Creating an “ABC Book”
The Catcher in the Rye
You will be working in pairs to create and present this project. You will have class time and some computer lab time available for the next 4-5 classes. You will need to do some of this work at home — and find ways to communicate and coordinate your efforts with your partner’s work. Be sure you have contact information for your partner.
Okay, here we go!
1. First of all, do not be fooled by what seems like a simplistic project — it most certainly is not.
2. Using MS PowerPoint, Prezi or some other multimedia presentation platform, you will be creating (and presenting to the class) an electronic “ABC book” of words that carry important meaning or connection to the themes, ideas, literary elements, characters and events in Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.
3. Your presentation will begin with a “cover” of your ABC book. This slide will have your book’s title, authors’ names (you & your partner), along with any artwork, graphics, etc. This slide needs to grab our attention so that if we saw it in the bookstore we would want to buy and continue ‘reading’ your book.
4. On the second page (slide), you will dedicate your ABC book to Salinger, Holden or any other important character in the novel. You must clearly state why you are choosing this character. You and your partner may each choose a separate dedication, if you wish, and include them both on this slide.
5. You will be choosing a significant word for each letter of the alphabet These words should clearly relate to the novel’s important themes, ideas or moments, not only to the main characters. A character’s name may not be used as one of your words. Please be sure not to be repetitive in your focus when you choose your words. It is not necessary that all of your words appear in the novel. Think! Don’t always choose the most obvious word (remember, several other ABC books are being presented — you don’t want your book to be too repetitive, right?) Also, some letters might be challenging (Q, X, Z?). Use Google. Use a dictionary. Enjoy the challenge.
6. Exception #1: As long as the “ right letter” is somewhere in the word, on two of your slides, the ABC word does not have to begin with the letter (ex. eQual might be chosen for the letter Q).
7. Exception #2: Everyone’s “T” slide will use the word “Theme”. The written sentence for this slide will be a statement of what you see as one of the novel’s important themes. The graphic for this slide will closely relate to this theme.
8. In order, each letter will then have its own slide in your presentation. All of your slides will also contain graphics of some kind (photograph, illustration, video, painting, chart or anything) to help convey the meaning of your word or its connection to the novel.
9. You must create at least six (9) of your graphics (or more): your own illustrations, photographs, artwork, short video, etc.
10. Each slide will also have a one-sentence explanation of why/how the word connects to Salinger’s book or what you see as one of its themes. This is one of the crucial elements that will “make or break” the effectiveness your presentation. These sentences are important.
11. However, although you may read the sentence aloud during your presentation, you are also responsible for having something else to SAY to your audience about the word, the graphic, the idea or something connected to each slide that is NOT a part of the written sentence. This “presenting” is also a very important aspect of this assignment. You may use note-cards.
12. Please put effort into making your ABC book visually interesting and stimulating (as ANY good ABC book should be!).
13. Your effort on this project will be reflected in your word choice, the clarity, thought and connection of your written sentences, your choice of graphics and the overall cohesiveness and creativity of your ABC book (and your grade on this assignment will — see scoring rubric).
14. You will be responsible for seeing that your presentation is accessible from my classroom procedure on or before the due date. You will need to be prepared to present your ABC book to our class on this date, although class presentations will be scheduled and will likely be carried out over the course of several days. Everyone’s presentation will be due on the same day.
15. Remember, multimedia platforms are VISUAL, by nature. In a presentation, if a lot of words are necessary, they should be spoken, NOT written on the slides.
16. Also, music, video, sound effects, etc., used sparingly and carefully can be an effective addition to your presentation.
If there are things that you did NOT think were effective or enjoyable about The Catcher in the Rye, your presentation does not need to “pretend” that you liked everything about the book. You don’t want to use this assignment as an opportunity to just bash Salinger’s book, but this is your presentation and, as long as you can support it, your opinion matters.
