People+of+Sparks+6th+Period

Frances Nguyen, Graham Reitz, Daniel Stroik

English - Lesson 6 - Subject/Verb Agreement - Irregular > **Friendship–**Lina and Doon share a friendship in both novels, and Doon attempts a friendship with Tick in //The People of Sparks.// Lina and Doon recognize positive and negative qualities in their friendships, a key aspect of accepting someone as your friend. Ask students to keep a log of how Lina and Doon perceive their friendships and how their friendships wax and wane throughout both books. What personality traits do they admire in one another and in Tick? What qualities do they find troublesome in each other and in Tick? As an extension activity, ask students to **write a paragraph describing what they admire about their best friends**. > (This is individual work) > > **Greed–**How does greed escalate to conflict? Ask students to trace incidents of greed by both townspeople and politicians as the characters progress from one novel to the next. Create a timeline that illustrates how townspeople allowed fear and greed to lead them into battle. What is the ultimate message about greed in both novels? What is the message about humankind and war? What is the author trying to say about corruption and power? Are the events of these novels a realistic reflection of human nature? > (Let's do this together and print it out 3 times)
 * Objectives:**
 * Finish section 2 by next Monday
 * Finish the People of Sparks activities by Mondays (Below)

**Greed Timeline** || **Powered by TeAch-nology.com- The Web Portal For Educators! (www.teach-nology.com) ** ||
 * || || The Emberties want more food ||   || The Emberites start vandalizing Sparks for food  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Section 1** ||   || **Section 2**  ||   || **Section 3**  ||   || ||
 * [[image:http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timeline/line.gif width="640" height="30"]] ||
 * ||  || **Section 1**  ||   || **Section 2**  ||   || **Section 3**  ||
 * || Villagers don't want to share their food ||   ||   ||   ||   || || ||

(These are the files I need to print at home, please don't touch!) Graham
 * Section 1 Analysis of People of Sparks Passage (pg. 344) **

Ben led them to the stairs, and they climbed to the floors above. // Long, dim corridors lined with doors // //__ stretched the length of the building __//. //Some// of the doors were // open //. Doon looked through them as he passed. All the rooms were more or less the same: //windows across one wall, a stained and faded carpet, a couple of broken lamps lying on the floor //. __A few of the rooms had beds__, and several had other furniture – // chests with their drawers __hanging crookedly__ out, end tables, a chair or two//. He stepped into some of the rooms and found that they had bathrooms as well, //with rust-stained sinks and bathtubs that were home to spiders .//

1. The action of the passage is Doon looking into the different rooms as he is led through the corridor. The subject of this passage is Doon, since he is the one acting.

2. __Diction-__ Stretched the length of the building, hanging crookedly, a few of the rooms had beds Imagery - Long, dim, lined with doors, across one wall, stretched the length of the building, open, stained, faded, broken lamps, lying on the floor, chests with their drawers hanging crookedly out, rust-stained, home to spiders. //Detail-// Long, dim, lined with doors, stretched the length of the building (Corridor) Some, open (Doors) Across one wall, a stained and faded carpet, a couple of broken lamps lying on the floor (Rooms) Chests with their drawers hanging crookedly out, end tables, a chair or two (Rooms’ other furniture) Rust stained, home to spiders (Sinks and bathtubs in the bathroom)
 * Comparison- None**

3. The imagery, comparisons, diction, and detail reveals that the author intended this place (the Pioneer Hotel) to appear as a very weary, old, and trashed place. The different writing techniques Jeanne DuPrau used leads us to believe that her attitude towards this subject was that this hotel was very plain, trashed, dark, and outdated in comparison to what we have today.

4. Jeanne DuPrau uses language to create a tone of dissatisfaction in this passage from The People of Sparks. Throughout the paragraph, different words are used that causes us to feel devastation and dissatisfaction. We feel this due to the drastic comparison of our homes today compared to the Pioneer Hotel, the setting in this passage. One of the main reasons the tone is of dissatisfaction is due to Jeanne DuPrau’s language. The author used the phrase, “a few of the rooms had beds,” to create this tone. Only a few of the rooms had beds; something very strange in comparison to the majority of rooms today. Because of this stretch, it is considered diction. Because of this lack of having a bed expressed by Jeanne’s diction, we feel that the room is dissatisfying. Another example of language that creates the tone of dissatisfaction is the phrase, “hanging crookedly out,” which describes the drawers in a room. This is considered diction because of the stretch that the drawers were “hanging out”, rather than just sticking out. This phrase adds to the tone of dissatisfaction because the drawers we possess today are typically shut and neat, unlike those described in this passage. The words “few” and “hanging” in these two phrases very much express this tone. Without these strong words, the phrases wouldn’t contribute to the tone of dissatisfaction as much. Although diction contributes to the tone a lot, it is not the only thing that does. Imagery is also heavily used in this passage to create the tone. Because this passage is entirely about several rooms, imagery is a necessity. Jeanne DuPrau uses words such as “stained,” “faded,” and “rust-stained,” to create the image of the rooms and bathrooms in the Pioneer Hotel. This adds to the tone of dissatisfaction because these adjectives used are associated with rejection; nobody wants their rooms to be like that. Because of this, the imagery contributes to the tone. As you’ve noticed, all of these literary elements contribute to the tone because of the comparison and opinions we make. Although the literary element of comparison isn’t literally used in this passage, we do make a comparison ourselves. We opinionate the Pioneer Hotel as dissatisfying by comparing it to what we’re adjusted to today. Because of this comparison we make, a tone of dissatisfaction is created. The Pioneer Hotel is outdated, old, and unwanted. This opinion is only created due to our inner-comparison; which leads to what we feel while reading this passage. I believe this passage tells the reader to be satisfied with what they have. Although we may complain, we should be thankful for what we have. Some people are stuck with the feared bare minimum. Dissatisfaction is created in this passage which causes the reader to be thankful for what they have. In other words, the tone of dissatisfaction causes me to feel thankful for the well kept house I live in, rather than the old, rusted, and withered hotel Doon lived in as described by the passage.


 * Section I Vocabulary **

… tables piled with stuff in bottles and stuff in boxes and stuff in jars, all higgledy-piggledy. (Adj.) - Jumbled, confused, or disordered.
 * Higgledy-Piggledy**

At one end was a long wooden table; at the other, a couple of benches stood before a niche in the smoke-stained wall. (noun) - An ornamental recess in a wall or the like, usually semicircular in plan and arched, as for a statue or other decorative object.
 * Niche**

At the edges of the plaza, someone was raising a flame-tipped stick and lighting lanterns that hung from the eaves. . . (noun) – The overhanging edges of a roof.
 * Eaves**

Dr. Hester seemed a bit flummoxed by these questions, but she did her best to explain. . . (Verb) – To bewilder, confound, confuse.
 * Flummoxed**

. . . huddled beneath a great brooding plant the shape of a huge mushroom. "Is that a pinetree?” … (Adjective) - Cast in subdued light so as to convey a somewhat threatening atmosphere.
 * Brooding**

The girl with the ratty hair stepped forward and raised a hand, as if she were in school.… (Adjective) – Wretched; shabby.
 * Ratty **

Jeanne DuPrau Jeanne DuPrau was born in 1944 in San Francisco, California. She spent her early childhood reading constantly. She read to her brother, her parents, and she even wrote a book herself at age five titled //Frosty the Snowman//. Later on in her life, Jeanne DuPrau began studying English literature. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Scipps College located in Claremont, California. Jeanne has been an English teacher, an editor for publishing companies, a technical writer for Apple Inc., and a freelance writer. Today she spends her time on her computer thinking up of sentences to give her courage to write. She feels this is necessary in order to write a good novel. Today she has wrote the //City of Ember// series which have become a hit. Not only is Jeanne described as a writer; but a gardener, dog lover, ice skater, bird watcher, meditator, a house builder, gardener, piano player, and a vegetarian cook. She has no children, however, she has two nieces and nephews. Surprisingly, Jeanne DuPrau never thought of herself becoming a writer early on. She thought more of herself as an illustrator, due to her love of drawing out books she had read. Today Jeanne DuPrau still resides in San Francisco, California at age 76.

The idea for the City of Ember series was a recollection of Jeanne’s curiosity and fears during the 1950s when she grew up. Everybody thought that there would be a nuclear war. Many people built shelters in their back yard and were taught evacuation procedures, such as Jeanne DuPrau. Out of curiosity of what it would be like living in a world poisoned by radiation; Jeanne wrote her series the City of Ember where the protagonist evacuates the sheltered underground city to the outside world which was once crawling with people. Jeanne’s main motive for writing this book was to make people think about the world. She wanted us to think about how precious the Earth really is and why we need to preserve it. This book shows a horrifying fictional peak at what just may become of us if we don’t preserve our Earth and if we allow it to be poisoned by radiation.

Bibliography

__Jeanne DuPrau,__ 2010, [] User 86.140.179.206, __Jeanne DuPrau,__, October 29th 2009, __[]__
 * AUTHOR SEARCH **

Patty Campbell, __Amazon Review on The People of Sparks,__ [] Waleed Ovase, __Plot Summary of The People of Sparks, []__
 * REVIEWS **

Personally, I admire the mix of maturity, comedy, respect, and care in my best friends. A mature friend won’t get you in trouble or disrespect you, a caring friend will help you and won’t hurt you, and a respectful friend will not bring you down for your differences. Although these traits are very important, one important trait is missing. The comedic trait. I’ve found that you can create comedy out of life’s most difficult situations to brighten them up. Personally, I look to a friend for fun, and I believe that comedy is fun. After all, friends are people you can trust and have fun with. Due to my love of comedy, I admire somebody who can tell and take a good joke. In The People of Sparks, in contrast, Lina and Doon admire Tick for his leader-like traits. They admire him because he seems respectful, powerful, persuasive, and popular. I don’t always look for friends with all these traits. Being respectful is important, but a good friend isn’t always powerful, persuasive, or popular.
 * What I Admire About My Best Friends **