Literature Circles - Peacekeepers

Chapter 1

• Was there a consistent voice in this chapter?
• The cover of the book indicates that something might happen to Nell at school. What happens in this chapter?
• How did the description of the incident in the stair landing contrast with the “mouse hair” incident? 

Chapter 2

• Nell gets upset when her brother makes a fuss or “wigs out.” What might be another reason she reacts so strongly over his announce- ment that their mother is dead? What are the stresses in her life right now?
• Are there other indications that their mother’s absence has changed the way she behaves?Nell describes herself as “fierce on the outside, but mushy on the inside.” Discuss briefly what she means by that. 

Chapter 3

• 
  
  For Your Information:
  Flashbacks present events that are out of chronological order, i.e., have hap- pened before the time dealt with in the novel. They take us out of the pres- ent and into the past, and allow us to learn about events that took place before the narrative begins. 
  
  In Peacekeepers, flashbacks are in the past tense, while the rest of the narrative is in the immediate present. Consider:
  
  • What the difference in the two ways of writing is to them as reader.
    
  • Which they prefer.
• Discuss:
  
  • How the two tenses are different as writing tools.Which they like best, as writers. 

Chapter 4

• Does the appearance of the girl standing outside the Highlands
  Centre match that of the girl in the background on the novel cover?
  
• Who do you think she is?

Chapter 5

• Have you learned anything new about Emily Carr in this chapter?
• What?
• How would you describe Mikey? Is he like anyone you know?
• What did Mikey hear that made him think his mom was dead? Why
• did it seem appropriate that Emily Carr would have that information?
• Why do you think Nell confides in this Christine, who is a stranger to her?
• Nell comments that she can understand Emily Carr because she’s a
• loner herself. What, exactly, is a loner? Why is it a bad thing to be? 

Chapter 6

For Your Information:
The following facts may help guide your discussion with students, after they have done the best they can with the questionnaire.
1. According to Statistics Canada, as of July, 2003, Canada’s population is 31,629,677. Unemployment is 8 %; Males live to be 75, on average; females to be 81; the voting age is 21. The UN ranks Canada eighth in the world for literacy.
2. The primary occupation is farming.
3. It’s hard to farm fields that are filled with landmines. 

From the Author:
Most of the information in the e-mails is based on the personal accounts of Master Corporal Leanne Karoles, a Canadian peacekeeper in Bosnia from 2000-2001. Leanne was my student from grades one to six.
The “Sherlock and Watson” e-mail is an exception, however. While there are mine-detecting dogs at work in Bosnia, Mstr. Corporal Karoles says she isn’t aware of any in Velika Kladusa at the time she was there. And although there is a Canadian base in V.K., I have fictionalized the name, at the Mstr. Corporal’s request.
Nell and her family, of course, are entirely characters of my imagination. 

• Why has Nell avoided telling us that her mother is in the armed forces?
• Nell seems concerned that you, the reader, will think she’s “a brat.”
• What do you think about her at this point? Can you understand her
• edginess?
• How do you imagine you would feel if one of your parents were in
• Bosnia or Afghanistan? 

Assignment

Take on the role of peacekeeper, and write a letter or e-mail home, describing where s/he has been and what s/he has done that day. These entries should:
• Be in first person
• Represent an appropriate voice for an adult, writing home to family 
• Contain realistic information about tasks and attitudes of peace-keepers in Bosnia.
• Be handed in with a first draft, as well as an edited, final draft.