Freshman Lit: Thursday Nov. 25 > Sniper and Theme

Please answer all of the questions below, on a separate piece of paper (your choice, Word or hand-written). Use your books or the Internet to help find/support your answers. I recommend typing ...

Making connections

1. What themes connect Disguises with Sniper? Use full sentences and be thorough.

2. What is the difference between theme and subject?

3. Many themes are universal: We can all relate to them - even people from different places and time periods. Hunt down a different book, movie, TV show or song that has the following themes present, and cite your source.

Find these themes in a work:

> unbreakable friendship

> pain of war

> the blurred line between friends and enemies (no, don't use Disguises or Sniper)


Word Stories

4. Words don't just fall out of the sky - they come from somewhere. Often that "somewhere" is a very interesting place with a cool story behind it.

Uncover the back story to these words - some from our text, and some from our present-day popular culture:

> silhouette

> sandwich

> maverick

> chauvinism

5. Now uncover the history behind these more modern terms:

> google (not the website, the verb).

> bling

> xerox (as in to copy something)

> kleenex

6. Writing Workshop

Answer one of the following questions (just one, your choice) thoughtfully, using developed sentences/paragraphs. I'd like your answers to be one page long, double-spaced.

> re-write the story from the brother's point of view

> pretend you are the central character: write a letter to your parents informing them of your brother's death

> eliminate the final line of the story and write your own ending

> write a dramatic monologue of the sniper, who suddenly realizes what he has done

(All work including one-page essay due at end of class)