Can you do this kind of assignment
Just Once Short Story by Thomas J. Dygard Before Reading 1. Write a paragraph about what you do or would like to do in order to be publicly recognized in your community. During Reading 2. Predict what will happen in the story, noting the clues that you used to generate your predictions. After Reading 3. Chart the Play - Working in a small group, reread the play-by-play description of Moose’s touchdown manoeuvres. Chart the action using circles, arrows, and X’s to show the movements. When you have finished, discuss whether the reader needs to know about football in order to fully appreciate the humour and outcome of this story. (TIP * Search for a sentence in the story that could serve as a thesis statement about team sports.) 4. Consider Narrative Voice – The narrator of this story has a definite personality that comes through strongly in the opening pages. Reread the first dozen paragraphs carefully. With a partner, discuss the tone of the narration. What is the speaker’s attitude…. a) to the Moose? b) To the situation? c) To football in general? Compare your reactions to those of other students. 5. Interpret Theme – This selection is as much about team sports as it is about a particular incident in one young player’s life. Write a paragraph explaining the message of this story, and how this message can be applied to life in general. Be sure to use specific details and examples in developing your paragraph. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Consider What’s in a Name Thomas Dygard introduces his hero with the words, “To his father and mother he was Bryan – as in Bryan Jefferson Crawford – but to everyone at Bedford City High he was the Moose.” Are you, your siblings, or friends known differently to people at home and at school? Write a response commenting on how the use of different names (and nicknames) reflects different aspects of an individual’s personality. Extending 7. Compose a News Story Write a report of the Moose’s feat that could have appeared in either Bedford City’s local newspaper or the Bedford City High newsletter. Exchange drafts with a partner for proofreading and feedback before you write your final version. TIPS : Follow these guidelines for writing a news story: * Give the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the game in the first paragraphs. * Write in short, one-or two-sentence paragraphs. * Use direct quotations from witnesses and participants. PEER ASSESSMENT What is your overall impression of the article? How well does it follow the guidelines for news-story writing? What are its strongest points (e.g., good description, concise writing)? Do you have any suggestions for the final version? 8. Read a Book Find and read a sports novel written by Thomas Dygard or another author of your choice. Prepare an oral book report, pointing out similarities and differences you may have noted between the novel and this short story. Would you recommend that others read the novel you selected? _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fox Hunt Short Story by Lensey Namioka Before Reading Ask yourself if you believe in anything that you cannot explain scientifically. During Reading Keep the title of the story in mind, and note any details that relate to it. After Reading 1. Relate Details to Title – As a class, discuss how details relating to the title are woven through the story. How do they hold the key to the story? 2. Look at Foreshadowing Working with a partner, find several examples of foreshadowing (clues to what will come later). For each one, identify the question(s) it raises, and explain how it connects with later events in the story. Present your ideas in a chart. Ex. of foreshadowing But this time it was different. A girl got off the bus…He wondered why he hadn’t seen her before. Explanation Question: What is the significance of the girl’s sudden arrival? Connection: It ties in with the story his mother tells and his own future. Ex. of foreshadowing Explanation But this time it was different. A girl got off the bus…He wondered why he hadn’t seen her before. Question: What is the significance of the girl’s sudden arrival? Connection: It ties in with the story his mother tells and his own future. 3. Identify Parallels With a partner, look at the parallels between the story-within- a-story and the main story, considering the situation, the characters, and what happens to them. If the parallel continues, what will happen to Andy? 4. Examine Character In a written response, examine Andy’s values, noting what has influenced these values, and what decisions and choices they lead him to make. Extending 5. Write a Myth or Fairy Tale Write a myth or fairy tale linking an event in or aspect of your own life with an imagined ancestral past. Remember that such stories have a sense of long ago, and they deal with improbable or fantastic events. SELF – ASSESSMENT What techniques did you use to give the story a mythical, long-ago feel? Did you succeed? Evaluate the experience of imagining an unknown “ancestral past.” Was it challenging? Interesting? 6. Design a Visual Design a visual to accompany the story you wrote in Activity 5. Try to capture the key images and themes of your story as well as its mythical or fairy-tale quality. Share your visual with the class or a small group, explaining how it relates to your story. TIP * You can create an original drawing or use existing images (e.g., from old magazines, computer illustration programs, or Internet sources)- or use a combination or original and found images. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ ln lines 1-15, underline the words that tell about the Moose's special talents in football" Circle the position he plays. Pause at line 21. Based on what you've read so far, what inferences, guesses based on clues in the text, can you make about the Moose's character? devastating (dev'e'stãt'in) u used as ad.¡,: causing great damage. nurturing (nur'úrar'i¡) v,: promoting the growth of; n u rsing. 10 20 Thomas J. Dygard Everybody liked the Moose. To his father and mother he was Bryan-as in Bryan fefferson Crawford-but to everyone at Bedford City High he was the Moose. He was large and strong, as you rnight imagine from his nickname, and he was pretty fast on his feet-sort of nimble, you might say-considering his size. He didn't have a pretty face but he had a quick and easy 5¡¡ils-"s\^¡set," some of the teachers called it; "nice," others said. But on the football field, the Moose was neither sweet nor nice. He was just strong and fast and a little bit devastating as the left tackle of the Bedford City Bears. \A/hen the Moose blocked somebod¡ he stayed blocked. lVhen the Moose was called on to open a hole in the line for one of the Bears' runners, the hole more often than not resembled an open garuge door. Now in his senior season, the Moose had twice been named to the all-conference team and was considered a cinch for all-state. He spent a lot of his spare time, when . he wasn't in a classroom or on the football field, reading letters from colleges eager to have the Moose pursue higher education-and footb all-at their institution. But the Moose had a hang-up. He didn't go public with his hang-up until the sixth game of the season. But, looking back, most of his team- mates agreed that probably the Moose had been nurturing the hang-up secretly for two years or more. ! o I o o L s .c0 L i o c , ! d L d oc ;z g oI x¡ o E .9p Lxè o U "Just Once" by Thomas Dygard from Ult¡mate Sporls, ed¡ted by Donald R Gallo. Copyr¡ght O 1995 by Thomas Dygard Reproduced by permission of Random House Ch¡ldren's Books, a division of Random House, lnc. 6 Collection I / Plot: Moments of Truth c .9ô o orù @ Noles Pause at line 33. What does the Moose want to do? m Underline, and then number, three reasons linemen usually don't carry the ball (lines 34-44). ! o ! o o L s .99 ¿ o tr ; ! d L ds o C ¿. õ I x -ô o E .so LxÀ o U 30 40 The Moose wanted to carry the ball. For sure, the Moose was not the first interior lineman in the history of football, or even the history of Bedford City High, who banged heads up front and wore bruises like badges of honor-and dreamed of racing down the field with the ball to the end zoner while everybody in the bleachers screamed his name. But most linemen, it seems, are able to stifle the urge. The idea may pop into their minds from time to time, but in their hearts they know they can't run fast enough, they know they can't do that fancy dancing to elude tacklers, they know