Title - Sounder Author: Armstrong, William Publisher: HarperTrophy Print Synopsis Authors Purpose Genre An African-American sharecropper steals food from his neighbor to feed his starving family and is arrested, leaving his wife, Rebecca and their children to endure the hardships of poverty and prejudice in the Depression-era South. Entertain Adventure RDQ (Reading Difficulty Quotient) Accelerated Reader Lexile Find at 1707 4.6 860 RDQ based on a maximum of 3000 words Levels are suggested levels based on RDQ, not official levels Sentences Total Words Different Words Max Word/Sent 45 Total # of Words 3303 # of Different Words 929 Ave Word/.Sent 15 Hi Freq occurs 2423 73.4% # of Hi freq words 379 40.8% % of Long Sentences 28.4 Low Freq occurs 165 5% # of Low freq words 126 13.6% Subjective Criteria Illustrations: Little support Dialog: Multiple speakers Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues Language: Many descriptive words Sentences: Many Long Complex Text structure: Story/Poem Inferences: Some implications Complexity: Several ideas - closely related Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social Features Character traits Clear cause/effect Simple Plot Dialect/Accents Topics Dogs Bullies Protection Fair play/Fairness *Family & Friends *Feelings, Behaviors Prejudice Parents Pets Low Frequency Words addled ajar assured biscuit biscuits boilin bulging burlap butcher calloused cavity chitlins closeness coarseness concerned conversation coonhide coons cottonwoods coverlet curled curling doubled drawn dumplings echo edges embrace enameled escaping farthest flutelike flyspecks foothills glued hairpin hambone harvest heating heritage hollowed hull husks importance inward joints juggler kernel kerneled kernels lantern latch leftover level linings listener lob loneliness lord's lowlands measures mellowed mellowness mercy more'n motionless mound muscular nature neighbors oozing ordinary outsider overall overflowed peering persimmon possum possums precision punctuated puncture quarry rafters rattling redbone rhythm rough sagged sausages scarce scarcely scrapple separated shaken sharecroppers shavings sickness silences skillet sowbelly spareribs stalk stalks stern stillness stovepipe straightened successive sustained terror treed walnuts warmth wavered wedge whimper whimpering whined whining whisper whitewashed windowpane windowpanes woodpile worth younger