June 27, 2003

CHARACTERS' COMING OF AGE:
Updating Children's Literary Favorites Through Character Development and Creative Writing

Grades:  6-8, 9-12

Subjects:  Language Arts

Related New York Times Article
"Young Potter Fans See Hero Maturing With Them, By JULIE SALAMON", June 27, 2003

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students develop older versions of child or adolescent characters from favorite works of literature, adapting them for teenage or adult sequels. They then each outline a sequel and write its first chapter.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
45 minutes - 1 hour

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

  1. Describe their favorite child and adolescent literary characters.
  2. Explore the evolving character of Harry Potter by reading and discussing the article "Young Potter Fans See Hero Maturing with Them."
  3. Individually develop a favorite young literary protagonist into an older teen or young adult character; create an outline for a sequel for this character.
  4. Compose the first chapters of the sequels, focusing on the matured version of a young literary character.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

  1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Students respond to the following prompt in their journals (written on the board prior to class): "Who are your favorite child or adolescent characters from literature (children's stories, fairy tales, novels, etc.)? Name at least two from different stories. For each, respond to the following questions: How do you identify with this character? How would you describe his or her personality traits? How would you describe his or her physical appearance? What makes this character interesting?" After a few minutes, allow students to share their responses, listing the names of the characters on the board. As students will be expanding upon this exercise in the main activity of the lesson, you may wish to add a few additional characters to the list for greater variety. Possible characters include Huckleberry Finn, Little Red Riding Hood, Scout Finch, Ponyboy Curtis, Christopher Robin and Pippi Longstocking.
  2. As a class, read and discuss the article "Young Potter Fans See Hero Maturing with Them," focusing on the following questions:
    1. Who is Mari Stein?
    2. How long did it take her to read "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"?
    3. Why did Mari need "an hourlong break to weep"?
    4. How have young readers responded to the new Harry Potter book, according to the article?
    5. What makes this Harry Potter book different from its predecessors?
    6. How has Harry Potter's character changed?
    7. What challenges does Harry face in the new book, according to the article?
    8. Who is Joanna McClintick, and how does she describe the Harry Potter books?
    9. What was her concern about the prospect of an older teenage Harry Potter?
    10. Were her fears founded? Why or why not?
    11. Why, according to reader Zoe Lutz, do children identify with the changing Harry Potter?
  3. Explain to students that they each will be developing his or her favorite young literary character (excluding Harry Potter) as an older, more mature character for a sequel that takes place five to ten years after the original story. Students may decide how much older they would like their characters to be for the new story but should focus on creating a pre-teen, teen or young adult character. They will develop their new "mature" characters, and then create outlines for their sequels.
    Each student should first select a character, referring to the list on the board developed earlier in class for suggestions. Then, on a piece of paper, each student should describe his or her character by responding to the following questions (written on the board for easier student access):Next, after students have created their character sketches, ask them to each outline a new story in which this older character will resume the lead role. This is a good opportunity to review basic components of a story: conflict (struggle or challenge as the basis of the story), plot (series of events that lead to climax), crisis (turning point in story), climax ("high point" of story, in which the protagonist's crisis is solved), and anticlimax (the end results, or conclusion of the story), setting (time and place), local color (dialect and customs), atmosphere (feelings around the events and setting), and additional characters (may be from original story, but may also be new). You may also choose to review the theme of "the hero's journey," which is often the basis for many stories. The handout "Summary of the Steps of the Hero's Journey," found at http://dommy.com/az2nzau/show/qoln/steps.pdf (copyright 1999, Liz Wa rren), offers a helpful overview. Students' outlines should be detailed and should cover all of the basic elements of a story.
  4. WRAP-UP/ HOMEWORK: After students have finished both their character sketches and their sequel outlines, they should write the first chapters of their sequels. This lesson may be extended as a longer creative writing exercise in which students expand on their characters' stories over the course of several weeks or months to complete their sequels.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on initial journal responses, participation in class discussions, detailed character sketches and sequel outlines, and thoughtfully written first chapters to their sequels.

VOCABULARY:
vaguely, subsequent, denial, template, perils, ushered, goblet, phenomenon, anticipating, altered, angst, agitated, meticulous, rendering, utterly, chord, readalong, stereotypical, humanity, compassionate, exasperating, evolving

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  1. Rewrite a myth, folktale or fairy tale to be set in your own community in the present time. Make sure that all details, dialogue, and character development adapt accordingly. Then, evaluate how successful this setting adaptation was. Which elements of the initial story could you maintain? Which elements had to change based on the new, modern setting?
  2. Watch one of the "Harry Potter" films and compare it to the book from which it was developed. How closely do they correspond? How did the changing of the media (from literature to film) change some of the content, and why? Write a review for your school's paper.
  3. Read a book from the Harry Potter series and write a review for your school newspaper, for younger students, for adult readers or for another audience.
  4. The article mentions a "readalong." Choose a classic children's story and volunteer to stage a "readalong" at a local pre-school or in an early elementary school class.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Economics/Mathematics- Research the combined sales of all Harry Potter books, movies, and other licensed Potter products worldwide. Conduct similar research for other widely popular book series, films, musical groups, etc. Create comparative charts or graphs demonstrating your findings, and write an analysis of the related economic and social trends.

Fine Arts- Sketch Harry Potter, or another favorite literary character, at various ages. How does his or her bone structure, musculature, facial expressions and dress change throughout time?

Geography- Investigate beloved children's stories from around the world. Find at least one tale or myth from each continent and compile them into a book. Try to focus on a theme or character that can be found across the continents.

Copyright 2003
The New York Times Company

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