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Given the nature of the 2011 summer reading program, you had significant autonomy in selecting the books you would read. While you were responsible for completing a proposal, you were not given other assignments to complete over the summer. As indicated on your proposal form, you are required to write a letter to your 2011-12 Language Arts teacher that demonstrates your thoughtful reading of your book. We have chosen to break this down further into three focused "Power Paragraphs" for two reasons, one, to introduce you to the idea of a power paragraph, and two, to assist you in covering all aspects of the assignment.

__ Prompt for Paragraph One - A Reflection of Your Choice __ ** click edit and paste your response here **
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

Over the summer, I read //The Lovely Bones// by Alice Sebold because I knew it would be unusual and keep me interested. I had seen this movie so I knew it's told by a 14 year old girl,Susie, who was murdered and she provided insight on the strange new place she was in. This appeared when Susie said, "After a few days in heaven, I realized the javelin-throwers and the shot-putters and the boys who played basketball on the cracked black top were all in their own versions of heaven. Theirs just fit with mine-didn't duplicate it precisely, but had a lot of the same things going on inside"(Sebold 17). The way she described things kept me interested and wanting to read more.

Sebold, Alice .//The Lovely Bones//. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company, 2002. Print.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ ** click edit and paste your response here ** //The Lovely Bones// made me think about how I shouldn't take my family for granted and appreciate them more. When I read about how devastated Susie's family is because they lost her, it reminds me how lucky I am to have my family. This especially came to mind when Susie would talk about how her father was handling losing her,"By the time my father returned back to the living room, he was too devastated to reach out to my mother sitting on the carpet or my sisters hardened form nearby...He mounted the stairs, thinking of Holiday on the rug in the study...Into the deep ruff of fur surrounding the dog's neck, my father would let himself cry"(Sebold 29). Even experiencing something so tragic through a book makes me realize I should focus on my family more in my life.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __ ** click edit and paste your response here ** Since //The Lovely Bones// is a book unlike many others,it needs a reader that can appreciate an eery, mysterious setting and peculiar thinking. Some people might think this book is creepy and not like how out-of-the-box Susie's world is, but others will see what I see. They will be fascinated when they can imagine the place Susie speaks of, "The night would come and the javelin-throwers and shot-putters would leave for other heavens. Heavens where a girl like me didn't fit in. Were they horrific, these other heavens?...Or were they stuff i dreamed about?"(Sebold 119). It takes an open mind,an urge to explore, and a motivation to think about what's beyond the simple things in everyday life to truly enjoy reading this book.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Sunday, 8/28 **


 * Scoring: Your three paragraphs will be given one overall grade, and the timeliness of your posts will be reflected in your "timeliness" grade. **

// An outstanding response to the prompts will include the following: //
 * A strong topic sentence that clearly establishes the focus on the prompt Be sure to open with your strong topic sentence in each paragraph
 * Evidence that clearly supports the topic sentence
 * Correct use of internal citations and a properly formatted MLA citation for your book (put this citation at the end of paragraph one) Good use of quotes and citations
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format Your paragraphs become stronger each time, the last one has good support
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning