chapter 2: quiz - duke university€¦ · · 2016-03-09• what five criteria do you think are...

Lesson 2 Create Your Own Canon by Emily

The Reader’s Journey, Volume 1 © 2010 Duke University Talent Identification Program

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• What are your top five most important books? (Consider different genres, books you

read for different purposes, and different authors.)

My top 5 most important books would be Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K.

Rowling, the Circle Trilogy, by Ted Dekker, the Bible (which is by a lot of authors but

God spoke through all of them), Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, and The Complete

Works of Emily Dickinson, by, of course, Emily Dickinson.

• Is there a classic or a book that you heard was a “must read,” have read, and were not

impressed by?

I started reading War and Peace a bit ago, and first off the number of pages threw me a

bit. I like books with lots of pages but…anyway, I started reading it. I’m sure it’s a good

story, but to me it was a bit boring and kind of hard to get into. I don’t believe I ever

finished it.

• What book is next on your list to read? Why are you looking forward to reading it?

The next book I plan to read is Saint, by Ted Dekker. I’ve been wanting to read it for a

while, ever since I read both the prequel and sequel series without realizing it was in the

middle. Anything by Ted Dekker is always a good read, because he just writes so well.

• What book do you think all parents should share with their children?

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. It’s a great book about giving everything you have

for someone.

• What five criteria do you think are important when developing a canon?

Five criteria that are important when developing a canon are interest, lessons learned

from the book, age of the kids reading the book, content, and vocabulary. For instance,

you wouldn’t give second graders The Great Gatsby as part of their curriculum, but it

would do in a high school classroom.



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Create your own canon for students your age. Select at least 10-15 works to include. Below,

please list the title, author, and a 50 to 100-word justification for why you selected each work.

The justification might include:

o Details about the genre

o Details about character, plot, setting, theme, or style

o Details about how the work meets your specific criteria

o Known authorities who endorse the book

o Other justifications you feel are important

TITLE AUTHOR JUSTIFICATION____ To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee This is a very good book which I have

just read. It tells about a young girl’s coming of age in a small, racially prejudiced Alabama town and shows racism in the simplest of ways—that of a child. There is also remarkable symbolism in this work, something people should be able to recognize.

Uglies Scott Westerfeld This book is a work of science fiction. It is set in the

future. It tells the story of Tally Youngblood. She lives in a society where when you turn 16, you get an operation that turns you into a “pretty.” Then Tally meets a new friend named Shay. Shay doesn’t want to have the operation. The book discusses the issue of true beauty, something a lot of teenagers these days struggle with.

Selected Poems Emily Dickinson This book has many poems in it, all of which have

incredible symbolism. They also stress important points, like the true meaning of success, or look at things in a different way than we are used to, such as the slant of light coming through a window. People need to learn to think outside the box, and that is where these poems would come in handy.

The Age of Fable Thomas Bulfinch This book provides Thomas Bulfinch’s versions of

multiple Greek and Roman myths, and details the accounts of the heroes and monsters as well. I got my copy a while ago and loved it. I am sure readers today would also enjoy it if they sat down and read it. It is important for students to learn about ancient civilizations.



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TITLE AUTHOR JUSTIFICATION____ A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens This book is, of course, a classic. It tells the story of a

man who is very greedy and selfish, and on Christmas Eve he is visited by three spirits. They tell him what will happen to him if he continues to act the way he is, and he changes his ways, becomes a better person because of it, and learns the true meaning of Christmas.

Macbeth William Shakespeare This is a play by Shakespeare. It tells the story of a

man who is told by three witches that he will become king. So, he kills the current king in order to gain his position on the throne, but he eventually goes crazy and ends up dying. Therefore, this book shows you that no matter how hard you try to hide, the bad things you’ve done will come back to get you.

The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline B. Cooney The Face on the Milk Carton is a very good book

about a girl named Jane. One day she is eating lunch and sees a picture of a missing girl on the back of her milk carton, and the girl looks a lot like her and is wearing a dress she remembers seeing in her attic. She begins to wonder if the little girl might be her. This novel explores a teenage girl’s attempts to find her true identity, and how she grows up along the way.

H.I.V.E. Mark Walden H.I.V.E is a novel which talks about a boy who is a

genius. He is taken to a school where he is being taught how to become a supervillain. He doesn’t want to be a supervillain, though, so he and his friends plan an escape. This has never been done before. It will take all their skills to escape the supercomputer that runs the school.

Black Ted Dekker This book takes place partly in an alternate reality

and partly on Earth. A man named Thomas Hunter must discover how to save Earth from a virus that will sweep the world. He goes into the alternate reality when he falls asleep on Earth, and when he falls asleep in the alternate reality he goes to Earth. Black will stimulate the minds of teenagers as they attempt to figure out how all this is happening.



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TITLE AUTHOR JUSTIFICATION____ The Hound of the Baskervilles Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles is, basically, a murder

mystery and a ghost story put into one. A man gets killed, and people blame a curse that was put upon his family many years ago. But Sherlock Holmes is there to solve the case and make sure the only remaining heir stays out of harm’s way. This book will help students to enhance their cognitive abilities and learn to notice things they have never seen before.

The Outsiders S. E. Hinton The Outsiders tells the story of two groups of people

who are from different sides of the tracks. You have the Greasers, who are from the rundown side of town, and the Socs (short for Socials) who live in the nicer houses on the nice side of town. These groups argue a lot, and get into fights. But then, Ponyboy Curtis meets some of the Socs, and they aren’t half bad. This book teaches that two groups of completely different people can learn to peacefully coexist.

A Tale of Time City Diana Wynne Jones A Tale of Time City is about two boys who live in a

world that is cut off from time. They accidentally bring into their world a girl off the 1939 train taking London schoolchildren into the English countryside. But soon they discover that the space-time continuum is being interrupted by someone who is going around pulling out the lines that anchor Time City into existence, and everyone tells them they can’t possibly fix it because they are simply juveniles. This book shows that no matter your age, you can accomplish any task if you set your mind to it.

The Kindling Jennifer Armstrong The Kindling is the first book in the Fire-us trilogy. All

the adults have been killed off by a deadly virus, and there is only a small group of children 14 and under left to inhabit the world, scavenging for food and trying to stay alive. They discover that there may be more that are still alive, so they set out on a journey to find them. This book discusses the importance of family.

Warriors Don’t Cry Melba Patillo Beals Warriors Don’t Cry is a memoir of the integration of

Little Rock High School. It discusses the issues of racism and how hateful people can be to those who are different. It was an immensely interesting read. Mrs. Beals does a wonderful job of describing the circumstances and settings. It is a book we all should read.

chapter 2: quiz - duke university€¦ · · 2016-03-09• what five criteria do you think are...

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