Unit 3 Texts
Harry Bittering and his family slowly transform into Martians after a nuclear war on Earth leaves them stranded in a new world.
What is Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed?
Prompt: After being caught in a lie, Sarah must face her best friend, Chloe, who refuses to speak to her in the school hallway.
What is Character vs. Character?
This is a short summary of what a text is mostly about; it's the "big picture" of the passage without all the tiny details.
What is the Main Idea?
This part of speech serves as the subject or object of a sentence and names a person, place, thing, or idea (like freedom or justice).
What is a Noun?
A man named Charlie undergoes an experimental surgery to triple his IQ, only to watch a lab mouse suffer a tragic regression.
What is Flowers for Algernon?
This informational text explores the real-life scientific challenges of building a sustainable city on the Red Planet, from oxygen production to radiation.
What is Martian Metropolis?
Even though he knows it’s the right thing to do, Leo struggles with the fear of admitting he broke his brother's favorite trophy.
What is Character vs. Self?
This term describes the reason why a person sits down to write, usually categorized as to persuade, inform, or entertain (PIE).
What is Author’s Purpose?
Often called the "action word," this part of speech expresses a physical action, a mental action, or a state of being (like is, am, or are).
What is a Verb?
Meg Murry travels through space and time via a "tesseract" to rescue her scientist father from the dark force known as IT.
What is A Wrinkle in Time?
In this Ray Bradbury story, an Earth settler and a Martian "ghost" meet at a gas station, realizing they are both from the same place but in different times.
What is Night Meeting?
In the novel Hatchet, Brian Robeson must find a way to survive in the wilderness after his plane crashes in the Canadian woods.
What is Character vs. Nature (or Natural Disasters)?
This is the underlying message or "life lesson" the author wants the reader to take away from a story. It is usually a universal truth.
What is Theme?
These "descriptive" words are used to modify nouns or pronouns, answering questions like "Which one?", "What kind?", or "How many?"
What is an Adjective?
Alice struggles to regain her sense of self after her mind is placed into a new body following a radical "brain transplant" surgery.
What is Mirror Image?
This reflective text considers the philosophical and scientific impact of discovering we are the only living beings in the vast universe.
What is What If We Were Alone?
Jonas lives in a community where "Sameness" is enforced, but he decides to flee when he realizes the government is suppressing everyone's memories and emotions.
What is Character vs. Society?
This refers to how an author organizes information, such as using "Cause and Effect," "Chronological Order," or "Compare and Contrast."
What is Text Structure?
These versatile words modify verbs, adjectives, or even other words of their own kind, often ending in -ly and answering "How?", "When?", or "To what extent?"
What is an Adverb?
Ignoring his father’s warnings, a young boy flies too close to the sun, causing the wax on his wings to melt.
What is The Flight of Icarus?
A new student tries to sit at a lunch table, but the entire varsity soccer team blocks the seats and tells them they aren't welcome there.
What is Character vs. Group (or Character vs. Many People)?
This is the lens through which a story is told, determining how much the reader knows about the characters' thoughts and feelings.
What is Perspective or Point of View?
While a "museum" is a general version of this, "The Smithsonian" is the specific, capitalized version known by this name.
What is a Proper Noun?
A boy nicknamed "Heartbeat" goes to extreme lengths, including wearing extra layers of clothes, to hide how skinny he is from his peers.
What is Heartbeat?