Literary Report Card
A literary report card is a post reading activity that allows the reader to analyze character traits in an entertaining way. Through this activity students are allowed to issue grades to characters in a reading selection and then provide a rationale for those grades. Traditionally report cards grade academic areas, but this type of report card will ask that the student grade the character on personality traits. The teacher may come up with the subject areas to be graded, but at the upper levels I would suggest having the students make up their own subjects for which their character of choice will be graded. According to Yop and Yop this requires higher order thinking. This activity doesn't translate super well to the blog, but maybe some of you know a little bit more about the technology and you can design a better looking report card.
There are some pretty interesting characters in Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, and I think it is important that the reader reflect on the fact that each of the main characters, Ursula and Matt have alter egos. So here's my assignment for you...I'd like you to create a report card (any format you choose) and grade either Big Mouth or Ugly Girl on three character traits of your choosing. Use at least one example from the text to support your grade and rationale.
Here is my example. Yours doesn't need to look exactly like this:
Rocky River High School
Student: Ugly Girl
Area Grade Comment
Sportsmanship: D “My own team was sabatoging me!” (13). Ugly Girl knows she is a very gifted athlete, and because of this she thinks she is better than the rest of the girls on the team. She is a ball hog that believes her teammates are not behind when really this is just an error in her thinking. She has become so convinced that she is “ugly” and that people don’t like her that she is paranoid.
Courage: A “Ugly girl was no coward, and didn’t give a damn about the future. Ugly Girl, warrior-woman” (12). Although she sees herself as “ugly,” Ugly Girl seems to have a lot of courage. She is willing to stand up to teachers and stand tall and proud even though “Ursula” is self conscious about her height and appearance. Ugly Girl is almost like a super hero.
Morality: A “Ugly Girl was explaining to Mr. Parish that she’d been passing Matt Donaghey’s table at lunch that previous day and she’d heard every word he said, and his friends’ responses and it was obvious – he was joking” (69). Even though Ursula doesn’t know Matt Donaghey and doesn’t like being involved in others’ business she chose to go to Mr. Parish and tell the truth about what she had heard. She knew it was the right thing to do.
Have fun and let me know if you have questions!!
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Student: Ugly Girl
ReplyDeleteCharacter Trait Grades:
Confidence: A+ "Ugly Girl was facing Mr. Parrish...With her spine ramrod straight...Unflinchingly she fixed her steely blue eyes on the man's drawn face" (69). Ugly Girl is clearly not intimidated by authority as she sits and speaks with the principal about what she heard Matt say. She often asserts this dominance over teachers and other students. It's not necessarily a great trait to have in all instances, at least with how she uses it, but she definitely deserves an "A+" for being strong in her convictions.
Stubborn: A "I didn't cry. I would not cry. I would not give in, either" (193). After Ugly Girl tells Matt what she really thinks about the lawsuit and upsets him, she becomes stubborn in apologizing. She believes that he asked for it because he wanted the truth, so he shouldn't be mad once she told him how she really felt. Again, being stubborn is not a great quality, but she definitely has this quality in spades.
Patience: C- There isn't really a specific quote that I picked out, but whenever Ugly Girl is approached by her mother over being friends with Matt she becomes very impatient. She's often very rude to her mother because of the relationship she has with her versus her sister. I would say that even though Ugly Girl denies it, she is slightly jealous that her mother prefers Lisa over her. I think this leads to her impatience with her mother.
Student: Big Mouth
ReplyDeleteAcademics: A - Mig Mouth has an excitement and drive for academics. He says he enjoys Engilsh the most and puts a lot of effort into his work. Page 1 shows this by his conversation about Edgar Allen Poe's play. He is also very good at writing since he is getting one of his columns published in the New York Times.
Big Mouth / Sarcasm: F - Had Big Mouth not said anything about a massacre or bombing the school in a sarcastic tone of voice he would not have found himself in the predicament he was in. If he wasn't sarcastic with the police he may have been taken more serious as well.
Brave: A - Big Mouth was very brave in coming back to school and dealing with the rumors and loss of friends that followed the bomb threat and being suspended. An example of this is sitting by himself at lunch and then to sit at lunch with Ugly Girl when he knew it would create more rumors.
Character Trait Report Card
ReplyDeleteStudent: Ugly Girl
Confidence: A-. Ugly Girl has confidence in herself when she is playing basketball, but not much else in her personal life. However, when she is faced with defending others, she seems absolutely sure of herself each time. A good example is when she stands up for Matt to Mr. Parrish, and doesn’t waver in her thoughts about Matt’s innocence. But my favorite example of this is when she goes to Trevor Cassity’s house demanding he give back Matt’s dog, Pumpkin. She holds her ground even when Trevor doesn’t confess, and the more she talks the more confident she becomes (while Trevor waivers in his demeanor). “‘Trevor, everybody knows it was you. Your Land Rover was identified. There’s a witness. We told the police we’d talk to you first. We don’t want anything to happen to Pumpkin, see? So tell us where she is,’” Ursula says to him calmly but firmly. While not all of what she says is necessarily true, she is so confident that Trevor believes her, and later returns the dog.
Courage: A. It takes courage for Ursula to stand up for Matt, even though she merely sees it as the right thing to do. She calls her friend Eveann’s mom to convince her that her daughter must speak up for Matt, which could backfire. She stands up to the Brewer sisters, who call her Jew-Girl. She sticks to her ground when she quits the basketball team until they ask her back because of how poorly she was treated. Ursula is a very strong young woman, so it’s fitting that she calls herself a warrior.
ReplyDeleteThoughtfulness: B+. Ursula goes back and forth between being thoughtful and not even thinking of others. She leaves her mother and sister during the modern dance concert, but jokes around with them and humors her mother at the same time. She stands up for Matt but initially won’t respond to his e-mails or phone calls. But toward the end, she earns her B+ because she comforts Mrs. Donaghy when Pumpkin is missing, offering her a shoulder to cry on. She also earns it by encouraging Matt to submit his Op-Ed piece to the New York Times and his play to the Spring Festival. She is very supportive of Matt, which I think is a direct reflection of their relationship.
ReplyDeleteStudent: Big Mouth
ReplyDeleteCreative Writing: A
Matt is a confident and well-regarded aspiring writer. He organizes and writes play which other students look forward to take part in. ‘The New York Times is going to publish my column on the oped page.” From the way Matt handles questions by the police one is able to reach the conclusion that he is intelligent and creative. His emails to Ursula are well and intelligently written.
Humor: A
Matt the protagonist of the book is a comic character. When the class clown jokingly says he wants to [destroy:] the school at lunch, someone reports him to the principal and suspension and media frenzy ensues. Despite the seriousness of the interrogation Matt still finds an opportunity to joke.”Well, if I am the source,”Matt said sarcastically,”I can tell you: I never threatened anybody or anything.” Even in times of troule Matt finds time to be funny. When he sends Ursula a message from his dog and ends the note with 'I love you'did he really mean the dog or himself?
Leadership: B
Matt was the class vice-president but when he got into trouble he gave in to pressure and resigned his position as vice-president.In the lresence of his friends he played the leaders role and hence became popular with them. His grade drops to 'B' because of the way he reacted to the suspension annd the false accusation. He should have kept on going as aleader and an eample to the rest ut instead he gave-in. I wonder how I or you would have reacted to this!
Michele-This activity really was fun. All of us have been graded all our lives (yes-university professors too) and we LOVE to grade others! Having blog buddies support their answers with examples from the stories invites those reader to text connections that are so important. Good going Blog#2.
ReplyDelete