Piper and characterization

[Cathy]

Here's my question: "Piper behaves differently when she is with the other children from the way she behaves when she is with her father. Why do you think she does this? How does this make you feel about her?"

So on second thought, this is really more of a reading comprehension question, since it's pretty clear (at least to us) that Piper acts like an angel with her dad and is a total schemer with the other kids. I was pretty irritated with her throughout the book, although I think the author wants us to find her compelling, too, as Moose does. But, it would be interesting to see how kids would answer that question... especially middle schoolers, who I think are this book's target audience. "Do you like this character? Why or why not?" could be a deceptively simple way to get them talking about characterization, and to start citing textual evidence for the conclusions they draw ("on this page, when she's with her dad, she acts all sweet, but three pages later, when only Moose is there...").

On one hand, I felt like I didn't have a lot to sink my teeth into on this book, since the story (especially toward the beginning, before Natalie meets the con, when I thought it got more interesting) is pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get -- it didn't feel like a higher-level book like Unwind where there are all kinds of huge Issues and layers of meaning to dig into. But, having thought about the question above, I think it could be a good way to get middle-school readers to build skills with things like simile, characterization, mood, conflict, plot summary, etc. I would struggle to say what the *theme* of the book is though, other than familial love. Eager to hear what you all thought!

[Joyce]

I agree with you about Piper being a bit of an annoyance in the book- it was frustrating in the beginning when she would get away with everything and I wanted some kind of justice to be done. And I'll have to say it was anticlimactic when her father sent her away for two months to live with her grandma as punishment for doing the laundry scheme. It may be because the book did not show us the scene between Piper and her father when he reprimanded her for what she did. I feel like it would've been a great scene to finally see a different side to Piper because she was very one-dimensional to me. And clearly her punishment had no real effect on her because she was back to her scheme-ish ways and trying to get Moose to help her.

I like the idea of using this book as a way to teach characterization because it is a straight-forward storyline with characters that middle-schoolers can grasp. I think it would be interesting to compare/contrast the characters of Annie and Piper. (Though, Annie was not mentioned in the book as much I had hoped.) Or at least all of the female characters (Moose's mom, Natalie, Annie, Piper) because they each carried a different color. Like the type of relationship Moose had with each of them and what (if any) changes they went through? Especially as a middle-schooler, this may be a good book for them to learn how to do some close reading. To go back through the book and find details about each of the characters that they may have missed the first time. It is so necessary to go back and reread sections of a book to piece together elements/details that you missed the first time.

And as for theme? I would say there was that idea of not losing hope and loving your family for who they are.

[Cathy]

I love that idea -- having students reread scenes to see if they missed anything, or if they pick up extra details that change the way they feel about a character. Great skill to learn!

[Caroline]

I'm on the same page as both of you. The characters were pretty flat. Yes, Moose became more accepting and defensive of Natalie as the book progressed, but he never really experienced any true development.

I like the idea of using this text as a means for teaching characterizations for middle school students. An activity that came to mind for doing this is the RAFT (role, audience, format, topic) writing strategy. They could practice creating and playing with such elements as voice, diction, tone, and mood. So even though the characters are flat, they do present solid personalities from which to pull. This activity would also tie in well with Joyce's suggestion of having students do some close reading since they would most likely be addressing another character in their writing.

[Dorothy]

Piper was definitely not that interesting as a character. Like you've all mentioned, there's not a lot of depth to this book in terms of literary themes, but I think its value is in its simplicity. I think it would be an enjoyable read for middle schoolers or for older ELL students. There is also an opportunity with the historical aspect, both in terms of Alcatraz and the treatment and diagnosis of autism during this period.

This text can also be valuable as a way to teach writing. Since the text itself is relatively simple, students can practice their ability to respond to journal prompts effectively.

[Caroline]

I agree that this book offers some great opportunities regarding the historical aspects as Dorothy suggests. You could use this book as inspiration for students to write a mini-research paper (1 to 3 pages) regarding the history of either Alcatraz or the treatment of autism, again as Dorothy mentioned.

In addition to reading and writing exercises, I also believe there's an opportunity for some oral activities. A 7th-grade communication SOL requires students to identify and demonstrate the relationship between verbal and nonverbal messages. Given that Moose relies so much on Natalie's actions and behaviors rather than her words to understand her, I think you could construct some sort of oral exercise not to mimic this necessarily, but to expand upon it. Any thoughts?

[Cathy]

I like the idea of looking in the text for examples of verbal and nonverbal communication, too -- I feel like the author does this for other characters, too, like when Moose is closely watching adults (his parents, the warden) to gauge how they are feeling. Maybe students could write briefly about how they feel about a character after a scene in the book, then be invited to show nonverbally how they felt (gestures, body language)?

[Joyce]

I really like the idea of using this book to introduce and help students learn about autism, especially because it is a prevalent disorder in our society. I don't know if this would work out well, but going off what you guys said about doing a verbal/nonverbal communication activity- what if they played charades? using Cathy's idea of expressing their feelings after reading a scene in the book, they could use nonverbal communication and 1-2 words to express how they felt. it would be a way for them to experience a little bit of the relationship between Moose and Natalie- how frustrating it is for both sides in trying to communicate with one another.

[Caroline]

Using charades to communicate the feelings of the readers sounds like a great idea; and that's also a way in to teaching mood/tone.

On another note, do we want to start talking about compiling our handout?

[Cathy]

What do you think about listing what we thought were the highlights (history, treatment of autism), then the ideas for activities that we've come up with here? I don't mind putting it together in MS Publisher... I think desktop publishing is fun. :) I can pull the ideas from this discussion, and you guys can send me anything else you think should be included.