Welcome to Week Three! I am really excited to read your Suspense and Thriller annotations. I’ll be honest and tell you I am really under the weather today – and I’m irritated about it because I got a flu shot and everything! I rarely get sick so when I do I’m terribly whiny and wimpy. Luckily I have a saint of a husband who is out right now getting honey for my tea.
So, the point of me telling you that was that I don’t really feel like sitting up at the computer for too long today (irony? Since it’s taking me so long to tell you? English majors?) so this will be short and sweet. I've posted a power point about the genres in Week Three Resources. Please review that and read your classmates annotations. Feel free to start a discussion here, on your blog, or on a classmates blog about things you've noticed about Suspense and Thrillers. We are all learning from each other here – and I think I benefit more than a lot of you since I do readers’ advisory at work.
Second – this week we are reviewing the tools of the trade. Quite possibly the most useful and popular tool is Novelist. This is a database that most public libraries subscribe to. IndyPL does, and with your IUPUI registration, you are eligible for an IndyPL card, but I know a lot of you don’t live anywhere near Indianapolis. Please email me if your public library does not subscribe to Novelist and I will let you use a card number from my library.
Once you find Novelist in your library’s list of databases, there are plenty of tutorials on how to use it. Directly to the right of the search box should be a button that says “How to Use Novelist.” Review Also, above that are several tiny links, one of which is Help. That has also proven very useful to me.
IUPUI has a RA database as well – Reader’s Advisory Online. I don’t find this quite as intuitive as Novelist but some people think it is easier to use. There is a Help link at the top of the page which gives you a quick overview of how to use it. The Tour and Video buttons up there go nowhere – I don’t think they ever have. It’s up to you what you prefer. Both Novelist and RA Online allow you to search by appeal, rather than just genre or age group which is what is really important. So play around and get used to those, or just one of them if you find one you immediately prefer.
There is also quite a comprehensive list in Oncourse Week Three resources of some great RA resources, put together by Mary Chelton – whose name you may recognize from other readings.
So, by the end of this week, I will need from you:
- Suspense and Thriller Annotations (for those who are doing Suspense and Thriller)
- Prompt Response
Please also remember that by the end of Week Four I will need to have your Secret Shopper Assignment! That one takes some planning so be looking ahead! With that, here is a great video about conducting a RA interview. This is from the perspective of a children’s librarian, but most everything is still relevant.
I will post the prompt response later today (Monday). Thanks!
Are Suspense and Thriller two categories or one? In the reading (I don't remember which reading at the moment), the terms seemed to be used interchangeably. For example, when I was looking for characteristics for The DaVinci Code, it seemed to fit both (when looking at your PowerPoint). I'm doing Dan Brown's new book for the Suspense and Thriller annotation, so I just want to call it the right thing. :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Can we underline/italicize, etc. in the comments? I don't see any options for that type of thing.
Oh, and yeah, I don't know of a way to format text in these replies. Does html work?
DeleteOk, so we can use html tags to format if we want. I won't get irritated with non-italicized titles for people who don't want to though.
DeleteHi Matt,
ReplyDeleteSuspense and Thriller are two different genres. Make sure to read the chapters on suspense and thriller in the text. That gives you a good overview. They are very similar but there are differences. Why don't you look at the different characteristics while reading? Saricks actually places the Da Vinci Code in Adventure - but I could definitely see it as a thriller too.
Dumb question, can be experimental in our Annotations. Instead of "spelling it out" each time by saying 1. Appeals 2. Characteristics ... etc., can we incorporate that as in paragraph form? Or would you rather it be OBVIOUS?? thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes Suzie, there have been some great examples of more narrative annotations by some your classmates already. As long as the information is there I don't care how it is structured, feel free to make it your own. And that was a great question!
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