Before Reading: Know: Want to Know: Learned:

Chapter 1: In Class With a partner establish your ideas on the following in writing to be shared: "What is your reaction as a reader to what happens to Susie in Chapter 1? How does what happened make you think the rest of the novel will be like?” What it's like, for a reader, to have a rape/murder victim (especially a child) telling her own story. How is that different than if there were a "neutral" narrator? What effect does it have on the reader? Does it make Susie's story more personal? Less personal? Come up with 3-5 words that describe the tone of the chapter.

Chapter 1: In Class DEBATE: First person narrator is the best choice for this kind of story, given what we know so far; Third person/neutral narrator would be the best choice. 20 minutes to come up with your arguments, 3-5 minutes to present your arguments, 2-3 minutes to rebut the other side's arguments.

Chapter 2: In Class HW: READ CHAPTER 3 5 minute write: "What do you know so far about Susie's heaven? Make sure to list at least 5 features that are specific to her heaven." Activity: Groups of 3 You have 25 minutes to illustrate Susie’s heaven, and put quotations on your construction paper of what Susie’s heaven is like. HW: Do you believe that personalized heavens can exist? Why or why not? How does your opinion influence the way you interact with and believe what is happening in The Lovely Bones? 5) For homework: Write at least one page of what your own personalized heaven would look like. HW: READ CHAPTER 3

Chapter 3: In Class 5 minute write: Who exactly is Ruth Connors? What is her connection to Susie?” Activity: 5 groups: 1) Ruth's family/family life, 2) Ruth's physical description, 3)Ruth's interests, 4)Ruth's social circle/friends (or lack thereof), 5) Ruth's personality traits HW: Read Chapter 4

Chapter 4: In Class 5 minute write: What token of Susie's does Mr. Harvey keep and then get rid of? How and where does he dispose of it? What kind of symbol is Susie's bracelet? What does it symbolize when Mr. Harvey is keeping it? What does it symbolize for Mr. Harvey? What does it symbolize for Susie? What does it symbolize for the reader? Does its meaning change once Mr. Harvey disposes of it? Activity: Create a drawing of Susie’s bracelet. Put quotations from the text and your own interpretation of what the bracelet means around it? HW: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In Class 5 minute write: Why is Lindsey so angry when she slams the doors of her house and her room? What is causing her anger? What the reader is supposed to make about Samuel's Christmas gift to Lindsey and the kiss they share in the kitchen. What does this show us about Lindsey that other situations have not? What do we learn about her that we didn't learn before? HW: Chapter 6

Chapter 6: In Class 5 minute write: Pick one teenage character in The Lovely Bones. Do you think this is an adequate portrayal of a teenager? Why or why not? Discuss: 1)What does society think of teenagers? Are they respected? Disrespected? By whom? 2) What characteristics make a teenager unique when compared to other types of characters (young children or older adults, for example)? 3) What characteristics are common among teenagers that may not be common with other age groups? 4) Are these characteristics accurately and adequately represented in the characters in The Lovely Bones?

Chapter 6: In Class Cont… Samuel, Ruth, Susie Lindsey. Come up with features of YOUR assigned characters. Explain how those features are or are not unique to teenagers, and explain whether or not you think your character's depiction in The Lovely Bones is an accurate portrayal of a teenage character. HW: READ CHAPTER 7

Chapter 7 5 minutes write: Do you think Buckley is telling the truth when he says that he has seen Susie's ghost? Why or why not?" Collect their responses. What benefits does an author have by using supernatural elements (and ghosts in particular) in a text. What can these elements do that others cannot? What kinds of situations can they work best in? What challenges are there? What situations would it absolutely NOT work in? How much faith is required, if any at all, for a reader to believe in the presence of ghosts in a text? How important is it for the reader to believe in ghosts in order for the reader to continue along with the story in a connected, involved way? Read chapter 8

Chapter 8 The objective: examine the role of women and children (who appear in Mr. Harvey's dreams) as symbols in a text and in literature in general. Questions: Brainstorming what the general symbolism is behind women and children. What do they traditionally stand for individually? What do they traditionally stand for when together? What do we learn about him through their appearance in his dreams? What other symbols, if any, could have conveyed similar information to the reader about Mr. Harvey? Read Chapter 9

Chapter 9 & 10 5 minute write: Quiz on 5-10 "What do you think Lindsey's reaction to Mr. Harvey at the end of Chapter 9 means? What from the text supports your opinion?" Character Sketch: Sebold writes describing his physical characteristics), a paragraph describing his character, and multiple (at least 10) passages from the text, complete with page numbers, that provide the reader with some important piece of information about Mr. Harvey's characters. Quiz on 5-10

Chapter 12 “ I had played a hide and seek game of love with my mother as I grew up, courting her attention and approval in a way that I had never had to with my father. I didn’t have to play…anymore…As she stood in the darkened room and watched my sister and father, I knew one of things that heaven meant. I had a choice, and it was not to divide my family in my heart.”

Chapter 13 Please explain what the following quote means, and it’s significance to the book. …Jack had set his return to work for December 2, right after Thanksgiving. He wanted to be back in the office by the anniversary of my disappearance. Functioning and catching up on work-in as public and distracting a place as he could think of. And away from my mother, if he was honest with himself. … all her energy was against the house, and all his energy was inside it.

Chapter 14 Name/describe at least one time you have seen the number 5 appear in “Lovely Bones”. Chapter Questions: FULL SENTENCES What is #5’s symbolism? Where else has the number 5 appeared? Where else does 5 appear in literature, nature, society? What are you supposed to associate the number 5 with in this text? How does Lindsey’s jersey number play into this larger meaning?

Chapter 15 Nature vs. Nurture 5 minute write: Is Sebold providing information on Mr. Harvey’s childhood simply to inform the reader, or more to provide some kind of explanation about how and why he turned out the way he did? Chapter Discussion: 1) Does it seem like Mr. Harey is influenced most by nature? Nurture? Both? 2) Could he have turned out differently if he had a different family, or childhood? 3) Does the background information change your opinion about Mr. Harvey?

Chapter 16 5 minute write: What do you think the town’s message is to the Salmons during the memorial? What from the text supports your opinion? Chapter Response: 1) What is the difference between realization & acceptance? 2) How are they similar/different? 3) When might you think you have accepted something but only realized it? 4)What benefits come with each? 5)What negatives comes with each? 6)Is one inherently better than the other? Circumstance?

Snapshots This is a significant shift from the rest of the story. Objective: Analyze the structure, and why the author departs from the traditional narrative structure. 5 minute write: What is your response to this chapter as a reader? Why is “Snapshots” written? Be prepared to share!

Chapter 17 Objective: Analyze why Susie has not moved on from her heaven. 5 minute write: Do you think Susie is genuinely happy for Lindsey and Samuel as they begin their new life together? What in the text supports your opinion? FIND SPECIFIC QUOTES. Be prepared to SHARE your response.

Chapter 17: Questions: FULL SENTENCE Why is Susie still in her heaven? What exactly is her heaven? Has it changed since she first arrived? Is she happy there? Does she spend more time there or more time watching people on Earth? Is she able to leave if and when she wants to? How does the author indicate that she is “stuck” there? Do you think Susie’s long stay in heaven is negative or positive? Why do you think this?

Chapter 18 Objective: Examine how does the author create tension in the novel? 5 minute write: -What do you think is the tensest moment in chapter 18? What makes it so tense? What devices does the author use to create tension? (wording, metaphors, quotes, ect). Compare the tension in this chapter to chapter 1. Which is more tense to you? Why?

Chapter 19: Objective: To create a character analysis of Abigail 5minute write: Is Abigail justified in leaving the family? Why or Why not? 2 Groups: 1- Analyze Abigail’s character after Susie’s murder (until she leaves family) 2- Analyze Abigail’s character after she left the Salmon family behind. Consider: What do we know about each phase of her life? What choices does she make? What kind of person is she What are her priorities and values?

Chapter 20 Objective: Examine the forgiveness (or lack there of, in “Lovely Bones”. 5 minute write: Write a definition of forgiveness to be shared. Questions: Full SENTENCES 1) Has Jack forgiven Mr. Harvey? 2) Did Jack forgive Abigail for leaving the family? 3) Has Abigail forgiven the “murderer”? 4) Has Abigail forgiven Jack for refusing to accept Susie’s death?

Chapter 21 Objective: Ruth and Ray’s visit to the sinkhole brings much of the tension surrounding Susie’s unsolved murder to a climax as does Fenerman's visit to Jack and Abigail in the hospital. Analyze closure and how closure can, or cannot, be reached by various characters in the text. 5minute write: Do you think Susie will ever have closure about what happened to her? Why or why not? 1) Why did Ray & Ruth go to the sinkhole? 2) Why is each interested in watching it be filled? 3) Why does Susie get so frustrated and angry at how close they come to finding her body? 4) What kind of closure does the sinkhole offer? What kind of closure, if any, doe sit actually deliver? 5) What would closure look like for Mr. Harvey?

Chapter 22 OBJECTIVE: Analyze tone in Chapter 22 as well as the means by which an author can create and manipulate the tone of a text 5 minute write: What has been the tone of “The Lovely Bones” prior to Chapter 21? Does the tone change at all throughout the chapter? How much of the tone is dependent on how Chapter 21 concludes? How much of the tone is dependent on the tone that Sebold has created for the rest of the text? Does Chapter 22 have more than 1 tone? What kind of literary devices does Sebold use to create tone?

Chapter 23 OBJECTIVE: Examine the apparent happiness of the Salmon family as they finally begin to move on from Susie’s murder. 5 minute write: By the end of the chapter would you describe the Salmon family as happy? Why or why not? What does the Salmon’s happiness look like? Is it the same as before Susie’s murder? Will they ever be the same kind of happy as they were before Susie was killed? Can they still find happiness? What will happiness look like for them as a family? Is is possible to have an unhappy family member individually, but have a happy family as a whole? Which character do you believe is the most unhappy? Support this with specific examples from the text.

Bones Objective: Analyze three main aspects of the conclusion of the novel: Susie’s “Almost. Not quite.” response; Mr. Harvey’s death; and the arrival of “Little Susie”. 5 minute write: As a reader, do you feel satisfied with the conclusion of The Lovely Bones? If so, why or why not? 1) What do you think of Susie’s “Almost. Not quite” response? 2) What does this response tell us about Susie’s character? 3) What does it tell us about what the rest of her life in heaven will be like? 4) Is Mr. Harvey’s death “justice”? Does it provide closure?/ 5) What are we supposed to make of him dyeing of an icicle “the perfect murder”? 6) What does Lindsay's daughter being called “Little Susie” tell su about Lindsey’s character?

Concluding Writing Analyze the character of Susie Salmon by explaining how she must learn to let go of Earth before she can find her wide, wide Heaven. use examples from the story to explain this idea. 2. How does Jack Salmon remain devoted and loving to both Susie and Abigail? 3. Analyze the theme of grief and how it impacts on all the major characters. 4. Analyze the character of Abigail, emphasizing her strengths and weaknesses. 5. Explain with examples and details from the story how Susie’s Heaven differs from Heaven as we have always imagined it .6. Explain the symbolism behind the title of this novel. 7. What is Susie’s greatest desire now that she is dead? Why? How does heaven bless her in fulfilling her desire and what is the outcome? 8. The best known theme in any literature is the theme of good versus evil. Explain, using examples from the story, how it fits this novel. 9. One symbol that flows throughout the last few chapters of the book is that of ties, cords, and chains. Using examples from the novel, explain the significance of this symbol. 10. Discuss how the author’s own background is reflected in this story. How is feminist viewpoint also reflected here?

Grading Pick one of the writing prompts from previous slide. You will be graded according to the PSSA rubric. Essay should be between 500-700 words. Typed, Times New Roman, 12 point font. Due: