Long-Term Assignments

Gold Team ELA

Marking Period Two

Book Report Assignment

“Dear Abby” Letters

Step One – Get a fictional book of at least 100 pages.  Mrs. Jordon will be taking you to the library during the week of November 3, 2008.  Once you have picked out a book, you must bring it to Mrs. Jordon for approval before checking it out of the library.

Step Two – Read your entire book report book as soon as possible.  If you are currently reading a book, you may finish it before you start reading your book report book.

Step Three – Look at the examples of “Dear Abby” letters and review how to write a friendly letter and how to write a paragraph in ELA class. 

Step Four – Begin writing your book report.  The assignment is to write a letter to Dear Abby as if you were one of the characters in your book report book.  You are writing to her to ask for advice regarding a conflict you are having.  The conflict should be either within you or between you and another character.  You also need to write a letter, pretending you are Dear Abby and responding to the character from your book report book.  In this letter, she will answer the character’s letter and help him or her with the conflict.

Requirements for the letter from the character to Dear Abby:

1.      Introduce the character by giving his/her age, gender, and some background information about the situation.

2.      Describe the problem.  Is it a conflict between two people or is he/she having an internal problem?  Be specific and to the point.  Remember, Abby does not know the character, so you need to give her all the details of the conflict!

3.      Ask Abby a direct question before you end your letter, for example:  What should I do?  How can I solve this problem?  What decision do you think I should make? 

4.      Sign the letter anonymously by giving the character a made up name which relates to your problem and where you live. 

Requirements for the letter from Dear Abby to the character:

1. Answer the character’s question and give him/her advice that will help to solve the problem.  Make sure you fully explain the answer and what Dear Abby thinks the character should do.
2. Include how Dear Abby feels about the character’s situation and conflict.  Also give details about why Dear Abby thinks the character should do what she is recommending.
3. Close the letter with a piece of advice for the future.  This piece of advice should help the character avoid this conflict next time it comes up.
4. Make sure the tone of your letter is similar to Dear Abby’s famous replies.  It should sound realistic and as if it could have actually been written by her.

Step Five – Type up the final copy of your book report.  Before printing it out, please be sure to use the attached rubric to check your letters and make sure you have done all that you can to get the highest grade possible.

Step Six – Hand in the final copy of your book report to Mrs. Jordon by Wednesday, December 23, 2008. 

FYI – Successful completion of this book report requires a knowledge of the following literary terms:

• Setting
• Point of View
• Plot
• Conflict
• Characters
• Characterization
• Protagonists
• Antagonists

Please refer back to your Seventh Grade Literary Terms definitions sheet for clarification on these!

101 Main Street

Anytown, NY 12345

November 15, 2007

Dear Abby,

This will be the fourth holiday season my boyfriend and I have shared together. We usually split Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations between our two families, although not equally.  I come from a large family that understands the need to "share" me with my boyfriend's family. My boyfriend comes from a small family; he is the only child. Last Christmas, he was allowed to visit with my family for only 20 minutes.  This Thanksgiving all six of my mother's siblings will be here with their families for the first time in five years.  It is important to me that my boyfriend spends time with my family this Thanksgiving, but he always knuckles under to the guilt trip from his mother.  He says that until he graduates from college, he has to live by their rules, but I think their rules are unreasonable. We want only two or three hours with him, and I don't think this is unreasonable. What do you think?

Sincerely,

 Wants to Share in NY

P.O. Box 69440,

Los Angeles, CA 90069

November 16, 2007

Dear Wants to Share,

       I think your boyfriend's parents are in for a rude awakening once he graduates from college.  This is especially true, since it doesn’t seem like he has communicated with them about this at all.  It looks like you and your parents have a good relationship and communicate well together.  I am sure this makes it difficult to relate to your boyfriend and his situation.  Unfortunately, it is likely that will change any time soon.  Right now, they have their son under their thumb, so you just have to accept it.  A way around this might be for your parents to invite your boyfriend AND his parents to join you for Thanksgiving. For now, they are a package deal.  Something to think about:  once college is over, if things still haven’t changed, I would think seriously about your future together.

Thanks for writing,

Abby

Second Marking Period Book Report Rubric