Journal+Topics

**// Purple Heart //** ** Possible Journal Topics ** Our military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq has recently been declared the longest consecutive period of time when this nation has been at war. What do you know about these wars? Why did we get involved in these conflicts? Why are we still involved? How can we “win’ these wars?
 * // Choose a medium for you journal responses. Consider these choices: notebook, a series of letters, audio journal, voicethreads, a wiki, blog, or presentation software/websites. //**

Does an author’s gender matter? Were there any times while you were reading the book when you were aware that the author was a female? If so, list the examples. Do men and women write differently?

Any time humans wage war against each other there is an attempt to dehumanize the enemy. This may make it easier to carry out the difficult acts that are a part of war. In World War II we had derogatory nicknames for the Japanese and Germans. During the Vietnam War soldiers had a slang term for the Vietnamese. In this novel, the Iraqi citizens are referred to as “hajis.” Are there any positive Iraqi characters in the novel? Do you feel the Iraqis are portrayed fairly? Is the way that the Iraqis are characterized a product of the type of narration (third person limited)?

Is //Purple Heart// a mystery? Why or why not?

=UDL Checkpoint 1.1 Offer ways of customizing the display of information ﻿UDL checkpoint 2.5: Illustrate through multiple media= =UDL checkpoint 3.4: ﻿Maximize transfer and generalization=