1.  Imagine that 75 years from now, someone decides to write a historical fiction novel about our times.  What events or happenings might the author write about?  Why are these events historically significant?

2.  Imagine that you have suddenly been transported into the book that you are reading.  If you could give the main character one piece of advice, what would it be? Why?  If you could ask the main character one question, what would it be? Why?

3.  Based on what you have read so far, what are the strengths and weaknesses of your main character?  What “lessons” do you think your character might learn over the course of the book? These “lessons” might be about: Love Violence Identity Death Speaking up/being silent Family Bravery Friendship

4.  On a scale of 1-10, how realistic is your book? (1=not at all; 10=true to life)  Why would your author want to distort reality/present things realistically? What purpose might that serve in the story?

5.  According to your schedule, about what page should you be on right now?  What page are you on?  Taking into consideration that we will only meet on Monday and Thursday of next week, make a reading plan to finish your book by next weekend.

6.  What have you learned in History class that has helped you understand your book better?  What have you learned from your book that has helped you understand your History class better?  If you’re reading SPEAK, think “high school” instead of “history class”.

7.  Pick out your BEST (so far) dialectical journal entry.  Read over it, revising and editing as you go.  Look for mistakes in punctuation, spelling, and word choice.  Look for opportunities to make your analysis deeper, or to connect this quotation with the themes of the entire book.  Remember our magic phrases, “The author wants us to understand that…” or “What this teaches us about the character is…”

8.  After having heard your classmates’ dialectical journals, reflect on how your own is going:  What do you need to work on?  What have you done a good job of?

9.  How has your character changed since the beginning of the book?  If you’re not finished yet, how might your character continue to change?  What point (about life, about the world, about war, etc.) do you think the author is trying to make by describing this character’s transformation?