Describes an assignment for high school or college literature classes in which students focus on a particular character, answer a list of questions about that character, and eventually write an imagined yet realistic dialog with that character. Notes that this helps students grasp a character's complexity and depth. (SR)

Presents guidelines for introducing secondary students to "King Lear" before and during engagement with the text. Includes providing opportunities to (1) improvise, (2) examine specific speeches in depth, and (3) speed write about a character's thoughts. Presents questions used during auditions and explanations of characterization in…

Describes how to enhance the benefits of using the Carmen Sandiego educational software programs by building in generous amounts of creative fun and writing activities. Discusses journal writing, character sketches, letter writing, writing a book, and report writing. (RS)

Describes a series of writing assignments in which entry level graduate students in a personality theory class wrote four short papers interpreting the personality of a character from a children's story or comic strip. Explains that each paper utilized a different theoretical orientation: psychoanalytic, dispositional, phenomenological, and…

Outlines a unit of study of Baz Luhrmann's 1997 film version of "Romeo and Juliet" for Year 10 students in Australia. Includes a series of lessons/questions and activities that include directing students (1) to consider speed and editing and character analysis; (2) to engage in language comparison; and (3) to generate extended responses.…

Discusses the teachable qualities of Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice." Examines the vigorous diction, plausible characterization, and comic vision that make the novel so effective in stimulating students' thought. (SR)

Describes a multicultural unit for fifth graders in which each students receives a prop, develops a character around it, and writes a sketch which is videotaped and critiqued. Describes how students' characters identify their differences and figure out how to get along. Notes that students' ongoing relationships with eighth-grade penpals provided…

Argues that traditional textbook approaches to teaching literature alienate students from literature. Describes effective alternatives in which students learn interpretive strategies as they analyze and discuss their own important values in life, and then those of characters in a story; and learn to deal with irony. Outlines writing activities…

Describes a unit plan for teaching "Lord of the Flies" that allows students to respond freely to the reading and to "get out of their seats" and experience the first chapter of the book. Includes guidelines for the response-based approach, for discussion groups, and for character portfolios. (NH)

Describes activities for an elementary school library media center that are centered around folktales with forest settings, including people as well as animals and plants which inhabit the forest. Highlights include reading and discussing folklore, descriptive writing exercises, small group activities, and examples of 12 literary characters. (LRW)