is Laurie’s mother “passionately” interested in meeting Charles’s mother?

6.  Why does Charles become an “institution” in Laurie’s family?

7.  Why does Laurie’s father ask Laurie to repeat the bad word that Charles said? Why does he ask “respectfully” if Charles told the little girl to say that?

8.  Why does Laurie’s mother question the truth of hwat her son tells her only when he says that Charles was good?

9.  Why is Laurie’s cynical about the change in Charles? Why does he think that Charles may be “only plotting?”

Other questions you might have related to the “Basic Question” above?

Basic Question #3:

Why does Laurie have Charles become the teacher’s helper in the third week in school?

Suggested pages for textual analysis: pages 5-6: beginning, “During the third and fourth weeks...” and ending, “...and Charles laughed.”

1.  Why does Laurie speak “grimly” when he reports that Charles was so good the teacher gave him an apple?

2.  Why does Laurie have Charles go from being especially bad to being especially good?

3.  Why do Laurie’s parents find Charles’s bad behavior much easier to believe than his good behavior?

4.  Why doesn’t Charles’s streak of good behavior last?

5.  Why don’t the teacher’s punishments seem to have any effect on Charles?

6.  Are we meant to think that Laurie is as bad at school as he reports Charles to be?

7.  Why does Laurie’s teacher say, “We’re all so interested in Laurie?”

Other questions you might have related to the “Basic Question” above?

Session 5

Evaluative Writing

After Laurie’s mother finds out the truth about Charles, she writes to Miss Behavior, a famous newspaper columnist who advises parents when they are having problems with their children. If you were Miss Behavior, how would you answer this letter from Laurie’s mother?

NOTE: Be sure to respond to “Confused Mother” in the format of a letter. You can write it NEATLY on binder paper, or type it (preferred).

Theme(s):

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Thematic statement(s):

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Required: Write a well-written paragraph elaborating on one of the themes of this story.

Note: Extra credit will be given for additional paragraphs completed. Each grade is equivalent to a “quiz” grade. Quizzes are 25% of your grade.

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