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? 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 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?
4) Why doesn t Charlie like high school? 5) What happens between Charlie s sister and her boyfriend? 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? Directions: Choose 3 adjectives that would best describe Charlie thus far. Then, explain you would describe him in those particular ways. Adjective Why would you describe Charlie as that? Do Now: Write about a time you made a new set of friends. Who are/were they? How did you become friends? Are you still friends with them?
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? 2) Why do you think Charlie doesn t ask Sam out? 3) What type of advice does Patrick give Charlie about girls? 4) What is Charlie s excuse for not going to dances or out on dances? 5) Bill tells Charlie We accept the love we think we deserve. What do you think Bill means by that? 6) Why does Charlie s sister tell him that she hates him and that he s a freak? 7) How does Charlie s first party go? 8) What is Brad scared of? 9) What do you think Charlie means when he says in that moment, I swear we were infinite? 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 7 th, 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. Respond to.. Charlie How would you describe Charlie thus far? Is he a likeable character? Why or why not? Part Two (December 11th, 1991 December 25th, 1991) 1) What does Charlie get from his secret Santa? 2) Why does Patrick decide to get Charlie a suit coat? 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? 7) When Charlie is lying in his father s old bed, he thinks a lot of his father. Why does Charlie think that his father carries around a lot of guilt?
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? To Charlie, 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 4 th, 1992- February 15 th ) 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? 9) What happens to Charlie s sister? 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 23 rd, 1992 April 26 th, 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? 3) How does Charlie describe Mary Elizabeth to the reader? 4) After the dinner at Charlie s house, what are his feelings towards Mary Elizabeth? 5) Why does Charlie start to get mad (internally) when Mary Elizabeth gives him a book that she likes? 6) What happens when Patrick dares Charlie to kiss the prettiest girl in the room? 7) How does Mary Elizabeth react to this? How does Sam react to what Charlie does?
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? 9) How do the rest of Charlie s friends react to what he did at the party? Do Now: Write about a time you stuck up for a friend who was being picked on (or vice-versa). Why was this friend being picked on? How did you stick up for them? What wound up happening? Part Four (April 29 th, 1992 May 17 th, 1992); pages 142-164 1) Why do you think Charlie goes up to talk to Susan, who used to be Michael s friend as well?
2) What is Brad s father s reaction when he finds out about his son and Patrick? 3) Why do you think Charlie doesn t do anything, even though he states he wants to be Patrick s friend and help him? 4) What happens between Brad and Patrick in the lunchroom at school? 5) How does Charlie react to this? What does he do? 6) What threat does Charlie make to Brad to ensure something like this never happens again? 7) What advice does Sam give Charlie about Mary Elizabeth? 8) When Patrick tells Charlie about Brad, why does Charlie just sit there and listen to him? Directions: List what Charlie has going for him, as well as what he has going against him. What Charlie has going for him. Charlie
What Charlie doesn t have going for him. Based on what you wrote down, how do you think things will turn out for Charlie for the rest of the book Part Four (May 21st, 1992 June 13th, 1992); pages 164 182 1) What was the senior prank that happened at Charlie s school? 2) How does Charlie feel about Sam going to college in the fall? 3) Why do you think Charlie s psychiatrist keeps asking questions about his childhood? (Charlie doesn t know why either at this point). 4) How do Charlie, Sam and Patrick celebrate the end of the school year? 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?
7) What happens between Charlie and Craig? How does Charlie react to this news? 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 16 th 1992 June 26 th, 1992); pages 183-206 1) Why do you think Charlie gives away the books his read this year as presents to his friends? 2) Why does Charlie start crying? 3) Why do you think Charlie waits until the last day of school to introduce himself to the student that has the locker next to him? 4) Why do you think Charlie never asked Sam out when she broke up with Craig? 5) What do we learn about aunt Helen from the dream Charlie has? What effect has this seemed to have had on Charlie?
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. Epilogue (August 23 rd, 1992); pages 207-213 1) Where do you find out Charlie is? Why is he there? 2) What did Charlie learn that led to his breakdown? What happened to him? 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)
5) Who do you think Charlie was writing to? Does it even matter whom, or even if he is, writing to someone? Why or why not? 6) Which character to you identify with the most? Did you see parts of yourself in any one specific character? Explain your answer. 7) Discuss Charlie s character. Is he sympathetic? Would you be friends with Charlie? Why or why not? 8) What do you think kept Charlie from participating when he entered high school? What held him back? Have you ever felt this way before? 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.
Directions: Write Charlie a letter and say whatever you think you would if you really knew him. February 14, 2017 Dear Charlie, _ Name Date _ Love always,