Text Project

Language Arts TEKS: 8.B.6.A-C

(6) Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from
text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(A) analyze linear plot developments (e.g., conflict, rising action, falling action,
resolution, subplots) to determine whether and how conflicts are resolved; (B) analyze
how the central characters' qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and
resolution of the central conflict; and (C) analyze different forms of point of view,
including limited versus omniscient, subjective versus objective.

Books I Researched with Annotations

The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas is

a short story about a seemingly utopian town, whose happiness is directly dependent on
the misery of one young child. Everyone knows about the child, and some citizens leave
the town out of disgust and guilt. This is a good story because it demonstrates multiple
points of view from the narrator, has very strong imagery, a challenging vocabulary, and
a theme that puts the readers morality (and all of humanity) into question. The material
is challenging reading, with tier three vocabulary.
Bedford, D. (1996). The ones who walk away from Omelas. London: Universal Ed.

The Giver is an engaging book from start to

finish about a boy, Jona, who lives in a society void of conflict and everyones role in life
is assigned to them. As Jona trains for his role as the Giver he discovers the harsh
truth of his world. This book is easy to read, yet doesnt lack in content. The reader is
captured by its unique plot, and imagery. The author explores many controversial
themes that may be challenging for a younger audience.
Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

The Hunger Games is a popular young

adult book about a girl, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take her sisters place in
the annual fight to the death competition ran by the government. The dystopian setting
and brutal obstacles allows readers to observe Katnisss strong character qualities, and
analyze how they influence the authors overall themes. Some of the text is too graphic
for younger readers.
Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. NY, NY: Scholastic Press.

Luna is the story of a high school boy,

Liam/Luna, struggling with his gender identity and gender expression, from the point of
view of his sister, Regan. The author was absolutely brilliant for writing it from Regans
point of view, because it allows the reader to gain understanding and perspective on the
theme of diversity and acceptance.
Peters, J. A. (2004). Luna: A novel. New York: Little, Brown.

Monster tells the story of a young AfricanAmerican teen, Steve, who ends up on trail for murder. While in jail awaiting his trial, he
journals his feelings as a screenplay. The longer he is there the more he begins to
believe he is a monster like all the rest he I surrounded by. Since the text is mostly
written in a screenplay format it might be challenging to struggling readers. The text
provides a new and realistic perspective of troubled youth to readers.
Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Readability Analysis:
The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas

#1

#2

100 Word Sample

Sentences

Words per
Sentence

Omelas sounds in my words like a city

in a fairy tale, long ago and far away,
once upon a time. Perhaps it would be
best if you imagined it as your own
fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the
occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you
all. For instance, how about
technology? I think that there would be
no cars or helicopters in and above the
streets; this follows from the fact that
the people of Omelas are happy
people. Happiness is based on a just
discrimination of what is necessary,
what is neither necessary nor
destructive, and

20.5

They flared their nostrils and pranced

and boasted to one another; they were
vastly excited, the horse being the only
animal who has adopted our
ceremonies as his own. Far off to the
north and west the mountains stood up
half encircling Omelas on her bay. The
air of morning was so clear that the
snow still crowning the Eighteen Peaks
burned with white-gold fire across the
miles of sunlit air, under the dark blue
of the sky. There was just enough wind
to make the banners that marked the
racecourse snap and flutter now and
then. In the silence

20.0

#3

Often the young people go home in

tears, or in a tearless rage, when they
have seen the child and faced this
terrible paradox. They may brood over
it for weeks or years. But as time goes
on they begin to realize that even if the
child could be released, it would not get
much good of its freedom: a little vague
pleasure of warmth and food, no doubt,
but little more. It is too degraded and
imbecile to know any real joy. It has
been afraid too long ever to be free of
fear. Its habits are too uncouth

16.7

Flesch-Kincaid Readability Results

The Ones Who Walk
Away From Omelas

Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Level

Flesch Reading Ease

Passive Sentences\
(%)

Sample #1

7.3

71.5

0%

Sample #2

6.7

76.5

0%

Sample #3

5.6

84.1

0%

Average

6.5

77.4

0%

The Giver
100 Words Sample

Sentences

#1

Almost every citizen in the community had

dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and
so did all of his group members and friends.
But there were a few exceptions: Jonas
himself, and a female Five who he had
noticed had the different, lighter eyes. No one
mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but
was considered rude to call attention to things
that were unsettling or different about individuals. Lily, he decided, would have to learn
that soon, or she would be called in for
chastisement because of her in-sensitive
chatter. Father put his bike into its

Words per
Sentence
16.7

#2

Usually, at the morning ritual when the family

members told their dreams, Jonas didnt
contribute much. He rarely dreamed.
Sometimes he awoke with a feeling of
fragments afloat in his sleep, but he couldnt
seem to grasp them and put them together
into something worthy of telling at the ritual.
But this morning was different. He had
dreamed very vividly the night before. His
mind wandered while Lily, as usual, recounted
a lengthy dream, this one a frightening one in
which she had, against the rules, been riding
her mothers bicycle and been caught by the
Security Guards. They all

14.3

#3

One evening he came home from his training

weighted with new knowledge. The Giver had
chosen a startling and disturbing memory that
day. Under the touch of his hands, Jonas had
found himself suddenly in a place that was
completely alien: hot and windswept under a
vast 99blue sky. There were tufts of sparse
grass, a few bushes and rocks, and nearby
he could see an area of thicker vege-tation:
broad, low trees outlined against the sky. He

20.0

could hear noises: the sharp crack of

weapons he perceived the word guns
and then shouts, and an immense crashing
thud as

Flesch-Kinkaid Readability Results

The Giver

Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Level

Flesch Reading Ease

Passive Sentences\
(%)

Sample #1

7.4

67.1

33%

Sample #2

7.4

67.1

0%

Sample #3

8.2

71.4

0%

Average

7.67

68.5

11%

The Hunger Games

#1

#2

#3

100 Word Sample

Sentences

Sitting at Prims knees, guarding her, is the

worlds ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one
ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash.
Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his
muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. I le
hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it
was years ago, I think he still remembers how I
tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought
him home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with
worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I
needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim
begged so hard, cried even, I had
One by one, we see the other reapings, the
names called, (the volunteers stepping forward
or, more often, not. We examine the faces of the
kids who will be our competition. A few stand out
in my mind. A monstrous boy who lunges forward
to volunteer from District 2. A fox-faced girl with
sleek red hair from District 5. A boy with a crippled
foot from District 10. And most hauntingly, a
twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark
brown skin and eyes, but other than that, shes
very like Prim in size and demeanor. Only when
she mounts
Gradually, subtly, the ringing in my right ear
diminishes until its gone entirely. I find myself
pawing at my left ear periodically, trying to clean
away whatever deadens its ability to collect
sounds. If theres improvement, its undetectable.
I cant adjust to deafness in the ear. It makes me
feel off-balanced and defenseless to my left. Blind
even. My head keeps turning to the injured side,
as my right ear tries to compensate for the wall of
nothingness where yesterday there was a
constant flow of information. The more time that
passes, the less hopeful I am that this is

Words
per
Sentence
11.1

11.1

7.6

14.2

Flesch-Kinkaid Readability Results

Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level

Flesch Reading
Ease

Passive Sentences\
(%)

Sample #1

4.2

84.7

0%

Sample #2

4.9

79.6

0%

Sample #3

7.6

62.1

0%

Average

5.6

75.5

0%

Luna
100 Word Sample

#1

#2

#3

Sentence
s
14

Words per
Sentence
7.1

I retrieve the baby and trailed the kids to their

rooms. In her spare time- when she wasnt
working at her important job of being a
mother- Elise freelanced as a graphic artist.
She was really good. Shed been working for
months on these bedroom murals for the kids.
Codys mural was a baseball player winding
up for a pitch. Number four, his jersey read. If
that was someone famous, I wouldnt know.
Liam would hate this wall. Mirelles wall was a
magic castle with a knight stationed beside
his trusty steed, bowing to a fairy princess.
The princesss outfit

10

10

Liam was back the next morning at

breakfast. In boy role. Something about him
had changed, though. He seemed softer
around the edges. His eyes werent vacant
and dead anymore, as if theyd retained a
glimmer of light from last night. He seemed
looser, too, more relaxed, almost comfortable
in his body. I was relieved, glad for him, but
worried. When Id finally drifted off to sleep
around midnight, Id had a dream. A
premonition that Liam was going to do
something dangerous again. Impulsive.

12

8.3

My stomach lurched. Surreptitiously I

glanced around the room. A lot of the people
in here I knew. Not well, of course, but Id
grown up in this neighborhood. My only real
friends were Alyson and Liam, which was fine.
Really. I mean, who had time for a hundred
friends? Sometimes I felt as if my brother and
I shared one life. His. We were both
disembodied hollows. My eyes landed on a
solitary figure in the back who was thundering
up the aisle toward me. I swiveled around
fast. Please, God, no, I prayed, invoking my
invisibility shield. Not

Reckless. The dream was hazy and I couldnt

invoke a clear image this morning; couldnt

Flesch-Kinkaid Readability Results

Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level

Flesch Reading
Ease

Passive Sentences\
(%)

Sample #1

3.8

80.2

0%

Sample #2

4.7

79.0

0%

Sample #3

4.6

75.5

0%

Average

4.4

78.2

0%

Monster
100 Word Sample

#1

#2

#3

Sentence
s
8

Words per
Sentence
12.5

In a way he was right, at least about me. I want to

look like a good person. I want to feel like Im a
good person because I believe I am. But being in
here with these guys makes it hard to think about
yourself as being different. We look about the
same, and even though Im younger than they
are, its hard not to notice that we are all pretty
young. I see what Miss OBrien meant when she
said part of her job was to make me look human
in the eyes of the jury. When Lynch

14.3

Camera pans to side of COURTROOM, where a

COURT OFFICER opens the door and leans out,
He holds the door open until RICHARD BOBO
EVANS enters. He is a big man, heavy, and ugly.
His hair is uncombed, and his orange prison jumpsuit is wrinkled. BRIGGS: Your honor, could we
have a sidebar? BRIGGS, OBRIEN,
PETROCELLI and COURT STENOGRAPHER go
to side of JUDGEs bench, where they speak in
whispers. BRIGGS: Why is he dressed in a prison
uniform? The prosecution is going to try to
connect him to my client. With him in prison gear,
that prejudices my client.

12.5

If your life outside was real, then everything in

here is just the opposite. We sleep with strangers,
wake up with strangers, and go to the bathroom in
front of strangers. They're strangers but they still
find reasons to hurt each other. Sometimes I feel
like I have walked into the middle of a movie. It is
a strange movie with no plot and no beginning.
The movie is in black and white, and grainy.
Sometimes the camera moves in so close that
you cant tell what is going on and you just listen
to the sounds and guess. I

Flesch-Kinkaid Readability Results

Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level

Flesch Reading
Ease

Passive Sentences\
(%)

Sample #1

4.5

85.0

0%

Sample #2

3.9

92.5

0%

Sample #3

6.0

74.0

0%

Average

4.8

83.8

0%

Reflections
The readability grade level for The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas
was determined 6th grade, however I believe the diction and sentence structure is more
suited for higher-grade levels, especially if reading independently. The diction of text is
more suitable for 8th grade, because it requires them to use more context clues. This
short story had the longest sentence structure. I could use this short story in a lesson to
teach point of view, imagery, or theme as it relates to the TEKs I have chosen.
The Giver resulted in a Flesch reading ease average of 68.5. While this is
standard for grade levels 7-8, I think the book will be a fairly easy read, and will keep
the reader engaged. The main character is and the conflicts he faces are relatable to
the targeted age group. This text would be perfect for teaching plot in regards to the 8 th
grade TEKs.
The Hunger Games is a very popular young adult book that would definitely
capture the students interest from start to end. The readability tested at a 5 th grade
reading level, however I believe the content of the text may be more suitable for a more
mature audience. There were frequent tier 2 words, but none that would make it more
difficult to read fluently. The strong central characters qualities in this text were perfect
for teaching a lesson connecting to theme as pertaining to the TEKs.
Luna is tested to be on a 4th-5th-grade level. This book was given the Flesch
reading ease of 78.2 because it has very short, sometimes choppy, sentences and is
very easy read. However, the text addresses the struggles of being a transgender teen
so the content is better for an 8th grade level or older. The book is perfect for the TEKs
addressing a big central theme, and providing them with a new perspective.
Monster is a worthwhile text. The readability grade level is 4 th-5th and it is a very
easy read, however like the last text some of the content ma be better suited for a more
mature grade level. The book has a unique point of view and has a very strong theme.
That being said, I would definitely use this book in a lesson about the TEKs I chose.