A Book Report of a Different Color: Part 3

This is the third and final post in a series about engaging, creative assignments that can be used with your choice of literature. These assignments will get your students writing as well as thinking critically about themes, characters, setting, mood, etc! 

Here are five ideas for this week. Be sure to look back at the last two posts for more!

#11. Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it! Write an obituary for each character that dies in the play, novel, etc. If you’re not familiar with obituaries, read a couple from a local newspaper to see how they’re set up.

This assignment isn’t too challenging but encourages students to think about characterization as well as plot elements.

#12. Choose a character from (your choice of literary work) and draw an illustration that represents him or her. Here’s the catch: Your picture can’t be of the actual character. It must be some kind of abstract art that represents the character. Attach your illustration to a paragraph or two that explains why you illustrated the character the way you did. Be specific.

Here are a couple of student examples. The first one includes the written explanation as well. Students create their own symbolism in this more advanced assignment, and they focus on characterization as well.

#13. Choose a character from the novel, play, etc. Pretend to be that character, and create a scrapbook page about a particular event from the novel, play, etc. Be creative. Include pictures, mementos, journaling (that’s writing about the items on the page or about the event), and anything else you can think of that would be appropriate.

Here is a student example. This assignment makes students consider tone, mood, characterization, plot elements, and even setting. 

#14. If all the world’s a stage, you must have costumes! Choose a character from the play, novel, etc. and create a costume or costume part for him or her. You can make your piece from fabric, cut it out of paper, or use recycled household objects—whatever works! Don the costume, take a picture, and attach it to a paragraph explaining why you chose this particular costume for this particular character. Why this design? Why this color? Explain it all! And feel free to wear it to class!

It’s amazing how much fun students have with this remake of the old elementary school book character day. I’ve had everything from a pair of cross-gartered yellow stockings (Twelfth Night) to chains (A Christmas Carol) to a red “A” (Scarlet Letter). Some even wear their costume pieces around school all day!

#15. The game is afoot. Create a board game for (novel, play, etc.). Make it really relevant to the literature and include some elements of skill so a player has a better chance of winning if he or she has read the work. Bring in the game along with necessary pieces and directions so we can play.

Here is a student sample. This game encompassed several different Shakespearean plays, but most students base their games on just one novel or play. Either way, students must have a complete understanding of the work to produce a quality game, and they have a great time playing all of the games when they’re finished. I keep a collection of dice, pawns, spinners, etc. for them to use if needed.

I hope you have picked up a few new ideas in these past three posts. We’ll be moving on to a different topic next week, so be sure to come back!

A Book Report of a Different Color: Part 2

This is the second in a series of posts about engaging, creative assignments that can be used with your choice of literature. These assignments will get your students writing as well as thinking critically about themes, characters, setting, mood, etc!

Below are five ideas for this week. Be sure to look back at last week’s post and check back next week for more!

#6. Produce a (your choice of novel, play, etc.) newspaper. Include things like obituaries, advice columns, pictures, articles, comics, horoscopes, opinions, puzzles, advertisements, play reviews, recipes, etc. The sky is the limit, but be sure to capture the tone of the (novel, play, etc.). Have some fun!

Here are a couple of student examples. I love how creative the students get with this assignment, and they really have to think about all aspects of the literary work. I've even had students submit their newspapers in plastic newspaper bags!

#7. To be or not to be: that is just one of the questions.  Pretend you are a magazine or newspaper reporter. Choose a character from (novel, play, etc. of your choice) to interview. Write out your questions and the character’s responses. The topics for the questions are up to you but should be somehow related to the literary work.

This assignment forces students to think about characterization as well as the details of the plot. Some students enjoy recording the interviews.

#8. If music be the food of love, write a song! That’s right. Pretend you’re producing (Title of Literary Work), the Musical. Write one of the songs that will be in the musical. Be sure to tell who sings it. It could be a solo, a duet, or even a song for the whole cast. It might be fun to borrow a melody from another song—or even write your own accompaniment—and actually sing your song, but that’s optional. It should have some musical qualities either way, though.

Here is an example of a CD cover a student made to go along with this project. He wrote lyrics for only one of the songs listed, but just coming up with titles required critical thinking. Some of my more musically gifted students have put their lyrics to music and performed their songs for the class!

#9. Get a job! Choose any character from the (novel, play, etc.). Decide what type of career would suit that character, and write a resume for him or her. You’ll have to get really creative for this one! Make up information if you need to, but stay true to the character.

This assignment obviously focuses on characterization, and it requires students to really dig into the text for relevant details. It also has a practical application for older and/or career-minded students.

#10. Ready for a little comic relief? Choose a scene from (literary work of your choice) and write it up like a comic strip. While it isn’t necessary to include all of the lines (or dialogue) from the original text, your comic should capture the gist of the scene. Can’t draw? Stick figures and clip art are fine! Or try www.makebeliefscomix.com.

This is a more basic assignment, but students still have to synthesize the plot, characters, and tone of the work. The student who created the second sample below used makebeliefcomix.com. 

Be sure to check back next week for still more creative literary assignments! Meanwhile, please leave a comment below and/or share our blog with other teachers who enjoy new ideas. :)

A Book Report of a Different Color

Literary writing assignments and book reports can be meaningful without being dull! The following assignments will get your students writing as well as thinking critically about themes, characters, setting, etc. I’ll post five ideas per week for the next few weeks. Here we go:

#1. The publishers of Life's Little Instructions have heard that (your choice of novel) contains lots of great lessons for life, and they need your help to compile a special edition of instructions based on the novel! Suggest 20 different instructions that could be included in this edition. Instructions can be serious or light-hearted. Be sure to explain why each instruction would be appropriate. If you want to put the tips together into an actual booklet of some sort, you may put the explanations on the back of each page.

Obviously, this assignment is a great way to get students thinking about theme. Here are a couple of student examples:

#2. As you are reading (your choice of literary work), think about which (canto, scene, chapter, etc.) you want to illustrate. Then, illustrate the (canto, scene, chapter, etc.) or some aspect of it on 8.5x11 paper. You may use any type of images you deem appropriate—drawn, cut out, downloaded, three-dimensional, color, black and white, etc. Your goal is to depict the (canto, scene, chapter, etc.). Think not only about what is happening in the text, but also about the characters, themes, symbols, etc. On the back of your illustration, you must quote the one line from the (canto, scene, chapter, etc.) that best captures the essence of your illustration. Finally, you must attach a one-page explanation of why you have chosen to depict the (canto, scene, chapter, etc.) they way you have: Why did you choose the types of images you chose? Why did you arrange them the way you did? What does you illustration say about the (canto, scene, chapter, etc.)?

This assignment provides an opportunity for students to think about all aspects of the literature and to create their own symbolism. Here are two student examples from Dante's Inferno. The written explanation gives this assignment real depth of meaning.

#3. Choose five characters from (novel of your choice), and then choose something nonhuman to represent each one. (It doesn’t have to be something from the book. It could be something as random as a stapler.) For each character, write a paragraph that tells what object you’ve chosen and how that object and that character are alike. Specific quotations and/or paraphrases from the novel would be helpful in providing your explanations.

I don't have a picture to share for this one, but it gives students an opportunity to really delve into the characters and think on a higher level.

#4. Then saw you not his face . . . book? What if (insert author here) had known about Facebook?! We’ll each choose a character from (your choice of play) and make a Facebook page for him or her. Don’t forget a picture! Then all the characters will need to become friends. No “outsiders” allowed please (except for parents, of course, but they can’t comment.) Throughout the week, post and comment as though you were really that character. Though you don’t have a posting/commenting quota, your character needs to participate actively. Print out your Facebook pages to submit—no revision will be necessary of course.

We've had a lot of fun with this one! We continue the project throughout the course of the novel. Then at the end, we have a springboard for talking about character development, plot development, dramatic irony, etc.

#5. And what should we do in Illyria? Create a travel brochure that convinces me to visit some certain place in (your choice of literary work). Capture the setting, mood, and tone of the work so visitors understand what the place is like. Try to think of everything a traveler would want to know. Consider an attractive travel package. Be creative (even ironic?) and have fun!

Here are a couple of student examples for this one, too. Notice that one student opted to discourage visitors--very clever! This is one of my favorite projects because of the focus on some more difficult concepts like tone and mood.

Stop by next week for five more literature based project ideas!