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Literature-based Skill Building

Freak the Mighty, Chapter 4

The following are comprehension activities related to the novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, chapter 4. NOTE: Keep reading fun! It may be appropriate to simply have a student complete the "learning log" for each chapter, or to discuss questions and answers instead of requiring the reader to write responses.

Chapter Four: What Frightened Fair Gwen

1. Learning Log

A. Give this chapter a new title. Consider what happened and the feelings of the chapter.

B. Setting: Identify the setting of the chapter.
time ________________________________________
place (where important things happened) ______________________________________

C. In one or two sentences, summarize what happens in this chapter, or draw an important scene from it.

D. Questions:

1. The title of this story is "What Frightened Fair Gwen." Who is "Fair Gwen" and what frightened her? _____________________________________________________________________________

2. What is a question you could ask about one of the characters - one that you've met or one that's just been talked about? ______________________________________________________________________________

2. Main Idea

Write down a good title that each group of words would belong to. It can be one word or a phrase. Example:

3. Quote Analysis/Introduction to Character Descriptions

Choose one of these activities. Students should be adept at completing a quote analysis before they attempt a full character analysis.

Either of these exercises are challenging. Complete them with the students, with much discussion before, during and after, until they become easier.

Quote Analysis

An author can describe important evens in a story by telling you about them: ...Fair Gwen grabs Freak and puts him in the wagon and I swear, she almost runs home, like if she doesn't get away quick something really bad is going to happen.

Sometimes, though, things characters say are just as important, telling us what the speaker is like, and often telling us what has happened or what to expect.

You can explain what a quote means in four parts, called a "quote analysis."

1. Write the quote.
2. Explain who said the quote and to whom they were talking.
3. Paraphrase the quote. That is, put it in different words, that you understand, that mean the same thing.
4. The thinking part: Explain what this quote says about either the character, or the plot of the story, that you might not have known without it.
   What kind of person would say these things?
   Why whould they say that?
   WHat might they know, or be thinking about?
   What important thing are they talking about that affects the story?

Example:

Quote:
"Grim would be, I suppose, a sobriquet for your grandfather, based on his demeanor."

Characters:
Freak says this to Max, when Max tells him that he eats "upstairs with Grim and Gram."

Paraphrase:
"You gave your grandfather the nickname Grim because he's always acting so serious, right?"

What does this tell you?
This tells me that Freak uses words most people his age wouldn't know (maybe to show off so they realize that just because he is in a wheelchair, he is still smart), and that he's listening to what Max says and trying to figure it out.

Your Turn!

Choose two of these quotes and complete a "quote analsis" for them.

• "Oh, it talks." (Freak, Ch. 3, p. 12.)
• (Freak, p. 18)"The design limitations of the human body. You know, like we're not bullet-proof and we can't crush rocks with our bare hands."
• "Huh?" (Max, p. 18)
• "Books are like truth serum -- if you don't read, you can't figure out what's real." (Freak, p. 19.
• 1. Write the quote.
  2. Explain who said the quote and to whom they were talking.
  3. Paraphrase the quote.
  4. Explain what this quote says about either the character, or the plot of the story, that you might not have known without it.

  Character Analysis

  To understand a character's role in a story, it helps to look at the character from several angles. When you're asked to describe or analyze a character, think "SADDR," which stands for four of these ways of looking at a character: Speech, Action, Description, Drawing, and REaction of others.

  If you only look at one of these, you might come to the wrong conclusion. If you only pay attention to Kevin's descriptoin, you might think he sat in a wheelchair and never did much. His speech and action and the reaction of others tell a different story! By looking at all of these, you can figure out a character's personality and reasons behind what he or she does.

  Speech: What does the character say? What does this tell you about the character?
  For instance, Max often says "Huh?"
  This tells you that he sometimes gets confused by what people say.
  On the other hand, Kevin says things like "Grim, would be, I suppose, a sobriquet for your grandfather, based on his demeanor."
  What could this tell you about Kevin? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  Action: What does the character do? What does this tell you about the character? For instance, Max gets Kevin's fragile flying toy from the tree and gives it back to him. This is a clue that he doesn't pick on people, even though he looks big and mean. When Kevin goes to see where Max lives, he gets out of the wagon and "humps" down the steps, and he's wheezing by the time he gets to the bottom. What does this tell you about him? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  Description: What does the author say about the character? What does that description tell you about the character? For example, Kevin's mom is described like this: "she looks like some kind of movie star. Wearing these old jeans and a baggy T-shirt, and her long hair is tied back and she's probably sweating, but she still looks like a movie star. Like she has this glow, a secret spotlight that follows her around and makes her eyes light up." This gives you a picture of Kevin's mother. Your turn: Max describes himself as "my brain is vacant, okay? I'm just this critter hiding out in the basement, drooling in my comic books or whatever. All right, I never actually drool, but you get the picture" What does this tell you about what he thinks of himself? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Drawing:Draw the character in an important scene. Include at least three details (either about the character, or the rest of the picture) that tell you what is happening.

  Reactions of Others: How do other characters in the story react to this character? For instance, the men helping Kevin's mother move say "Hey, Gwen, can you give this kid a pill or something? He's driving us nuts." This tells you that Kevin can be annoying - and that people think he needs to be given pills to calm him down. At the end of chapter four, Gwen takes one look at Max and "it's like somebody shot her. Like she's scared out of her mind." What does this tell you about Max? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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