The Truth of the Story

Students select challenging texts and begin reading a variety of literary works (approved by the teacher) during Unit 1 in preparation for the Final Culminating Unit. These texts may include any combination of novels, drama, short stories, or essays. The choice of reading and the topics to be developed must connect to the theme of the truth of the story. The Independent Study Unit (ISU) provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate understanding of the interplay of social, cultural, and economic values and perspectives on the themes and interpretations of texts. Students read selected essays, reviews, and criticism in order to present a report on the success of the novel, drama, short stories or essays.

The final culminating unit has four components: a written essay, (literary or argumentative), an oral presentation, an editor's note and a media work.

The written argumentative essay will be based on the following question:  "Is There Truth to This Story?", with the evaluation focused on the following strands:  Reading and Literature Studies and Writing.

The argument should incorporate information gathered through research that either challenges or supports how realistic or accurate the novel is as it relates to various elements of the story:  themes, symbols, setting, plot, or characters. 

The essay should be between 800 and 100 words, and include 6 distinct sources (i.e. try to find six different kinds of sources, such as webpages, magazines, newspapers, and books).

The rubric for the essay can be found here. 

The oral presentation will be a brief summary of your findings, presenting in a 2 to 3 minute presentation your position on the essay question, with the evaluation focused on the following strand:  Oral Communication.

The rubric for the oral presentation can be found here.

The editor's note is a one page letter that you, pretending to be an editor, would write to the author of the book making suggestions on how the novel could be changed to make it either more or less fictional, depending on what position you took in the essay.  For example, if you argued that the book was very unrealistic, you would make suggestions on how to make it seem more realistic.  If you took the position that the novel was very realistic, you would make suggestions on how to make the novel seem more fictional.  The evaluation will focus on the following strand:  Writing.

The rubric for the editor's note can be found here. 

The media work can be a book trailer, a promotional poster, book cover, audio advertisement, diarama or other form of media text that represents a theme, character, or segment of the novel.  The evaluation will focus on the following strand:  Media Studies.

The rubric for the media work can be found here.

This assignment is due no later than June 18. (revised date to be posted)

ENG4U1