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A Parchment of Leaves


Some cultural things to know before you read
Some linguistic things to know before you read
Some historical things to know before you read

Instructions from the novel about reading the novel:

One Beautiful Sentence assignment
One Beautiful Sentence assignment


One Beautiful Sentence Animoto Assignment Example

What's in a Name? Name Study in A Parchment of Leaves



Silas House Appalachian Writer-in-Residence Page
Silas House's blog

Face Jugs: Stories in Pottery

History of Face Jugs and curent Appalachian potters

Final Project: Family Story Crankies

So, what is a crankie and what's the story behind it?

See examples of beautiful crankies made by Anna and Elizabeth, Virginia folk artists and musicians
Here's video of an audience seeing one, not a video version.

Some other examples of crankies

How a Crankie Works

So what will my quarter assignment be?


1. Understand what makes a good story. We'll discuss and examine this as we read Parchment of Leaves and as we listen to some Appalachian ballads and storytellers. Here are some film makers talking about what makes a good story:

Ken Burns: On Story from Redglass Pictures on Vimeo.



2. You will find a find a family story by talking to parents and grandparents, or a personal story of yourself that has the qualities of a good story. You may embellish.

3. You will begin to embellish the story, practicing telling it. Record yourself on your phone or computer. We will work together on this.

4. Create a storyboard for your story, deciding how to illustrate the story.

5. Begin to illustrate the story on the roll of butcher paper we will share with you,

6. Be prepared to share the story, first as a storytelling; then, as a crankie.
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