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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 __

In my original proposal, I elected to read //Flowers for Algernon//, by Daniel Keyes; I had already read and enjoyed the popular short story of the novel that was written before the extended version, and so I felt compelled to read more. This novel definitely lived up to my expectations, for while the plot and characters didn’t differ from the short story, it went into far more detail. I found this novel very engaging because I really got to know the main character, Charlie, since the novel was written from his perspective; for example, when Charlie describes that rapid changes that he undergoes (Keyes 54), I really cared about him, and I think this is a key aspect for a good story. All in all, I found //Flowers for Algernon// to be an enjoyable and thought-provoking novel that exceeded my original expectations.

Keyes, Daniel. //Flowers for Algernon//. New York: Bantam, 1966. Print.
 * Citation:**

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __

The novel //Flowers for Algernon// made me realize how little we really get to know a person before we judge and label them. We often make the wrong judgment, or get the wrong idea about a person before we’ve dug deep enough to find out for ourselves. For example, scientists Dr. Nemur and Dr. Straus are regarded my most to be intelligent, caring, and thoughtful by most before they’ve even been introduced, and this isn’t entirely accurate; on the contrary, Charlie is thought to be an unintelligent burden, while this is completely untrue (Keyes 46). //Flowers for Algernon// has reminded me to abstain from making hasty judgments, and to reach out to the less foutunate people in my life, life Charlie.

Keyes, Daniel. //Flowers for Algernon//. New York: Bantam, 1966. Print.
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__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __

I found //Flowers for Algernon// to be one of those rare reads that the vast majority of people can enjoy, since neither age, gender, nor background play a major role in determining who would enjoy this novel. In general, I would say that a person who is interested in how society functions would get more out of this novel, since the book focuses on how different people with different labels are treated in our culture. For example, a person with this interest would probably enjoy reading about how people react around Charlie during the different parts of his transformation (Keyes). I would recommend //Flowers for Algernon// to any person—boy or girl, black or white, 15 or 50—who has an interest in American culture and society.

Keyes, Daniel. //Flowers for Algernon//. New York: Bantam, 1966. Print.
 * Citation:**


 * 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
 * Evidence that clearly supports the topic sentence Nice use of personal connections to support your ideas
 * Correct use of internal citations and a properly formatted MLA citation for your book (put this citation at the end of paragraph one) Put your citations at the end of the sentence to avoid impeding the flow of your ideas
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning Good job editing and polishing your work