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Given the nature of the 2011 summer reading program, you had significant autonomy in selecting the books you would read. While you were responsible for completing a proposal, you were not given other assignments to complete over the summer. As indicated on your proposal form, you are required to write a letter to your 2011-12 Language Arts teacher that demonstrates your thoughtful reading of your book. We have chosen to break this down further into three focused "Power Paragraphs" for two reasons, one, to introduce you to the idea of a power paragraph, and two, to assist you in covering all aspects of the assignment.

__ Prompt for Paragraph One - A Reflection of Your Choice __
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

My original expectations of //Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban// by J.K. Rowling were beyond met after having read the book. I thought it was going to be just as entertaining and suspenseful as the movies are. As stated in my proposal, I chose to read the book because it had been recommended to me by several of my peers, and having watched the movies, I expected the story to be packed full of action, mystery, and adventure (Summer Reading Proposal). After reading the book, it proved to go beyond my expectations by not only being full of action, mystery, and suspense, but also containing several plot twists that kept me guessing what was going to happen next.

Rowling, J.K. //Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban//. New York: Arthur A. Levine, 1999. Print.

Good content and use of PP structure. You might consider moving your proposal quote up to the 1st or 2nd line.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/2 **

I learned from this novel that you should never lose hope. In //Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban//, Sirius Black doesn't lose hope that he will escape from Azkaban. He knows that he is innocent, so that keeps him from going insane and keeps him hoping to someday get out of Azkaban. "[He] think[s] the only reason [he] never lost [his] mind is that [he] knew [he] was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of [him]... but it kept [him] sane and knowing who [he] [is]..." (Rowling 371). The book has taught me not to give up hope, even in a situation that seems to be against me. Nice job on the paragraph. Where is your citation?

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Sunday, 8/28 **

The perfect reader for //Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban// would be someone who enjoys fantasy, action, and surprises. This book would be extremely entertaining to someone who appreciates those aspects of a story. The genre of the book is fantasy, considering it is about a magical world containing wizards and mythical creatures. There is a great deal of action in the book, from the exciting Quidditch games to the battles between wizards, and the book is full of surprises, for example when Harry finds out Sirius Black is his god-father (Rowling 206) and when he is told that Professor Lupin is a werewolf (Rowling 352). The reader would also need to be willing to commit to reading a series of books, since this is the third book in the //Harry Potter// series. I would recommend this book to most people, but someone who enjoy s fantasy, action, and surprises would enjoy it the most.


 * Scoring: Your three paragraphs will be given one overall grade, and the timeliness of your posts will be reflected in your "timeliness" grade. **

// An outstanding response to the prompts will include the following: //
 * A strong topic sentence that clearly establishes the focus on the prompt
 * Evidence that clearly supports the topic sentence
 * Correct use of internal citations and a properly formatted MLA citation for your book (put this citation at the end of paragraph one)
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning