Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
The View From Saturday
E.L. Konigsburg
Organizational Patterns:
The book is divided into chapters. Each chapter centers around a different character
who tells his or her story. Four students; Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian tell of a
journey they experienced in the past. Within the chapters there are small sections
when the outside narrator tells the story of the Academic Bowl. Students need to be
aware of who is talking and when they are talking. Each of the characters’ stories is
in chronological order, but the inserts from the Academic Bowl happen well after each
of the characters’ journeys.
Themes:
One important theme is the meaning of
friendship. The theme is explored by showing
how the students in the novel cooperate with
and respect each other. Another theme is the
effect personal experience has on our lives.
The diversity of each student is celebrated
and each of their stories is important. This
theme is explored by showing how each
persons’ individual experiences led them to
success in both the Academic Bowl and also their friendship with their teammates.
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Setting:
The stories take place in Florida and in Epiphany,
New York. It is important to be familiar with the
climate, location, and land type of Florida in
juxtaposition with New York. Students should be
aware of where each state is on a map. They also
need to be aware of the beaches in Florida and also
where the Sargasso Sea is located in Florida.
Point of View:
This is a great novel to use if you are exploring point of view in your classroom. This
story has five different narrators, but because the four students’ stories are divided
into different chapters the students shouldn’t have a difficult time understanding
who is speaking. Each student narrator has a very distinct voice. The fifth narrator is
outside of the story and narrates the Academic Bowl and explains the thoughts and
actions of Mrs. Olinski, the students’ teacher.
Character Sketch:
Konigsburg does a great job fleshing out her characters. She describes the characters
in unique and interesting ways that create vivid visualizations for her readers. The
characters are not only physically described by
Konigsburg, but their personalities are very
apparent. The types of details Konigsburg uses
and when she introduces them could be explored
and discussed in order to help the students be
more active and visual readers. This could also
help them in their writing skills by making them
aware of what details are most effective.
Analogy/ Metaphor/ Simile:
The four students use very creative analogies,
similes, and metaphors to describe some of their
situations. You can explain what each of these are and how they function in the text.
One example is when Ethan explains the new development The Farm. He says “it is no
more a farm than the Aquarium at Epcot is the Atlantic” (pg 63). Another example is
when Jilian explains what chops are. He says, “Chops is to magic what doing scales is
to a chanteuse” (pg 93) These descriptions allow for more vivid explanations. One
final example is when the narrator comments that the opposing team’s principal’s
smile “was as genuine as a Xeroxed signature” (pg 134).
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Irony:
At the beginning of his narrative Noah is introduced to the term irony. He learns
that it is the contrast between what you expect to happen and what really happens.
Then throughout his narrative he applies the word to different situations. He does a
great job at describing what irony is and what situations can be considered ironic.
For example he considers the fact that the bride and groom toppers of the cake falling
in a puddle is ironic (pg 16)
Affective Issues related to the work:
The novel is about four sixth graders and is told by these four sixth graders. Middle
School students will relate to these characters because they are about their same age.
The book’s theme deals with friendship and the
characteristics that make good friends. This is something
that students will be able to identify with. The discussion
of the theme in the classroom can help students recognize
what traits are present in good friendships. The students
can then examine their own friendships and make
connections. Another issue that relates to students that
could be explored in the classroom is bullying. One of the
students in the book is harassed by bullies when he first
moves in. He explains some of his coping techniques and
more techniques could be explored in the classroom. A third
issue that students will relate to is labeling. Throughout the
novel different characters are labeled in ways that are not
positive. Students will be able to explore different labels they have been given or that
they have given to others and understand the effect labels can have on someone.
Vocabulary Issues:
Although the story is told by sixth graders, the vocabulary is fairly advanced. Most
seventh and eighth graders would be unfamiliar with many of the words used. Words
including: squalls, lulls, sarcasm, terminally, atrociously,
mammoth, and coiffed (a complete list of words can be found
in the vocabulary activity included). This creates a great
opportunity to add useful words that they will probably
encounter in upper level reading to students’ vocabulary. There
are also many American idioms used that most native English
speakers will understand, but non-native speakers may have a
difficult time understanding them. One example is when one
of the students describes the rain as coming down in sheets,
which is a strange image for a non-native speaker. Also, the phrase the competition is
in the bag might be confusing but useful to know. These idioms need to be explained.
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Background Knowledge:
One of the students is Jewish and tells about the
Jewish wedding of his grandfather. Many Jewish
words and customs are referred to. It would be
useful to students to explain and explore these
customs before reading the novel so they are
familiar with the vocabulary and customs that
are discussed. Nadia, has an experience dealing
with sea turtles on the beaches of Florida.
Creating some background knowledge about
turtles and how and where they hatch could be
very helpful to the students. It would also be
beneficial to students to read through chapter
seven of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This chapter is used in the book and is
referred to multiply times. Students need to be familiar with the story. On page 22
Mrs. Olinski refers to The Cheshire Cat and the King. This section can have a lot of
meaning, but if the students don’t understand the reference they will not understand
the meaning. You may need to walk through this section with your students.
Implications for Students of Diversity:
The vocabulary and American idioms may need to be explained more thoroughly for
non-native speakers of English. Also, students
unfamiliar with Jewish customs and words may
be confused. While exploring the Jewish marriage
customs other customs that the students are
familiar with can be explored. During this part
in the novel some different marriage
superstitions are discussed, which could be a
jumping off point to discuss other superstitions
that the students are familiar with in their own
cultures and heritages. The teacher in this book
is a paraplegic. The issue of disabilities could be
explored in relation to this.
Gender Issues:
Because the students are in the sixth grade gender issues are not overly prominent
and wouldn’t be discussed in relation to this book. There is a part in Nadia’s
narrative when she discusses the fact that she is a prepubescent girl and the
implications of that. She is nervous about meeting Ethan and can’t understand why.
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The Enduring Issue:
What is true friendship and how is it achieved? The reader is mostly unaware of this
underlying question until the end of the novel, but then is made very apparent. The
author does a good job of showing the traits of good friendship.
Research Issues/ Project Ideas:
• Visualization of Characters: The author does a very good job of describing in
detail the characters. To help the students visualize what they are reading
have them choose a character from the book and draw them based on the
descriptions in the book.
• Academic Bowl: It would be interesting to have an
academic bowl in your classroom in order to familiarize
your students with what an Academic Bowl is.
• The novel introduces and discusses a wide variety of
topics. Each student has different issues that they are
interested in, different factors that affect their lives, and
also the academic bowl questions give plenty of topics
for students to explore. Allow the students to choose
something that the novel discusses that interests them
and have them do further research and prepare a
presentation that they can share with the class.
Examples include: turtles, tea parties, calligraphy,
Indian customs, New York, or any of the questions
asked during the Academic Bowl.
• Explore the techniques and characteristics of the personal
narrative and allow students to write their own.
Emphasize the importance of having and telling individual stories.
Information/Functional Texts:
Some texts would be online resources like Wikipedia that will give students easy to
find background information on Jewish Customs, Florida, Turtles, and New York.
Other internet resources include:
• http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/turtles/logger.htm This is a site that
gives information about Loggerhead turtles.
• http://www.scholarsbowl.org/ This site gives the rules and format for a
Academic Bowl
• http://www.jewish-history.com/minhag.htm This site gives information on
Jewish wedding customs
Roberts, BYU 2008