Chapter 19: Geography Matters
Rivers, Hills, and Valleys
Introduction
Block 3 Ms. Stephanie Harris
11/21/13
Overview/Concepts of the Chapter
Concepts
The Impact
Questions to ask Yourself as the reader:
2. Why did this character die on a mountain, and that one in the savanna?
3. Why is this poem on the prairie?
4. Why does this author like this setting so much?
5. What, in other words, does geography mean to a work of literature?
6. Would everything be too much?
For Your Enjoyment!
Most of the time authors pick a setting because they want to keep the reader entertained. They want you to be able to remember the characters and how they took the setting in. If you read something set in a forest or an amusement park, which story are you more likely to remember?
Vocabulary: Knowing what the author is talking about
Geography can be defined into many different subjects:
Rivers, hills, valleys, buttes
steppes, glaciers, swamps, mountains
prairies, chasms, seas, islands, people.
It can also include the weather: the vastness of it, the emptiness.
The Hunger Games By: Suzanne Collins
Asking Questions and Drawing Connections
Vocabulary
Theme/Plot/ or Symbol??
This term refers to the techniques used by the Roman Empire to keep the masses happy and docile by keeping their bellies full and their minds entertained.
Conclusion/ What the Students have Learned
- The geography that surrounds the character has an influence on how the character acts.
- Asking yourself different questions throughout reading like "Why did the author choose this place for the story?" might help you better understand the authors intentions.
- One geographical setting in a story might mean many things like the plot, theme, or even a character.
- Entertainment the reader gets from the setting is just as big as the theme or meaning of the setting.
- Keep in mind the terms the author uses to describe the geography like rivers, hills, and valleys.
Questions?
Learning Strategy: Jigsaw
Questions to ask yourself while you read.
1. What is the geography in the passage?
2. How does geography impact the characters, mood, tone?
3. Did the geography make it more or less entertaining?
Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1958. Print.
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. New York: Quill, 2003. Print.