Questioning to Find Deeper Meaning in a Text Independent Reading Portfolio

What is a “Good” Question? A question that requires you to think about what you have read (not merely recall what you have read). A question whose answer gives you more insight into the text and/or the author’s intent.

How Do You Think of “Good” Questions? Begin by noticing – use the Rules of Notice Allow yourself to wonder about why the author is telling you something and about why the author is telling you in this way. What is the purpose? What insight can you gain by thinking about this? Allow yourself to not know the answer.

I Notice.... There is an extended description of this futuristic world. There is also plenty of repetition about how safe this futuristic world is. I Notice.... A surprise : novel-writing does not seem to fit with the rest of the risky things the protagonist longs to do. I Notice.... The author has used capitalization to add emphasis to what the protagonist tells the parliament. I Notice.... I am confused – being inoculated with the Bubonic Plague does not seem to be at all what the man was asking for.

There is an extended description of this futuristic world There is an extended description of this futuristic world. There is also plenty of repetition about how safe this futuristic world is. Why does the author describe the safety of this futuristic world in such detail? What is the purpose of emphasizing the safety of this new world? Why would the author place a dare-devil protagonist in an ultra-safe world?

A surprise : novel-writing does not seem to fit with the rest of the risky things the protagonist longs to do. What is the purpose of including novel-writing in a list of dare-devil activities? Is this humorous or serious?

The author has used capitalization to add emphasis to what the protagonist tells the parliament. What is the purpose of emphasizing these words? What does the author want me to think/wonder/notice?

I am confused – being inoculated with the Bubonic Plague does not seem to be at all what the man was asking for. How is this the “Risk” he has been asking for? This is not what I was expecting, is it an example of irony?

Answer Your Questions… Don’t just go with your first thought. Think through the answer (as we did to arrive at our theme statements). Check: Does your answer show deeper insight? Do you have something in your answer that was not obvious when you first read the text? If you are not 100% certain of your answer, that’s okay – just think about whether your answer can be reasonably supported by the text.

What Should My Questions/Answers Show Me About My Text? There are SO many things… Author’s Intent Author’s Style/ Technique Characterization Character Motivation Nuances of Plot Humour, Irony, Sarcasm, etc… Comments on Life, Humanity, Society, etc… More….

Questioning Review your Rules of Notice (available under grade 10 assignments & in your notes) Define “Questioning” as it has been covered in this mini-lesson in your own words Write down 3 things that you notice (you do not need to copy the passage, but do give the page number). Underline the Rules of Notice words (as I did in the example) Write 2+ questions for each thing you noticed. Choose one of your observations. Quote the relevant passage from your text (including page number – 5+ sentences). Answer your questions in a well written paragraph. Include at least one quote to support your answer.

Journal #5&6 Should be Completed on Monday November 25th This means you should have completed 6 journal entries based on three books