Reading Project: Perks of Being a Wallflower

You are going to read the book The Perks of being a Wallflower. Every week we are going to have discussions on certain topics and questions from the book. It’s your responsibility to come to each lesson prepared! If you are unprepared your teacher will give you a written assignment that you have to do instead and hand in the following week. Hopefully you will have a great experience reading this wonderful book!

You are going to read the book The Perks of being a Wallflower. Every week we are going to have discussions on certain topics and questions from the book. It’s your responsibility to come to each lesson prepared! If you are unprepared your teacher will give you a written assignment that you have to do instead and hand in the following week. You also need to study the words in the wordlist.  Hopefully you will have a great experience reading this wonderful book!

Weekly reading and questions:

Week 1, p. 3-42: 

1. What has happened recently in Charlie’s life that makes him depressed in the beginning of the book?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why did Charlie’s dad slap him?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do the other students call Patrick “Nothing”? When is it ok to use nicknames?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What was the relationship between Sam and Patrick? Why did Charlie think that was a good thing?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

5. Did Charlie do the right thing to tell on his sister? Give arguments! What would you have done?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Charlie and Sam agreed that Dave raped his girlfriend at the party. She said no many times, but when is a no really a NO?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. At Charlie’s first party Patrick calls him a wallflower. What do you think that means?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

8. Music is a big part of Charlie’s life. What does music mean to you?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Week 2, p. 45-94:

(The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a big part of the story. It is a horror/comedy musical that has become very popular in the US.) 

 

1. Give some examples on why Charlie thinks that Sam should stop liking her boyfriend Craig.

 

2. How would you describe Charlie’s grandfather and the relationship between him and Charlie’s mother?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

3. What’s the meaning of “Secret Santa”? How does it work?

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

4. It seems like Brad won’t admit his feelings towards Patrick. Why, do you think?

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

5. Charlie’s sister and brother have an argument about how girls think they should act to fit in in society. What expectations do you think there are on girls today?

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 Week 3, p. 95-140:

 

 

 

1. How did Aunt Helen’s death affect Charlie? How did she die?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What happened to Charlie when he fell asleep in the snow?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What is a “Sadie Hawkins Dance”?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Why was Charlie’s sister crying in the bathroom at the dance?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Charlie and his sister went to a clinic. Why?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Charlie obviously doesn’t love Mary Elizabeth since he’s thinking about Sam when they’re getting intimate. Do you think it’s OK to be with someone when you’re really in love with someone else?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Week 4, p. 141-196:

 

 

 

1. What game are they playing when Charlie kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth? Why did he do that? How would you react?
 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

2. How is Charlie’s relationship with the others after the game? How does this affect Charlie?

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

3. Why aren’t Brad and Patrick together anymore? What happened when they saw each other in the cafeteria later?

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

4. Why does Mary Elizabeth think that she is much happier with Peter (her new boyfriend) than with Charlie?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

5. In the cafeteria Brad calls Patrick “faggot”. Why is this word so hurtful?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

Week 5, p. 196-231

 

1. When Charlie and Sam are about to get intimate Charlie gets really upset and wants them to stop. Why does he do that?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

2. Why did Charlie have to spend some time at the hospital?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How do you think Charlie’s life at school is going to be without Sam and the others?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

4. What do you think he will become when he grows up?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

5. Who do you think Charlie is writing all these letters to? Why is he writing him or her?

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Wordlist

p. 3-42:

assembly                             församling, samling
sincere                                uppriktig
immature                           omogen
emotional                           känslomässig
particularly hard                 särskilt svårt
shop class                           slöjdlektion
hilarious                              livad, jätterolig
cemetery                            kyrkogård
buried                                 begraven
ounce of strength               gnutta av styrka (example: ”If I had an ounce of his strength I would accomplish something)
floss                                    använda tandtråd
prevent                               förebygga
curious                                nyfiken
stern                                   barsk
betrayed                             bedragen
belly button                        navel
sober                                   nykter
approaching                       närma sig
infinite                                oändling

p. 45-94

for my allowance                för mitt uppehälle
stare                                   stirra
assume                               anta
improve                              förbättra
increasingly difficult           svårare och svårare
disrespectful                       respektlös
self-esteem                         självkänsla
exaggerate                         överdriva

p. 95-140

sacrifice                              offra
community                         samhälle
receive                                få
suffer                                  lida
sexist                                   sexistisk
sorority                               systerskap, tjejklubb på universitet
fraternity                            broderskap, killklubb på universitet
hazing                                 nollning
shrug                                   rycka på axlarna
molested                             antastad

p. 141-231

awkward                             pinsam
unsettling                            störd
interfere                             lägga sig i
convince                             övertyga
detention                            kvarsittning
valedictorian                      avslutningstalare
windy                                  blåsigt, vindigt
excellent                             mycket bra
author                                 författare
immediately                       genast
achievement                       prestation
class president                    elevrådsordförande
adjust                                  justera
encourage                          uppmuntra
honest                                 är

 

The Perks of being a Wallflower
Syfte:
·         förstå och tolka innehållet i talad engelska och i olika slags texter
·         formulera sig och kommunicera i tal och skrift ·         reflektera över livsvillkor, samhällsfrågor och kulturella företeelser i olika sammanhang och delar av världen där engelska används.   Centralt innehåll
·         Skönlitteratur och annan fiktion även i talad, dramatiserad och filmatiserad form.
·         Intressen, vardagliga situationer, aktiviteter, händelseförlopp samt relationer och etiska frågor. ·         Åsikter, erfarenheter, känslor och framtidsplaner. ·         Levnadsvillkor, traditioner, sociala relationer och kulturella företeelser i olika sammanhang och områden där engelska används. ·         Samtal och diskussioner samt argumentation.   Arbetssätt   ·         Läsning av skönlitterär bok. ·         Arbete med diskussionsfrågor utifrån bokens tema. ·         Muntliga diskussionsgrupper ·         Avslutande skrivuppgift.     Bedömning   Bedömning sker kontinuerligt under arbetets gång på seminarier samt avslutande skrivuppgift.

Bedömning sker kontinuerligt under arbetets gång på seminarier samt avslutande skrivuppgift.