Name______________________________________________________Date______________________ The Perks of Being a Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky Do Now: Write about a time you were scared to be somewhere new and different? Where was it? What made you scared? What happened when you finally got there? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Pre-Reading 1) What is the title of our new book?______________________________________________________________ 2) Who is the author?__________________________________________________________________________ 3) Based only on the title and the picture, what do you think this story might be about? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4) Come up with least 2 questions that you have about our book that you would like to see answered. a) ______________________________________________________________________________ b) _______________________________________________________________________________ Part One (August 25 th , 1991 – September 29 th , 1991) 1) Immediately, how is this book written differently than most? As a reader, how do you feel having the story told this way? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2) Who is the narrator of this story? Is he speaking to the reader or to someone else? Or maybe to everyone? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3) What has happened to Charlie’s friend, Michael? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Wallflower – someone who feels shy and awkward, particularly at a party or dance.
Pre-Reading 1) What is the title of our new book?______________________________________________________________ 2) Who is the author?__________________________________________________________________________ 3) Based only on the title and the picture, what do you think this story might be about? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
4) Come up with least 2 questions that you have about our book that you would like to see answered. a) ______________________________________________________________________________
b) _______________________________________________________________________________
Part One (August 25th, 1991 – September 29th, 1991) 1) Immediately, how is this book written differently than most? As a reader, how do you feel having the story told this way? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Who is the narrator of this story? Is he speaking to the reader or to someone else? Or maybe to everyone? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
6) Charlie says of the boyfriend, ‘I guess he stood up to his bully’. Why does Charlie say this, especially when it involves his sister? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Part One (October 6th, 1991 – October 28th, 1991) 1) Why do you think Charlie refers to Patrick as ‘nothing’? What does that say about how he views people? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Directions: Complete the chart below based on Charlie’s experiences thus far.
Problem or Challenge
How would you handle it? What do you think will eventually happen to Charlie in regard to this situation?
Charlie is a wallflower – shy and awkward around
new people
Charlie sees his sister’s
boyfriend hit her
Charlie find out about
Patrick and Brad
Part Two (November 7th, 1991 – December 7th, 1991) 1) Why is Charlie enjoying school now much more than when he first started? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
2) As it is told to Charlie, why did Brad start to avoid Patrick? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
3) What are Charlie’s feelings towards Sam? However, what’s the bad news about Sam? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
4) How does Charlie’s mom deal with the fact that her son (Charlie’s brother) cancelled his trip home for Thanksgiving? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
5) Do you think Michael’s death contributed to his parents getting a divorce? Why or why not? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
6) At Thanksgiving dinner, Charlie says "I'm thankful that my brother played football on television so nobody fought". Why do you think he says this? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
7) For secret Santa, who does Charlie have and what does he plan on getting him? Why do you think he is giving that for a present? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Directions: Complete the chart below based on what you have learned about Charlie.
Part Two (December 11th, 1991 – December 25th, 1991) 1) What does Charlie get from his secret Santa? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
3) How do you think Charlie feels when Sam gives him her gift? What does she say that really catches his attention? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
4) What happens between Sam and Charlie? Why does she do this? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
5) Why do you think Charlie gets his father a recording of MASH? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
6) What does Charlie’s brother say to their sister that almost starts a fight? Why do you think he said it? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Directions: Since Charlie is always writing letters and sharing a lot of his life with his readers, write your own letter to Charlie. What would you tell him if you had the chance?
Part Two (December 26th, 1991 – February 15th, 1992); pages 89-117 1) What do we learn about how Aunt Helen was? What happened to her when she was younger? Also, how did this affect her as she got older? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Why does Charlie feel guilty about Aunt Helen’s death? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
3) How does Charlie react when he goes to see Aunt Helen’s grave for the first time by himself? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
4) What is Charlie afraid might happen if he continues to be depressed and things don’t get better? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Part Three (January 4th, 1992- February 15th) 5) How does Sam help Charlie get himself back on track? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
6) Why do you think Charlie is suddenly in a very good mood after meeting with his psychiatrist? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
7) What happens to Charlie at the Rocky Horror? Also, what does Mary Elizabeth ask him? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
8) Why do you think Charlie wants Sam to be a little jealous of Mary Elizabeth? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Literary Characterization: How would you characterize Charlie and his two closest friends? Select an adjective for each and give an example that illustrates each trait.
Character Character Trait Action that illustrates this trait
Charlie
Sam
Patrick
Do Now: Write about a time you did something that felt right ( you thought it was right), but that you immediately regretted right after you did it.
What did you do? Why did it feel like the right thing to do? Why did you regret it right after?
Part Three (February 23rd, 1992 – April 26th, 1992); pages 117-139 1) Why does Charlie leave the clinic where his sister is at and goes to sit in the car? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Why do you think Charlie calls an 800 number but doesn’t want to order anything? Why call at all? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
8) Charlie ends his letter with ‘Something is really wrong with me. And I don’t know what it is’. What do you think is wrong with Charlie? How do you think he can learn to deal with these feelings?
5) When he’s at the party, Charlie says "It was a great way to sit alone at a party, and still feel a part of things". Do you think Charlie is still a wallflower or is he slowly breaking out of it?
6) Why do you think Charlie’s good grades don’t put him in a good mood? Why might he feel so down at a time of year when most people are feeling very positive?
Directions: Fill out the graphic organizer below based on the main characters and how they have changed and/or remained the same during the school year.
Character How has this character changed? How has this character remained the same?
Charlie
Sam
Patrick
Part Four (June 16th 1992 – June 26th, 1992); pages 183-206 1) Why do you think Charlie gives away the books his read this year as presents to his friends?
6) In his letter, Charlie tells the reader he doesn’t want them (or us) to worry about him. Would you or are you worried about him? Explain why or why not.
7) Charlie ends this letter and part 4 of the book by simply saying goodbye. What do you think will happen next? Make a prediction for what will happen in the books last section, the Epilogue.
3) Charlie tells his reader to believe that things are good for him, "and even when they're not, they will be soon". What do you think he means by this?
Reflection Directions: Complete the chart below based on what you know and feel about the characters.
Character What do you think life will be like for them in 5 years?
Charlie
Sam
Patrick
4) Above, color in how many stars you would rate this book. Below: Overall, explain what you thought about ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’. What did you like or dislike? Be specific. (You can´t say yes or no)
9) Discuss Aunt Helen’s character and presence in the novel. Were you surprised when the truth about her relationship with Charlie was revealed? Why or why not? Explain your answer.
