Fiction+Novel

=__**Fiction Novels**__=

**Title**: The Stranger

 * Author**: Albert Camus
 * Genre**: Existentialist literature/Fiction


 * Description:** //The Stranger// is not merely one of the most widely read novels of the 20th century, but one of the books likely to outlive it. Written in 1946, Camus's compelling and troubling tale of a disaffected, apparently amoral young man has earned a durable popularity (and remains a staple of U.S. high school literature courses) in part because it reveals so vividly the anxieties of its time. Alienation, the fear of anonymity, spiritual doubt--all could have been given a purely modern inflection in the hands of a lesser talent than Camus, who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 and was noted for his existentialist aesthetic. The remarkable trick of //The Stranger//, however, is that it's not mired in period philosophy.

**Theme:** Themes include ab surdism, free will, importance of the physical world, the meaninglessness of human life


 * Rationale and connections:** This novel will resonate with the students emotionally, reflecting their own questions, doubts, and anxieties about the meaning of life and their unique place in society. It will also challenge their preconceived notions about morality, isolation, and individual responsibility. By understanding and deconstructing the novel, the students will be able to look at the world through existential lens and, hence, brush intellectually (and, hopefully, emotionally) against “the tender indifference of the world” – thus, discovering and mastering a major philosophical concept of the 20th century. This novel should find its way into history classrooms dealing with the post World War II era and the mindset that pervades a world fresh off of monumental loss.


 * Lexile Level:** 880L. The novel is 122 pages long. The text itself is clear and simple, however, the novel contains dense and complex concepts only appropriate for older readers.

Movie footage from //The Stranger// (directed by Luchino Visconti) http://youtu.be/KfssRWwEh6o //The Stranger// (complete novel) http://www.macobo.com/essays/epdf/CAMUS,%20Albert%20-%20The%20Stranger.pdf Albert Camus's Philosophy http://historyofmodernphilosophy.blogspot.com/2008/07/albert-camus-1913-1960-and-absurdism.html
 * Resources:**

Description:
Achebe sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. His Ibo protagonist, Okonkwo, is a self-made man. The son of a charming ne'er-do-well, he has worked all his life to overcome his father's weakness and has arrived, finally, at great prosperity and even greater reputation among his fellows in the village of Umuofia. Okonkwo is a champion wrestler, a prosperous farmer, husband to three wives and father to several children. He is also a man who exhibits flaws well-known in Greek tragedy, and yet Achebe manages to make this cruel man deeply sympathetic. He is fond of his eldest daughter, and also of Ikemefuna, a young boy sent from another village as compensation for the wrongful death of a young woman from Umuofia. He even begins to feel pride in his eldest son, in whom he has too often seen his own father. Unfortunately, a series of tragic events tests the mettle of this strong man, and it is his fear of weakness that ultimately undoes him. Achebe does not introduce the theme of colonialism until the last 50 pages or so. By then, Okonkwo has lost everything and been driven into exile. And yet, within the traditions of his culture, he still has hope of redemption. The arrival of missionaries in Umuofia, however, followed by representatives of the colonial government, completely disrupts Ibo culture, and in the chasm between old ways and new, Okonkwo is lost forever. Deceptively simple in its prose, //Things Fall Apart// packs a powerful punch as Achebe holds up the ruin of one proud man to stand for the destruction of an entire culture. (amazon.com)

Themes:
Modernity vs Tradition, Masculinity, Religion

Rationale and connections:
Students examine the hubris of the main character, Okonkwo, that leads to his tragic downfall as he struggles with the changes in his status, community and faith. Students will be exposed to the affects of colonialism and the traditions of the Igbo culture. This text could work well with a history lesson taught on industrialization as it deals with the effects that change has on a culture. The text could also accompany a geography unit

Text Complexity:
This novel is considered a complex text due to the relatively difficult language features and subtle meanings. Achebe uses proverbs, elevated vocabulary, figurative language and Igbo language throughout the novel. While the sequence of events are chronological and narratives are in a simple layout, the story contains multiple layers of meaning and purpose.

Lexile:
890

Media Resources:
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html (TED talk about the danger of knowing only one side of a story, reflects colonization) (Map of Igbo location) [|hg_d_igbo_d1map.jpg] (Igbo timeline, events, artwork) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11®ion=afg#/Key-Events

Genre: Philosophical Novel, Quest
(http://ecopunks.blogspot.com/2011/03/siddhartha-by-hermann-hesse.html)

Description:
This centers on the spiritual quest of Siddhartha. Dissatisfied with the ritualistic religious upbringing of his youth, Siddhartha leaves his home with his companion Govinda to join a group of ascetics who have renounced the pleasures of the world in favor of religious meditation. Eventually he becomes disillusioned with the decadence of this life, and again wanders in search of spiritual wholeness. His quest for enlightenment is finally achieved when he meets a simple ferryman and comes to understand the true nature of the world and himself. (portlandstate.worldcat.org)

Theme:
Search for Spiritual Enlightenment, Internal vs External Forces

Rationale and connections:
Students are able to examine the value of experience through participating, learning and gaining knowledge to reach true enlightenment and an understanding of reality. Additionally, they will benefit from recognizing themselves reflected in Siddhartha’s journey. This novel would work well in a religion course as it introduces eastern religion in an easy to grasp manner. It could also be presented in a parenting class as some of the issues faced would help new parents understand many of the decisions they will have to make along with their children.

**Text Complexity:** //Siddartha// is complex in its long, uninterrupted passages, figurative language and lyrical style. However, the novel contains more mature themes of spirituality and faith that create a very complex text with multiple levels of meaning as well as a demanding, extensive cultural knowledge of the reader. 160 pages.

Lexile:
1010

Media Resources:
(Interview with Hermann Hesse) __[]__ (Film interpretation of Siddhartha, must press CC for Eng subtitles) []

[] - News on Buddhist art, architecture, archaeology, music, dance, and academia. Lists of different articles on Buddism.
 * Buddist Art News **

Description:
William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition. -Amazon.com

=
Students in high school are learning to separate from their parents and deciding what is important to them and how they might act on their own. This is a coming of age story with the parental figures taken entirely out of the picture. It highlights the complexities of human nature and shows animalistic tendencies not always present in novels. This novel could introduced as a companion text for a biology course that deals with evolution. It could also be introduced in a social studies course during a war unit. =====

Text Complexity: 196 pages, simple reading, complicated themes of death and destruction
Layout: Complex (long descriptive passages) Purpose and Meaning: Complex Structure: Somewhat Complex (linear plot but starts in the middle of action) Language Features: Somewhat complex (some British words but youthful dialect) Knowledge Demands Fiction: Complex

Media Resources:
NPR Alan Cheuse review - [] A 90 minute Film of //The Lord of Flies.// //Directed by Harry Hook.// Stars: [|Balthazar Getty], [|Chris Furrh]. A 24 hour rental through Amazon.com for $2.99 []

Description:
As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground. Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of //Pride and Prejudice// would be hard-pressed to disagree.

Rationale and connections:
This book is likely to appear on tests, it covers high society Britain in the early 19th Century, and broaches on subjects or marriage, family and feminism. This is a novel that can accompany social studies during a lesson on class and the battles between class as well as the battle for equal treatment and expectations of men and women. It can also be taught with a world history unit to help provide a picture of Britain.


 * Themes:** High Society, Great Britain, Early 19th C, Marriage, Family, Feminism, Duty

Text Difficulty: 262 pages, proper British dialogue, difficult terms, inferred situations
Layout: Very Complex Purpose and Meaning: Complex Structure: Somewhat Complex Language Features: Complex (Brtitish dialect and descriptive passages) Knowledge Demands Fiction: Complex (must imagine and understand a different time period)

Media Resources:
2005 Movie Trailer - []

1995 Lake Scene - []

[|http://www.jasna.org] - This website provides the viewer with a list of all her works and films related to each novel, as well as a biography of Austen with pictures and a chronolical listing of her books. Several pages contain a further or recommended reading list.
 * Jane Austen Society of North America **

**Description:**
//A Farewell to Arms// is a novel about an American soldier working as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army during World War One. The story is told from the point of view of the soldier—Frederic Henry—and concerns both his experiences during combat and his love affair with a British nurse.

**Themes/Topics:**
Themes and topics include war and its consequences, the violent, senseless, and chaotic nature of armed combat, disillusionment, love and pain, existentialism, masculinity, and other Modernist themes.

**Rationale and connections:**
Written by one of the 20th century's most influential authors, //A Farewell to Arms// is considered one of the West's greatest and most important war novels. The themes are complex and expansive but the language is accessible to tenth grade readers. This book deals with some of humanity’s most important issues including war, love, death, tragedy, authority, violence, loyalty, and patriotism, among others. In addition to being rich in thematic material, the novel is filled with examples of literary mechanisms such as symbolism, motif, and foreshadowing. A novel that could provide incredible insight if allowed as a companion text to a social studies or history lesson dealing with war or more specifically WWI.

The novel is 330 pages long. The lexile level is 730, which places it in the lexile band for grades 4-5. However the concepts and themes are complex and only appropriate for older readers.
 * Text Complexity:**

**Additional Resources:**
[] -A film version of //A Farewell to Arms.// [] -The Hemingway Resource Center: A site that includes an in depth biography of Ernest Hemingway. [] -This site includes rare photos, frequently asked questions (& answers) about the author &his works, and a quote finder.

**Genre:** Coming of Age Story, Magical Realism, Chicano Literature


The story of a young man trying to decide what he wants for himself in the future without disappointing the people that are most important to him. Set in New Mexico on the border between a small village and the huge llano (plains), Bless Me, Ultima is Rudolfo Anaya's much acclaimed and award-winning coming-of-age novel from the Hispanic perspective. Antonio is torn between his father's cowboy side of the family who ride on the llano and his mother's village and farming relations. Many conflicts are presented here: Hispanic vs. American culture, Catholicism vs. paganism, parents' expectations vs. the child's desires, Spanish blood vs. native blood. Antonio's life is forever altered when his aunt Ultima, a curandera (healer) comes to live with the family; she teaches Antonio many things, most importantly how to gather the self-knowledge that will help carry him into adulthood. --//Amazon// Students in high school are learning to separate from their parents and deciding what is important to them and how they might act on their own. This is a coming of age story that highlights the search for identity through rites of passage that affect the hero profoundly. The book is a blend of myth and reality, the spiritual and the worldly. This novel could serve as a wonderful companion to a social studies unit on diversity in America, or a unit on rural American society. It would also be valuable in a geography lesson. 
 * Description:**
 * Themes:**
 * Compassion and Honesty
 * Families and Social Structures
 * Tradition, Myth and Symbolism
 * Spiritual Journeys
 * Mexican Folklore
 * Rural Chicano life in the Southwestern US
 * Rationale and connections:**
 * Text Complexity:**
 * 90 pages
 * Elegantly simple language
 * Follows a linear story development with a plot line that is clearly defined
 * Complex issues and challenging narrative style
 * Many levels of meaning
 * Resources:**

[|COLORES | From Curandera To Chupacabra: The Stories Of Rudolfo Anaya] [|NEA Big Read: Meet Rudolpho Anaya] [|National Endowment for the Arts: Bless Me, Ultima]

=**Title:** //The Picture of Dorian Gray//= =**Author:** Oscar Wilde= =**Genre:** Fiction (Philosophical)=



The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian (whimsically) expresses a desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. - Wikipedia While the text may be complex for some students, the content and themes of the story will interest young readers. The exploration of youth and beauty, and the corruptibility of the two if left unchecked, as well as the supernatural element of the story will sustain student interest. The moral of the story, as well as the aesthetics of the novel make it a valuable read. This novel could be introduced as a companion read in an art history course as well as a religion course.
 * Description:**
 * Rationale and connections:**

[] [] Several film adaptations: -The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Directed by Albert Lewin -The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973) Directed by Glenn Jordan -Dorian Gray (2009) Directed by Oliver Parker
 * Themes: Aestheticism (Superficiality), Hedonism, Influence, Karma**
 * Text Complexity: 241 pages, complex language, mature themes**
 * Lexile: 970L**
 * Additional Resources:**

** Dorian Gray Movie Trailer **
[] Film with Colin Firth and Rachel Hurd-Wood and directed by Oliver Parker (2009)

= Title: //Book Thief// =

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Photo courtesy of:Amazon

= Description =

IT IS 1939. NAZI GERMANY. THE COUNTRY IS HOLDING ITS BREATH. DEATH HAS NEVER BEEN BUSIER. AND WILL BECOME BUSIER STILL. Liesel Meminger and her younger brother are being taken by their mother to live with a foster family outside Munich. Liesel's father was taken away on the breath of a single, unfamiliar word--Kommunist--and Liesel sees the fear of a similar fate in her mother's eyes. On the journey, Death visits the young boy, and notices Liesel. It will be the first of many near encounters. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is "The Gravedigger's Handbook," left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. The Book Thief is a story about the power of words to make worlds. - Amazon.com ** Themes: coming of age, death, war,WWll, Holocaust **

This novel is 576 pages long and deals with questions about the value of life and love.
 * Text complexity: **

This book could easily be used as a companion piece for a Social Studies unit covering WWll. Or, it is an excellent choice for rich figurative language and author’s craft.
 * Rationale and connections: **

Lexile Score: 730L
= Additional Resources: =

Markus Zusak’s author page, hosted by RandomHouse
[]

Holocaust Memorial Museum, Nazi propaganda materials
[|http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/exhibit.html#/themes/]

Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1936 Olympics/Jesse Owens
[]

YouTube video; 2006 Teen Book Video Award Winner (avoid the movie trailers!)
[]

=Title: //Atonement // =

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance
Photo courtesy of: LibraryThing =Description: = We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama "The Trials of Arabella" to welcome home her older, idolized brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting prospects of preoccupation come onto the scene. The charlady's son, Robbie Turner, appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Ammo" chocolate bar; and upstairs, Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present....

The interwar, upper-middle-class setting of the book's long, masterfully sustained opening section might recall Virginia Woolf or Henry Green, but as we move forward--eventually to the turn of the 21st century--the novel's central concerns emerge, and McEwan's voice becomes clear, even personal. For at heart, //Atonement// is about the pleasures, pains, and dangers of writing, and perhaps even more, about the challenge of controlling what readers make of your writing. –Amazon.com **Themes: the power of the written word, love, guilt, conscience **

The author’s device of blurring the lines between the story and the story within the story increase the complexity of this text but the perspective of the child that frames the conflict at the outset will be familiar to the high-school reader. As a British period piece the language is more formal than much of contemporary American writing, however the overall diction and storyline are accessible. It will help the readers if the teacher builds up their background knowledge of the cultural classes and what was happening in England during WWll.
 * Text complexity: **

Connections to a Social Studies unit on WWll; a study on the development of the writer and the writers voice; Author’s craft. Contemporary tragedy.
 * Rationale and connections: **

Lexile Score: Not available
Ian McEwan’s website – critical analysis and interpretation of McEwan’s writing.  []
 * <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Additional Resources: **

Hollywood movie trailer []

// Literapdia // wiki posting: http://literapedia.wikispaces.com/Atonement