1900-1909 The electric summer / Richard Peck -- 1910-1919 Moving on / Jeanette Ingold -- 1920-1929 Bootleg summer / Will Weaver -- 1930-1939 Brother, can you spare a dream? / Jackie French Koller -- 1940-1949 Waiting for the war / Graham Salisbury -- 1950-1959 We loved Lucy / Trudy Krisher -- 1960-1969 Fourth and too long / Chris Crutcher -- 1970-1979 Do you know where your parents are? / Bruce Brooks -- 1980-1989 Rust never sleeps / Chris Lynch -- 1990-1999 Y2K.CHATRM43 / Alden R. Carter.
NOTE TO TEACHERS
In Time Capsule: Short Stories About Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century, readers get a glimpse of teenage life in each decade of the 20th century With each short story prefaced by a jactual overview of the period, students quickly learn the issues and events in society that help shape the lives of the teenage main characters. This combination offact and fiction makes Donald Gollo's collection an ideal book to use with the social studies and language arts curriculum. The book's themes offer students the opportunity to think about how their thoughts andjeelings compare to those of teenagers in post generations.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Award-winning short story anthologist Donald R. Gallo has brought together 10 original short stories that give readers a snapshot of what teenage life was like in each decade of the 20th century.
SHORT STORIES IN THE TIME CAPSULE
"The Electric Summer" Richard Peck
"Moving On" Jeanette Ingold
"Bootleg Summer" Will Weaver
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dream?"
Jackie French Koller
'Waiting for the War" Graham Salisbury
'We Loved Lucy" Trudy Krisher
"Fourth and Too Long" Chris Crutcher
"Do You Know Where Your Parents Are?"
Bruce Brooks
"Rust Never Sleeps" Chris Lynch
"Y2K.CHATRM43" Alden R. Carter
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Donald R. Gallo was born in Paterson, New Jersey, just before the outbreak of World War 11. He attended high school in the 1950s and graduated from college in 196 0. He was an English professor for 3 0 years, and now spends his time writing and editing books for children, teenagers, and teachers.
Sixteen and No Easy Answers, two of his most popular books for teenagers, have received high acclaim from critics, librarians, and young readers. In 1992 Gallo received the ALAN Award for his outstanding contributions to young adult literature.
TEACHING IDEAS
Pre-Readinig Activity
Have the class brainstorm the things they would most like to know about the teenage years of post generations. Then have the class develop a questionnaire to use in interviewing adults. Instruct each student to interview at least five adults of various ages, allowing students to share the interviews in class. Discuss the major differences in teenage life for the different generations. What things have never changed?
Thematic Connections
COMING OF AGE-Engage the class in a discussion about the meaning of the term coming of age. Discuss the characteristics of growing up (e.g., independence, rebellion, changing relationship with family and friends, etc.). Which of the characters in the 10 short stories has the most normal teenage life according to the students?
Some teenagers are forced to grow up too soon. Have the class decide which of the main characters take on the role of an adult. How is A in Bruce Brooks's "Do You Know Where Your Parents Are?" more mature than his parents? How is the title "Moving On" by Jeanette Ingold symbolic of growing up? Discuss the conflict and resolution in each of the short stories. How does the resolution allow the main character to move on?
CHANGE-The entire 20th century has been about change. The 1960s, however, experienced the most visible change in the attitude of young adults in the United States. Engage the class in a discussion about what precipitated such change. How does the conflict in Chris Crutcher's story "Fourth and Too Long" express the attitude of the youth of the 1960s? Discuss the change that occurs in Bruce Brooks's story "Do You Know Where Your Parents Are?" How does Alden R. Carter's story "Y2K.CHATRM43" represent the changes that we will all experience in the 21st century?
FREEDOM-The history of the United States is based on freedom. Yet, the freedom of American citizens has been challenged throughout the 20th century. Ask students to discuss how each short story makes a statement about freedom. Contrast the way freedom was expressed in the early 1900s to the way freedom is viewed today. Ask students to debate issues related to free speech on the Internet. How might the Internet change the way people view freedom in the 21st century?
Interdisciplinary Connections
LANGUAGE ARTS-In Peck's story "The Electric Summer," Geneva's mother tells her, "It's your century. It can take you wherever you want to go." (p. 16) Ask students to jot down the things they most want to do in the next century. Then have them write a short composition entitled "My Life in the 21st Century."
In "Brother, Can You Spare a Dream?" by Koller, Sam says to Mac in a sarcastic tone, "I forgot.... Reading is your ticket out of this Depression, ain't it." (p. 74) In "We Loved Lucy" by Krisher, Nancy's father asks her, "Aren't you reading more comic books and fewer real books since you've known Brenda?" (p. 128) Ask students to make a list of five books they think Mac might recommend to Sam. To Nancy? Allow students the opportunity to share and defend their choices.
SOCIAL STUDIES-In "Fourth and Too Long" by Crutcher, Benny says, "I know things don't change without someone going first." (p. 162) Ask students to identify the many "firsts" of the 20th century (e.g., the Wright Brothers' first flight). Then engage them in a debate about how these "firsts" have changed society.
Divide the class into 10 small groups and assign each a decade to research: What were the major political conflicts? What was society like for Americans? How did young adults spend their time? What was the economy like? What was the pop culture like? Then ask each group to discuss how the short story set during their assigned decade reflects the culture of the times.
SCIENCE-Genera/ Electric Theater was a television show in the 1950s. Its slogan was "Progress Is Our Most Important Product." Discuss this meaning. Send students to the library media center to research the most important technologies of each decade. Then have the class create a mural that traces the development of technology from the 1900s to the year 2000.
ART-During the summer of 1904 Geneva and her mother attend the United States-sponsored World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, in Peck's "The Electric Summer." It was at this fair that ice cream cones, iced tea, hamburgers, and frankfurters were introduced for the first time. Ask students to design a poster advertising one of these foods.
MATH-In the 1950s and in Krisher's story "We Loved Lucy," families were beginning to enjoy the television in their own homes. Today, the Internet is the technological development affecting the way families spend their time. People are shopping, communicating, researching, and playing games from their personal computers. Ask students to survey 20 Internet users to find out the amount of leisure time they spend on the Internet and watching television each day. Then construct a graph that compares the results of the survey. What does the survey reveal about the effects of new technology on leisure time?
MUSIC-Music has provided entertainment for teenagers throughout the 20th century. Ask students to take what they know about the young adult main character in each story and find a song of that decade that the character might have enjoyed. Students may want to make record, CD, or sheet music covers for some of the songs.
CREATIVE DRAMA-There is much poetry that represents America's history. Assign students a partner and send them to the library media center to locate a poem that best represents one decade in the 20th century. Ask the students to perform a reading of the poem. Encourage them to introduce their choice by stating how it relates to the decade.
VOCABULARY
Ask students to search for unfamiliar words and try to define the words from the context of the sentence. Such words may include gauntlet (p. 4), tantamount (p. 6), filigree (p. 22), accomplice (p. 55), avant-garde (p. 170), holistic (jo. 174), linguistics (p. 207), and demographic (p. 207). Unfamiliar terms may include Hooverism (p. 30), on the lam (p. 41), and argot conjunction (p. / 71).
BEYOND THE BOOK
INTERNET RESOURCES
The Official Site for The Century http://abcnews.go.com/century/ The resource for the original volume by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster.
Twenties Reconstruction Society http://members.aol.com/SEVEN9000/index.htmI An easy-to-use Web site with a wealth of information on all aspects of the 1920s.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum http:Hwtvw.rockhall.com/ The official site for the museum located in Cleveland, Ohio, with information on all inductees, from Elvis Presley to the Beatles to the present.
Feeling Retro
http://www.kconline.com/kurtkelsey/retro/
A collection of '60s and '70s culture, featuring retro toys.
OTHER TITLES OF INTEREST
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
edited by Donald R. Gallo
Sixteen: Short Stories by
Outstanding Writers for Young Adults
0-440-97757-6
Visions: Nineteen Short Stories by
Outstanding Writers for Young Adults
0-440-20208-6
Connections: Short Stories by
Outstanding Writers for Young Adults
0-440-20768-1
Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories by
Outstanding Writers for Young Adults
0-440-21957-4
Ultimate Sports: Short Stories by
Outstanding Writers for Young Adults
0-440-22707-0
No Easy Answers: Short Stories
About Teenagers
Making Tough Choices
0-440-41305-2
Each: Ages 12 up
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
Note from the author
"Growing up at any time during the twentieth century, a typical teenager might have thought that all the interesting things in life had already occurred, and that the world was as modern as it possibly could be. Yet every decade has brought new changessome frightening, some delightful, but all interesting. There~ no doubt that more changes will occur i . n ways we can't even i . magi . ne now. At the some time, many things will remain the some, no matter who you are or where you live: the need for love and security; the fear of failure and of not being accepted; the Joy of physical and mental accomplishments; the effort to be successful, to fight discrimination, to be somebody. "
From Time Capsule © 1999 by Donald R. Gallo. Excerpted with permission from Delacorte Press. All rights reserved.