Novel Assignments: Read the instructions and the links provided.

Novel Choice: Born a Crime or Running in the Family.

Trevor Noah's memoir of growing up, "Born A Crime" has the ability to make us laugh, reflect and also feel really sad. It is a well crafted story that is interesting to read and based on the events of his life. Read this novel now. An online version is below. You may also find Trevor Noah reading it out loud online. If you choose this method, please follow along with the actual text. The text is below - click on the book cover.

Michael Ondaatje's novel "Running in the Family" is a memoir of the author's return to his homeland and the wild and interesting stories that run through his family history.

Assignment 1: Novel Mind Map  - For this assignment you will use a very useful visual organizational / thinking technique to demonstrate your understanding of  the novel.

• In the centre of your mind map (watch video below) you will put the main idea you took away from the novel OR the main question you were left wondering after you had finished the novel. Explore that using the mind map technique below.  I will accept visual essays, mindmaps or prezis. The goal is to explore the idea above using colour, images, key quotes and key ideas from the text to deeper your understanding and memory of the novel.

Watch this video on what a mind map is: Click for video here

Click on this link for assignment exemplars/examples.

Complete your mind map using images and colour on paper - or in Prezi or another online tool. Your choice. Once you are done the assignment following the above instructions submit it to the Novel Mind Map dropbox. You'll draw it out on paper then take a photo and and submit it as an image.

Assignment 2: Write a Memoir essay from your own life. One thing that I've found from reading lots of these assignments is that people have some really incredible experiences in their lives that are worth telling!!

This story should be one page minimum. It should be a personal telling - using storying - that will explain the event that you have chosen to tell and it should subtly highlight an idea that the experience taught you. Make sure to add dialogue  and details to make the story real for the reader.

Reading for understanding the memoir:

https://bookriot.com/2018/02/22/short-memoirs/

Example of a student memoir this year: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/high-school-grad-reflects-on-what-was-lost-in-the-pandemic-1.4894880

You will be assessed or graded for this on the idea that you develop in your story and the writing and voice that you use to tell the story. Make sure to edit it - have a friend or family member read it over and give you feedback before you submit it to the drop box for the Novel Memoir Essay.