1a. What does Laura do in algebra class? What does she do in Latin class?
2a. What is Rachel Horton's real name?
3a. What is the subject of Laura's speech?
4a. What does Laura realize when she sees the writing on one of the white cards?
5a. Examining Laura's thoughts, words, and actions, identify her feelings toward the people around her. Categorize your findings. How does she feel about Rachel? What are her feelings toward the group of popular students? How does she feel about society?
6a. How effectively does "The Fan Club" deliver important ideas about human character and individual attitudes toward society?
1b. Why might this behavior cause other students to act coldly toward her?
2b. What reasons might Rachel have for changing her last name at school?
3b. What does Laura's speech reveal about her character? How does she later contradict herself?
4b. How does Laura feel when she realizes what the group had been plotting? Why does she join the "fan club"?
5b. How do Laura's attitudes toward others reflect her personal character?
6b. The poem "Two People I Want to Be Like" also deals with human character and attitudes toward society but takes a different approach in delivering its main idea. How is the approach different from that of "The Fan Club"? How are the people in the poem different from or similar to the characters in "The Fan Club"?
Theme. What theme or themes are central to "The Fan Club"? Which parts of the story convey the theme or themes most strongly?
Irony. What does Laura say and do that makes her decision at the end of the story ironic? What might Laura have found to be ironic about the labels on the white cards?
1. Write a note to Miss Merrill, the teacher in "The Fan Club," posing as the parent of one of the students in the class. Inform her of your feelings about the speech assignment.
2. Imagine that your best friend is running for class president. Write a short editorial letter to the school newspaper, describing the characteristics of your friend that make him or her the best candidate for president.
3. Imagine you are the coach of a soccer team made up of five- and six-year-olds. Write a short speech for an end-of-season picnic, stating why you enjoyed working with your team.
Finding the Simple Subject and Verb. To find basic meaning in a sentence, you need to get down to the most basic sentence units. These are the simple subject and the simple predicate. Most people call the simple predicate the verb. Read the Language Arts Survey 3.18, "Finding the Simple Subject and the Simple Predicate in a Sentence," and 3.19, "How to Find the Simple Subject and Verb." For each sentence below, place square brackets around the simple subject and curly brackets around the verb.
Example The popular [girls] {treated} Rachel badly.
1. The group laughed when Rachel gave her speech about seashells.
2. Everyone has joined the Hortensky Fan Club.
3. Laura might have been rehearsing her speech for hours.
4. The nervous girl sometimes stutters in front of a crowd.
5. The unpopular girl did not dress in the right clothes.
6. No one realized that Rachel was really a bright and interesting person.
7. Laura and Rachel eventually became good friends.
8. The students wanted to apologize to Rachel.
9. I wish I had the nerve to stand up for Rachel Hortensky.
10. Many people do not recognized their own prejudices.
Antonyms. An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. Find an antonym (or near antonym) for each of the following adjectives, or description words, from "The Fan Club." Use a dictionary or a thesaurus to check your answers or to help lead you to the answers.
Example common: rare
1. hostile
2. narrow
3. heartless
4. gaudy
5. hollow
6. bored
7. wild
8. smooth
9. drab
10. intimate
11. sarcastic
12. frenzied
13. distant
14. better
15. humorless
Writing Company Policy: Explore the Civil Rights Act and its amendments by conducting a search on the Internet or looking for materials in your library. After comparing and contrasting several policies, write an equal opportunity and anti-discrimination policy for your own school. Think about thr ways in which to ensure that each student would be treated equally by administrators, teachers, and fellow students. Check your policy to make sure it sets the right tone, is clearly understandable, and outlines your beliefs. Research Log. Use this log to keep track of the sources you use, the information you find, and your reactions what you learn.
Internet sources:
Books and print sources:
Answers to textbook questions:
