If you want to listen to the audiobook, click the picture of the book above.
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Novel: The Catcher in the RyeJ. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951. The protagonist, Holden Caufield, tells the story from his point of view while constantly addressing you, the reader. Although you are already familiar with first person narration, in this particular story, first person narration is coupled with a stream of conciseness writing style. This simply means that we follow the protagonist's exact thoughts. However, just like you may be prone to daydreaming or jumping from one thought to the next throughout class, so too is our narrator which can make the reading a little more difficult at times, but, certainly, not impossible. As always, I recommend actively reading and annotating as you read to help yourselves:)
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Pre-Reading Questions
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-1- How do you think society perceives teenagers today?
-2-What is the stereotype for a teen? (Consider specific's for males and females). -3-What is difficult about being a teen? What are the advantages? -1- Is it inevitable (unavoidable) that we conform to the world and society around us? -2- How should a person adjust to a world they did not create? -3- What happens when a person does not accept and does not play by the rules of the dominant culture? -4- What does it mean to stay true to yourself? -5- Is it possible to grow up without becoming phony? -6- What does it mean to be a kind, decent person? |
Background InformationThe Catcher in The Rye has been notably one of the most censored and banned books in the USA. Read more about why here.
NPR has put out a short article and podcast about The Private War of J. D. Salenger (2013). |
Summary
This books takes place in the 1940's USA. Some of the slang and colloquialisms can be quiet challenging. I recommend studying the vocabulary words below to help you. You also may want to check out the video summary here to help give yourself some context for the novel.
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VocabularyWhile doing some research, I came across this site made by students. We will use it to examine some of the slang and colloquialisms used throughout the novel.
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Discussion QuestionsReading CirclesMaking Inferences |
Writer Response Checklist
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Literary Terms
Two of the literary terms that we will be covering this unit are symbol and motif. To get a better understanding of what these terms mean and how they function in a work (i.e. painting, play, novel, etc...) we shall look no further than this Turkish rug from Adana. -->
Can you find any reoccurring patterns? Any repeated images? What are they? What do they represent? |
Motif- a motif is a reoccurring pattern or idea that is WOVEN (pun intended!) throughout a work (i.e.painting, novel, poem. etc...).
Turkish rugs are filled with symbols and motifs. |
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Symbol- a symbol is something that represents something else. For example, a lion can be an example of courage. Likewise, the color white is often a symbol os purity or goodness.
Symbolism- symbolism is the use of symbols. |
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Unreliable Narrator-"Ever been reading a book and get the feeling that the person telling the story isn't really telling you everything? Maybe the narrator is just a little too chatty, or obviously biased about something. Maybe the narrator has something to hide. Something just doesn't feel right. Chances are you're in the hands of an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is not godlike or omniscient, and in fact is not very trustworthy in the least" (Shmoop).
Apostrophe- An apostrophe is more than a part of grammar. We also have apostrophes in literature. In literature, apostrophe is a term used when a speaker directly addresses someone or something that isn't present. The speaker could be addressing an abstract concept like love, a person (dead or alive), a place, or even a thing, like the sun or the sea. Holden Caufield often speaks to his deceased brother throughout The Catcher in The Rye; this is an example of an apostrophe in literature. Hyperbole- is an extreme exaggeration used to make a point. Holden used hyperbole on when he describes being in a fight with Stradlater for "around 10 hours" (50). Can you find any other examples of hyperbole in The Catcher in the Rye?
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Term 2, Unit 3 Oral Project:
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EXAM TOPICS
-1- The Catcher in the Rye (use your reading circles work sheets and your discussion questions work sheets to help you study)
-2- ALL of the vocabulary from the novel (use Quizlet and your quizzes to help you study)
-3- Be able to answer inference questions (use the discussion questions worksheets and your quizzes to help you study)
-4- Be able to write a MEL-Con/ PEEC paragraph
(a)Did you turn the question into a statement? (Topic sentence)
Did you provide evidence from the text? (Evidence)
Did you answer the question being asked? (Explanation)
Did you provide thoughtful insight on the topic? (Go deep!)
Did your response have a conclusion?
-5- Know and be able to identify the following literary devices within a text (use the videos on this page to help you)
(a) unreliable narrator
(b) symbol
(c) motif
(d) apostrophe
(e) hyperbole
(f) stream of consciousness
(g) metaphor
(h) simile
-2- ALL of the vocabulary from the novel (use Quizlet and your quizzes to help you study)
-3- Be able to answer inference questions (use the discussion questions worksheets and your quizzes to help you study)
-4- Be able to write a MEL-Con/ PEEC paragraph
(a)Did you turn the question into a statement? (Topic sentence)
Did you provide evidence from the text? (Evidence)
Did you answer the question being asked? (Explanation)
Did you provide thoughtful insight on the topic? (Go deep!)
Did your response have a conclusion?
-5- Know and be able to identify the following literary devices within a text (use the videos on this page to help you)
(a) unreliable narrator
(b) symbol
(c) motif
(d) apostrophe
(e) hyperbole
(f) stream of consciousness
(g) metaphor
(h) simile