Seeing Different Perspectives in The Book Thief
Outcome:
1- Students will understand perceptions of death in various cultures.
2- Students will reflect on who they are and who they want to become.
Procedure:
1. Attention getter: Students will see four Rorschach tests on the board. They will be asked to examine these things and write down what each one reminds them of.
2. Students will discuss how the Rorschach test demonstrates how differently we see the very same things and how unique our personal view on something can be.
3. The teacher will talk to students about how The Book Thief comes from the point of view of Death. On the board, we will list three to five things that this perspective gives us on the novel. We’ll then discuss how the novel would change if someone else were to narrate the story.
4. Students will practice this technique by breaking up into six groups. These groups will be asked to write a scene from different perspectives. The students will be asked to perform both scenes for the class.
Group 1- store owner, shoplifter
Group 2- parent, child
Group 3- prisoner, prison guard
Group 4- patient, doctor
Group 5- Lord Voldemort, Harry’s deceased parents (HP)
Group 6- Charlie, James (Twilight)
5. After each performance, the teacher will ask the students what they learned about point of view and how point of view changed their scene.
6. Looking at different points of view can help us understand viewpoints from others when we think about situations. We can learn a lot putting ourselves in other’s shoes. In the stories, the author chooses a particular point of view for the story in order to teach us something that we wouldn’t otherwise have learned or understood.
7. Students will be assessed on point of view by performing their skits for the class. As they think about how point of view affects a scene, they will start to understand how point of view affects literature.
1- Students will understand perceptions of death in various cultures.
2- Students will reflect on who they are and who they want to become.
Procedure:
1. Attention getter: Students will see four Rorschach tests on the board. They will be asked to examine these things and write down what each one reminds them of.
2. Students will discuss how the Rorschach test demonstrates how differently we see the very same things and how unique our personal view on something can be.
3. The teacher will talk to students about how The Book Thief comes from the point of view of Death. On the board, we will list three to five things that this perspective gives us on the novel. We’ll then discuss how the novel would change if someone else were to narrate the story.
4. Students will practice this technique by breaking up into six groups. These groups will be asked to write a scene from different perspectives. The students will be asked to perform both scenes for the class.
Group 1- store owner, shoplifter
Group 2- parent, child
Group 3- prisoner, prison guard
Group 4- patient, doctor
Group 5- Lord Voldemort, Harry’s deceased parents (HP)
Group 6- Charlie, James (Twilight)
5. After each performance, the teacher will ask the students what they learned about point of view and how point of view changed their scene.
6. Looking at different points of view can help us understand viewpoints from others when we think about situations. We can learn a lot putting ourselves in other’s shoes. In the stories, the author chooses a particular point of view for the story in order to teach us something that we wouldn’t otherwise have learned or understood.
7. Students will be assessed on point of view by performing their skits for the class. As they think about how point of view affects a scene, they will start to understand how point of view affects literature.
