4)

Both the Lovely Bones and Belle Prater's Boy could be very effective in teaching a Social Sciences course on the loss of a family member, and the effect that this has both on the family and the larger community. The sense of identity for the adolescent characters in these books is an essential element and conflict in the story. Family, especially at this age and developmental stage, is essential to the concept of the self. These books both explore the ways in which identity can be disrupted by familial dysfunction, and suggest real ways in which to overcome such disruptions -- as well as the effects of failing to do so.

5)

One of the primary ways that Ruth White achieves a sense of verisimilitude in Belle Prater's Boy is through the use of dialect. There are many mundane events that take place that also lend the story a sense of reality; the fact that Gypsy's mother is a simple small-town school teacher helps to reduce her mythic proportions,...

But it is the use of words like "lookit" (24), "tater cakes" (24), and "figger" (141) that occur throughout the novel that truly help to root this story in a sense of realistic time and place. The simple every-day dreariness of much of the language makes it clear that this fiction is not a fantasy.
6)

The Lovely Bones could be expected to have widely different effects on different students in a high school English class. It could definitely lead to a sharper appreciation of female powerlessness in rape situations, which could certainly be useful for both male and female students. More importantly, however, the book deals with the effects of loss. This would almost certainly be reacted to in very different ways by different students, based on their own individual experiences with such loss. The discussions that could grow out of these differing interpretations and opinions could lead to greater awareness and respect of others in a truly meaningful way.