Notebook pages are introduced from left to right. Apologies for not being able to put a slide show, the internet refuses to upload it to my media library.

The book I read for our unit, ‘Stranger than Fiction’ was ‘Unbroken’ by Laura Hillenbrand. Unbroken is an immersive biography that depicts the experiences and hardships of Olympic medalist Louis Zamperini, otherwise known as Louie. The book covers the happenings of World War II from a firsthand experience, presenting Louie as an unruly child who grew to become a war veteran and a firsthand witness of the cruelty in Japanese POW camps. The bellicose environment these men were required to survive is a stark reminder of what those before us did, and how we have come to where we are today.

 

Texts are Complex

The first page that I include is ‘Texts are Complex.’ This is a one-pager where we were tasked to identify the earliest central ideas. The ideas are written clearly beneath the subtitles, and the explanations are in red boxes beside their respective ideas. One of these two ideas I identified is that “encouragement from family is essential in becoming successful.” The evidence supporting this states that “watching Louie, whose getaway speed was his saving grace, Pete thought he saw some talent. He wanted to make a runner out of him. The following quote can be found on page 15. Predictably, this central idea will alter multiple times over the course of the book. The illustrations on the page act as space cosmetic decor, although the two butterflies represent Louie and Pete; flying higher and achieving greater feats together.

Narrative and Informational Elements

The second and third pages I include are the two that take a closer look at the different elements that make up a literary nonfiction piece. These two pages,s in turn, are also synthesis pages. In the portion of text within the red box, I explain how the ideas interlink to form a common pattern throughout the book. There are multiple notable narrative elements within ‘Unbroken,’ yet one particularly stands out. Imagery. An example can be taken from the book: “…felt a tearing sensation, then scorching pain in his ankle and knee…” This phrase thoroughly describes the sheer agony prisoners from POW camps endure while going through beatings.

As I have noticed, there are more informational elements than narrative within the book. This provides factual content, categorizing it as a member of the nonfiction genre. A couple telltale signs of informational elements may include graphs and photos from real events. For example, a graph of a B-24 bomber is presented on page 54 and a photo of gunner Stanley Pillsbury manning his artillery is on page 82.

Theme and Central Idea

My fourth and fifth pages are dedicated to the themes and central ideas I managed to identify. The content is clearly labelled with subtitles and separated clearly. A theme that I have found is that “never give up hope, even if the odds are stacked against you.” This is taught to us through Louie’s continuous hope upon the raft, even when all seemed hopeless. “Phil, Louie and Mac would soon be in dire trouble…they’d be rescued. Today, perhaps tomorrow.” This quote can be found on page 108. This gives good insight into Louie’s optimistic and hopeful view of his situation, despite being on the brink of death.

Along with the theme, I also dug up a couple central ideas from the book. One of the duo is that “WWII was a cruel and unforgiving environment.” A couple quotes of evidence can support this: “In one barracks, men lost an average of fifty-four pounds over eighteen months…twenty men fainted each day…(Page 193).” According to the small box of reasoning beside the evidence, I agree that the Japanese knew no limits in how poorly they would treat these men.

Connections Page

This is another synthesis one-pager that I did for my sixth page. It decipts the multitude of central idea, forming a series of pattern to conclude on a final large central idea. Arrows pointing between each sticky note describe their relation to one another. The map gives a visual representation of how the story is linked together by the series of central ideas.

Town Hall Notes

The seventh and eighth pages contribute to the Town Hall notes taken during and before our short presentation of our “should” statements. The “should” statement connects back to the central idea I identified earlier, one that claimed WWII was a ruthless and cruel era. The first part of the two pages is made up of notes from other groups; everything is clearly labelled. My own evidence is written below, with quotes along with reasoning for each of them.