Duffy, Dan ELA– 1 10/14/09 President Cleveland, Where Are You?(p.34‐47) Preview p. 34 Connect to Your Life ‐ When I was in 8th‐grade, many of my friends started making questionable life decisions. I decided that I didn’t want to go down that path in life and wound up with no friends. It was a tough decision, but it was the right one. I did well in school while my friends struggled to graduate and it took them many years to catch up. Build Background – The story President Cleveland, Where Are You? is set during the Great American Depression of the 1930s. A lot of people lost everything they had during that time. Even though it was a difficult time, children still had fun by reading comics and attending movies. Many boys collected trading cards and traded them with their friends. Focus Your Reading – Literary Analysis A plot is the series of events in a story. The main focus of the story is generally a problem or a conflict. The beginning of a story is called exposition, while the middle is called rising action. Most stories end with a climax and falling action. Focus Your Reading – Active Reading You must be able to follow the story and its sequence of events to understand it. Look for important events to help figure out the plot. Some events might not seem important, but they turn out to be important in the end. Looking at what a character learned through the course of the story can help the reader figure out the theme. p. 35 Title – I predict the story will be about how people are depending on their president to help them get through these hard times. A character in the story might collect a Grover Cleveland trading card. I think he might lose the card. The climax may be the return of it. Picture – There is a picture of a President Grover Cleveland trading card wrapped in red foil. The card is red, white, tan, and blue. There is a picture of President Cleveland on the card as well as the American Flag. I predict these will be collected by the main characters. p. 36 Picture – There is a picture of assorted cowboy trading cards. The cards are red and yellow with and have illustrations of cowboys on them. One of the cards has a border that looks like a movie, so I assume that these are illustrations from cowboy films. Some of the names on the cards are Ken Maynard, Buck Jones, and Tom Mix, so I predict these will be important movie stars to the characters in the story. Words to Know – Allot – to distribute or parcel. Each week I allot a certain amount of candy for the managers of each class. p.37 Words to Know – Contempt – extreme dislike, scorn. I felt contempt for my friend when he bullied the 6th‐grader and took his lunch money. P. 38 Picture – This is a black and white picture of a drug store. The picture looks pretty old, like it was taken in the early 1900s. There is an assortment of items for sale from heaters to juice extractors, all for under $2. I predict a drugstore will be an important setting in the story. The main characters will probably buy their trading cards there as part of the plot. Quote box – This quote talks about a disaster at Lemire’s. Since it is on the same page as the picture of the drug store, I think Lemire’s is the name of the local pharmacy. It is probably a central setting in the story. I predict the “disaster” part of the quote refers to the store being sold out of trading cards. p. 39 – Words to know ‐ Indignant – angry at something unfair. The indignant batter dropped his bat after the called third strike and stared at the umpire. p. 40 Words to know – obsess – concern excessively. Two summers ago, I was obsessed with Clint Eastwood movies and bought every one on DVD. p. 41 Words to know – dwindle – to become less and less. Supplies at the Meeker’s tavern dwindled during the war. Words to know‐ incredulous – unbelieving. I stared at my friend, incredulous, after he revealed he stole something from the liquor store. Words to know – divulge – to reveal. When someone tells me a secret, I will not divulge it to anyone even if tortured. p. 42 Words to know –stalemate – unable to win. My friend and I reached a stalemate after three hours of playing chess. p. 43 Picture – There is a drawing of an apartment building built at the base of the hill. The drawing is fairly old since all the residents of the building have their wash hanging on clothes lines, which aren’t used much anymore since the invention of dryers. It’s probably set around the time of the Great Depression since that was mentioned on the “Prepare to Read” page. The building looks cramped and uncomfortable with many people and pets standing around. I predict this is where the main characters of the story live. Quote Box – This quote mentions former U.S. President Warren G. Harding. It says that they are looking for him. I don’t think the characters are really looking for the president, but are probably searching for a trading card with Harding on it. I predict this will be an important turn in the plot. p. 44 Words to know – lethargy –lack of energy. After a day at the beach, a sense of lethargy was felt by everyone in the family. Words to know ‐ betrayed – tricked. My best friend betrayed me when he divulged my secret to his girlfriend. p. 46 Vocabulary 1. a 6. j 2. h 7. c 3. d 8. f 4. g 9. b 5. c 10. J p. 47 – Author Box – Robert Cormier grew up in Massachusetts and published his first short story while in college. He worked in radio and for newspapers before becoming a novelist. His book, The Chocolate War, is one of his most well‐know works. Some critics dislike Cormier’s work because it deals with controversial issues while others praise it for its realism.