Fight Club Lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Fight Club

Lesson 1

In Class Today

• Introduction to the theme & assessment
• Introduction to the author
• Introduction to the novel
• Start reading

Introduction to the theme

1. Introduction
2. The Narrator
3. Characterization
4. Mood & Setting
5. Foreshadowing
6. Symbolism
7. Theme
8. Plot
9. Altered Book 

Assessment 

The assessment of your final product will cover two parts:

1) your altered book

2) a written justification

Part 1: altered book

Your goal for this theme is to transform or upcycle a book into a creative work of art that accurately analyses and represents literary components and your understanding of the novel you read with the class.

You will be utilizing a variety of different techniques and media to make your “Altered Book” interesting and eye-catching. 

Part 2: written justification

You will have to write an analysis of the theme you have chosen in the novel and how you have chosen to represent this theme in your creative response. 

• 500 words (deviation 10%)
  

RUBRIC

RUBRIC

This is a group assignment

But you will receive an individual assessment

Workbook

You can download a student workbook on Magister.me. 

You will focus on just one theme from the novel and answer the questions concerning this theme in your workbook.

Altered Page

Altered Page

Altered Page

Altered Page

Altered Page

Altered Page

Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington

 on February 21, 1962. 

He grew up in a blue-collar home, but after the divorce of his parents, Palahniuk and his siblings were sent to live with their maternal grandparents on a cattle ranch in Eastern Washington State.

He attended the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism in the 80’s and 

spent time working as a journalist. 

The T-shirt that Chuck Palahniuk is wearing was inspired by the very American, culturally-promoted expectations of living 'happily ever after'.

Chuck Palahniuk

Palahniuk was a hybrid worker, taking on blue-collar jobs, including one job as a mechanic, while also exercising his literary talents by writing how-to manuals for fixing trucks. 

He began writing seriously in his mid-thirties after attending a 

seminar hosted by writer Tom Spanbauer. This relationship would influence Palahniuk’s minimalist writing style. 

Palahniuk also volunteered at a shelter and a hospice where he grew very close to a patient who passed away. He did not continue volunteering after the death of his patient friend.

Hybrid workers spend part of their time in the office and part of their time working elsewhere.

Minimalism is “a style or technique (as in music, literature, or design) that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity”, and it can also be defined as: “When less becomes more”. This means, that the classics elements like setting, time and actions is reduced, while e.g. the elements symbols and narrator are expanded. The minimalist literature let the reader think more about the story, and it appeals to the readers fantasy. When a story gets more minimalistic, the meaning of the readers ability to read, understand and interpret the story gets more important.

Fight Club

His first attempt at publication never garnered him an agent. He wrote a short story in response to his rejection from publishing agencies and this short story later became chapter six of his novel, Fight Club. The first edition of the novel had a short shelf life. 

Interest in the novel from 20th Century Fox led to Palahniuk securing an agent, and later led to the film adaptation of his novel. The film and the novel have gone on to become cult hits, making Palahniuk an award-winning novelist.

Fight Club

Fight Club follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. Inspired by his doctor's remark that insomnia is not suffering, the protagonist finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups. 

Then he meets a mysterious man named Tyler Durden and establishes an underground fighting club as radical psychotherapy.

Start Reading

Fight Club

Read chapters 1-4 for our next meeting