Summer Reading 2009 The Firm By John Grisham

1. Summer Reading 2009The FirmBy John Grisham

2. The Firm Synopsis At the top of his class at Harvard Law, he had  his choice of the best in America. He made a deadly  mistake. When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought he  and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way.  The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school  loans, arranged a mortgage and hired him a  decorator.

3. The Firm Synopsis Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his  brother Ray -- doing fifteen years in a Tennessee  jail -- already knew. You never get nothing for  nothing. Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch's  firm and needs his help. Mitch is caught between a  rock and a hard place, with no choice -- if he  wants to live.

4. CHARACTERIZATION Characterization is the method an author uses to develop characters in a work. There are two types of characterization, direct and indirect. Direct characterization- the author states the character’s traits. Indirect characterization-character traits are implied through what the character says, does, and interacts with other characters.

5. Summer Reading AssignmentThe Post-Mortem of a Protagonist On a large piece of white construction paper (11x17) draw an outline of a body shape. As you read, find text evidence (quotes) that illustrate the following “body parts” for a post reading “autopsy” of the main character of The Firm, Mitch McDeere, or Chris McCandless from Into the Wild, or Tom Joad from The Grapes of Wrath. See handout for specific details.

6.  Summer Reading AssignmentThe Post-Mortem of a Protagonist Body PartsPlace ONE quote per body part strategically on the body outline with a parenthetical citation. Head-The intellectual side of the character-What are his dreams? Visions? Philosophies he keeps inside? Eyes-Seeing through the character’s eyes-What memorable sights affected him? How? Ears-Hearing through the character’s ears-What does he notice and remember others saying to him? How is he affected? Mouth-The character’s communication-What philosophy does the character share/espouse? What arguments/debates?

7. Arms-Working-What is the character’s relationship to work in general? To specific work? Hands-The practical side of the character-What conflicts does he deal with? How? Heart-The emotional side of the character-What does love? Whom? How? Torso-The instinctive side of the character-What does he struggle with? What does he hide? What brings the character pain? What does he fear? Describe his “dark” side. Feet-The character’s mobility-Where has he been (literally and figuratively)? Wings-The character’s future-Where is he going (literally and figuratively)?

8. Summer Reading AssignmentThe Post-Mortem of a Protagonist This assignment is best done during the reading process and not afterwards. Annotate as you read using the annotation bookmark you received. You will need the information gathered in your “autopsy” and in your annotations to complete a character analysis essay the second week of school.

9. Alternate Reading-Into the Wild By Jon Krakauer “In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25, 000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter” (Krakauer).

10. Alternate Reading-The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized and sometime outraged-millions of readers. The novel tells the story of the Joad family in order to illustrate the hardship and oppression suffered by migrant laborers during the Great Depression.