Here is an example letter about a book that I recently read. Please read it carefully and answer the questions below.
Dear Students,
I'd like to tell you about a very good book that I have recently finished. It's called "Do Androids Dream of Electic Sheep." In case your wondering, an "android" is a robot (machine) that looks just like a human. The author of the book is Philip K. Dick. The book has has about 250 pages. This book was so good that I finished it in one week!
There are three main characters in the book. The "hero" and most important character in the story is Rick Deckard. He is a "bounty hunter." A bounty hunter is like a police officer. The job of a bounty hunter is to find and kill androids (robot humans) living on earth. Another important character in the book is Rachel Rosen. She is an android. However, she looks just like a beautiful woman, and she is smarter than most humans. The last important character is J.R. Isodore. He has a very good heart, but he is not very smart. He becomes friend with three of the androids in the story because he doesn't have any human friends. Rick Deckard is my favorite character. He is very brave, and he always seems to have good luck. I also like him because towards the end of the book, he starts to realize that killing androids might be wrong.
My favorite part of the book is when Rick Deckard is taken to jail by an android police officer. While he's in jail, he meets another bounty hunter who works for the android police officer (he doesn't know the police officer is an android). The police officer tells Deckard that the bounty hunter is also an android even though he isn't. In the end, the bounty hunter saves Deckard from the android police officer.
I think that level 3 students would enjoy this book. It has lots of action, and it describes a lot of interesting technology that didn't exist when the book was published (in 1968!) but that we have today. For example, in the book, people talk on video phones where you can see the person you are talking to. We have this today with technology like Skype. Finally, the book has a good message. If you want to know the message, you'll have to read the book!
Sincerely,
Your teacher, Josh
Comprehension Questions (collected HW)
a. What is an "android"?
b. Who is the main character in the book? Describe him.
c. Describe Josh's favorite part of the story. What happens?
d. In your opinion, does this sound like an interesting book? Why or why not?
