I have created a journal for you to use for every book we read this year. It is important for you to fill it our completely as you read the book. Before you take the SAT you will review the journal in preparation for the test. It will also help your comprehension of the books, and help you hone in on what is important to remember. You will find that the journal also prepares you for the 5 paragraph essay you will write after every book. I hope you find it useful. Please let me know how it is working for you or how we can improve it.
Important note: Keep the journals organized. Either write them out by hand in a notebook, or type them up, print them out and store them together in a notebook. You will need to send me your first journal for Picture of Dorian Gray. After that you will no longer need to send them to me. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Book Journal
1. Title:
2. Author:
3. Main Characters:
4. A few sentences describing the character traits of each of the people you listed above.
5. Theme of the Book:
6. Summary of the Plot:
7. Moral Dilemma:
8. What kind of a response did you feel towards to moral dilemma? What was your response towards the characters actions?
9. What did you think of the plot? The writing style? The character development?
10. What was your overall impression of the book?
11. Write down memorable lines or quotes from the book.
For questions 5 to 10 your answers need only a few well thought-out and crafted sentences. Jot down page numbers for you to go back to and re-read. No need to write out entire paragraphs.
4 comments:
1. Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
2. Author: Oscar Wilde
3. Main Characters: Lord Henry, Basil, Dorian Gray, James Vane, and Sibyl Vane.
4. A few sentences describing the character traits of each of the people you listed above.
Lord Henry: A negative force in the life of Dorian Gray. Dorian was fascinated by his ideas about life. Henry adheres to the ideology of hedonism. Henry also has a heart of cold steel that does not know compassion, kindness, and love.
Basil: In the beginning Basil was good friends with Dorian. He was not full of evil ideas like Henry but honest and caring. Over time he lost Dorian’s friendship because of his honest character. Before his murder, Basil tried to turn Dorian from the evil that had consumed his life.
Dorian Gray: Dorian Gray was the main character in the book. At the beginning of the book Dorian was an honest person, due to Henry’s influence, Dorian ruined his life and became an advocate for the evil in himself. The book follows his transformation from a caring to a careless person. In the end of the book, he is overwhelmed by his atrocious life and therefore commits suicide.
James Vane: James is the brother of Sibyl, the actress who loved Dorian and then committed suicide. James vowed to kill Dorian if he in any way hurt his sister. He lived his life in hatred of Dorian until killed by an accidental shot to the chest.
Sibyl Vane: Dorian’s first and last love in life. Sibyl loved Dorian and when let down killed herself in her despair. She was the first of Dorian’s many victims.
5. Theme of the Book: The sins of life always catch up and get their victim in the end. This statement would be true if Christ had not come to earth and died in our place.
6. Summary of the Plot: Basically the book begins with Dorian meeting Lord Henry. At this time Dorian is an innocent, kind, charming person. Lord Henry starts talking about his ideas, and Dorian is hooked. Henry’s ideas fascinate Dorian and his life is spent living a hedonistic lifestyle. His heart turned cold and ceased to care for people. In the end he dies of sadness and remorse-a lonely, disfigured old man.
7. Moral Dilemma: Is it worth having everything life can provide (wealth and social status) but not love, friends, and genuine respect?
8. What kind of a response did you feel towards the moral dilemma? What was your response towards the characters actions? In general I felt frustrated the way Dorian kept listening to Henry and how poisoned his life became. When Dorian left Sibyl after insulting her, I felt angry that he cared more about her acting than her as a person. This became a recurring theme throughout the book which became annoying to me that a person could be so careless.
9. What did you think of the plot? The writing style? The character development? I thought the plot was well thought out and executed. In my opinion the writing rambled on in places. Sometimes he lost me in his English style of writing.
10. What was your overall impression of the book? The book was ok. I did not hate it or love it but it kept me somewhat interested so I was not too bored.
11. Write down memorable lines or quotes from the book. To me the most memorable part was the turning point in Dorian’s life. On page 109 he has already decided to live a sinful lifestyle, “He felt that the time had really come, for making his choice. Or had his choice already been made? Yes, life had decided that for him—life, and his own infinite curiosity about life. Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys, and wilder sins—he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame; that was all.” After the death of Sibyl, he was forever transformed until the end of his life which would tragically many years later.
Another interesting part was when Basil was trying to convince Dorian to cease being evil. On page 162 Basil tries to bring Dorian out of a sinful life, “It is never to late, Dorian. Let us kneel down and try if we cannot remember a prayer. Isn’t there a verse somewhere, ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, yet I will make them as white as snow’?” when Dorian murders him in cold blood.
For questions 5 to 10 your answers need only a few well thought-out and crafted sentences. Jot down page numbers for you to go back to and re-read. No need to write out entire paragraphs.
1. Title: Picture of Dorian Grey
2. Author: Oscar Wilde
3. Main Characters: Lord Henry, Basil, Dorian Grey, Sibyl Vane.
4. A few sentences describing the character traits of each of the people you listed above.
Lord Henry was the terrible influence that caused Dorian's life to be ruined. He does not understand compassion or love. He loves the ideals of hedonism, and presses others to participate in his off-balance theories.
Basil was the good influence in Dorian's life. He was compassionate and kind. He cared about Dorian and did what was best him. But, because of Henry's terrible influence on Dorian, Dorian soon rejected Basil as a friend and ultimately killed him.
Dorian was an extremely gullible person. At first, he sees the potential pitfalls of Henry's ideals. But after a while, he accepts them and this leads to his ruin. He began as an innocent boy, and grew to be a hard, cold, heartless man.
Sibyl Vane was an innocent teen who fell for Dorian. She was the one person in Dorian's life who could have saved him from a life of cruelty and sadness. She almost succeeded, but Henry's influence on Dorian was too great, and he rejected her. She was heartbroken, and killed herself.
5. Theme of the Book: Our mistakes will not go away with time. They will keep coming back to haunt us until we deal with them.
6. Summary of the Plot: A boy meets an influential character who proceeds impress his ideals upon the boy. Therefore this boy grow to be a cruel and heartless monster.
7. Moral Dilemma: Who do we choose to listen to? How do we decipher with ideals and false and will lead to heartbreak, and which ones will lead to a happy and fulfilling life?
8. What kind of a response did you feel towards to moral dilemma? What was your response towards the characters actions? I was shocked at how intensely Henry influenced Dorian. We should not let anyone influence us that much except God.
9. What did you think of the plot? The writing style? The character development? The plot was amazing! I loved Oscar's writing style. He writes a lot about what the character is thinking and feeling, not just what is going on around him. The character development was excellent, i felt like i new the characters in person. This is definitely one of my all time favorite books.
10. What was your overall impression of the book? It was a rather dark and sad book.
11. Write down memorable lines or quotes from the book.
"Harry," cried Dorian Gray, coming over and sitting down beside him, "why is it that i cannot feel this tragedy as much as I want to? I don't think I'm heartless. Do you?"
"Hush, Alan: You have saved my life," said Dorian.
"Your life? Good heavens! what a life it is! You have gone from corruption to corruption, and now you have culminated in crime. In doing what I am going to do, what you force me to do, it is not of your life I am thinking."
Very well done journal Daniel! What you have done is exactly what I envisioned. How long did it take you to do this? I love how you have described Henry's soul and also state that "Sibyl was the first of Dorian's many victims." Great job noticing that this book does a great job of showing the effects of sin on all of us. Yet does not get the entire picture by reminding us that our souls are washed clean through Jesus. Thank you for persevering through the book! I agree that he does ramble at times, especially chapter 11! Great choice for the memorable lines. I love the second one you chose. Shows the difference between D and B. Plus that is such a beautiful verse, and what a moment of vulnerability B has. I chose to read this book because I had a feeling Kevin would love it. We are going to read a couple more that are like this, but I think you will really like Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World. Great job!
Great journal Kevin! Did you find this was helpful to do? I love how you noticed that Sibyl was the symbol of innocence. I'm glad you liked the book so much. I had a feeling you would particularly enjoy it! Wilde's writing style is engaging. He has an incredible ability to get inside his characters heads. His character development is so fluid and consistent that you can almost predict the reactions the characters will have in certain situations. I like the memorable lines you chose. The show so clearly the character of D. If you have to ask someone if you are heartless, you probably are. Very well done! You should check out some of Wilde's short stories. My favorite is The Selfish Giant. You can print them out for free at this site.
http://www.readbookonline.net/stories/Wilde/107/
For living his life immorally, Wilde had a keen understanding of Christ. The Selfish Giant is a metaphor for Christ's redeeming love. Enjoy!
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