Scan barcode
marie6's review
3.0
I previewed this audiobook to see if this would help the middle schoolers write about the book. Meh, maybe but maybe not... (Going to give it a try though.)
What I did like was that part 8/'chapter' 8 discussed the goals quite similarly to the was the boys' social studies teacher does (claim, evidence, explanation vs "Make your point. Support it with a quotation. ...your comments on why the point is important.") so it is a familiar paragraph format for them. Then part 9 walks through a specific example and critique of/feedback about it. I think at least one of my boys (the aspie) responds better to examples being critiqued and edited than his own writing (he is reluctant to get rid of anything he writes and aims to salvage as much of his original wording as possible rather than scraping and changing gears... but this idea is somewhat addressed when the narrator redirects the goal of the response early on--I will pause and emphasize that idea).
Other parts:
Intro, Prologue, Part 1- not sure how to attribute this, it's sort of part summary, part reenactment/songs, part first person character asides/commentaries... I was not particularly a fan, but I do imagine for some listeners this is really a selling point (I am curious how the boys will respond to this
Part 2- continuation of part 1? more character commentaries (narrator is almost interviewing some of them), again still rather odd in my opinion but it I realize it might prove helpful in deeper comprehension for some listeners (which could be quite useful if the text itself was not well grasped to begin with, since the rest focuses on analysis and writing)
Part 3- introduces analysis and goals of exam responses, and provides background on Orwell
Part 4- background on Russia/Russian revolution (early on including a foreword Orwell wrote for one edition)
Part 5- Tying related history and Orwell's self in with book's course and characters (touches a bit on changes he made and why). It also lightly discusses difficulty getting published.
Part 6- Discusses fables and anthropomorphism, as well as other (non-Russian) revolutions.
Part 7- Reviews major themes, moderately okay and might prove helpful
(Part 8 & 9 see above)
Part 10- Focuses on quotations, which is so-so but at least does have some good ones. I think this likely is not the strongest piece, but perhaps it can serve well as a spark for seeking others on your own.
Part 11- Focuses on questions for the listener to independently contemplate in preparation for essay testing.
If you are keen on the format and methods of presentation, I think this could help. I found the most useful portions for myself to be some of the back history in 3 and 4 (perhaps something in 6, but nothing jumped out in my memory as new), I knew some of it but some was new information that I found helpful. But I suspect that the sections 7-9 will prove the most useful for my boys. I suppose I will see once they listen themselves.
What I did like was that part 8/'chapter' 8 discussed the goals quite similarly to the was the boys' social studies teacher does (claim, evidence, explanation vs "Make your point. Support it with a quotation. ...your comments on why the point is important.") so it is a familiar paragraph format for them. Then part 9 walks through a specific example and critique of/feedback about it. I think at least one of my boys (the aspie) responds better to examples being critiqued and edited than his own writing (he is reluctant to get rid of anything he writes and aims to salvage as much of his original wording as possible rather than scraping and changing gears... but this idea is somewhat addressed when the narrator redirects the goal of the response early on--I will pause and emphasize that idea).
Other parts:
Intro, Prologue, Part 1- not sure how to attribute this, it's sort of part summary, part reenactment/songs, part first person character asides/commentaries... I was not particularly a fan, but I do imagine for some listeners this is really a selling point (I am curious how the boys will respond to this
Part 2- continuation of part 1? more character commentaries (narrator is almost interviewing some of them), again still rather odd in my opinion but it I realize it might prove helpful in deeper comprehension for some listeners (which could be quite useful if the text itself was not well grasped to begin with, since the rest focuses on analysis and writing)
Part 3- introduces analysis and goals of exam responses, and provides background on Orwell
Part 4- background on Russia/Russian revolution (early on including a foreword Orwell wrote for one edition)
Part 5- Tying related history and Orwell's self in with book's course and characters (touches a bit on changes he made and why). It also lightly discusses difficulty getting published.
Part 6- Discusses fables and anthropomorphism, as well as other (non-Russian) revolutions.
Part 7- Reviews major themes, moderately okay and might prove helpful
(Part 8 & 9 see above)
Part 10- Focuses on quotations, which is so-so but at least does have some good ones. I think this likely is not the strongest piece, but perhaps it can serve well as a spark for seeking others on your own.
Part 11- Focuses on questions for the listener to independently contemplate in preparation for essay testing.
If you are keen on the format and methods of presentation, I think this could help. I found the most useful portions for myself to be some of the back history in 3 and 4 (perhaps something in 6, but nothing jumped out in my memory as new), I knew some of it but some was new information that I found helpful. But I suspect that the sections 7-9 will prove the most useful for my boys. I suppose I will see once they listen themselves.
More...