9th Grade - Why These Books?
Rhetorical Skills
Sport by Mick Cochrane
Harlan, the main character in the novel, is a die-hard Minnesota Twins fan who has a separated alcoholic father, a mother with MS, an obese brother, and a home situation facing a myriad of financial problems. Harlan is also struggling with the decision whether or not to attend a private school. The characterization in this novel is excellent. Mick Cochrane is a graduate of Saint Thomas Academy.
Sport is a summer reading selection because:
1. The protagonist must deal with the difficulties of growing up and making
decisions while living in a family with complex relationships and while
being influenced both positively and negatively by other adults.
2. The novel is set in a familiar geographical setting with which our students
can readily identify.
3. It has a traditional plot structure that will relate to many classroom
literature readings.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A group of British school boys are marooned on a tropical island after a plane crash in which all the adults have been killed. While the bounty of the island provides everything they need for their physical sustenance, the boys must decide how to devise a plan that can lead to their rescue and how to organize their lives until outside help arrives. Very soon, conflicts arise between the boys, leading to a struggle for survival.
Lord of the Flies is a summer reading selection because:
1. While the story has a compelling plot and is easily accessible to readers, it is an
allegory which examines the degree to which human beings are inherently
good or evil.
2. The characters provide examples of both positive and negative leadership,
and they demonstrate how leaders succeed or fail in fulfilling their
responsibilities to those who follow them.
3. This is a classic novel, written by a Nobel Prize winner, drawn from the
author’s experience as a teacher in a boys’ school and as an officer in World
War II.
