A Monster Calls: Using Illness Narrative to Teach Literary Elements
My students need 40 copies of Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Collins's classroom raised $369
This project is fully funded
My Students
I teach at a large public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana. With over 1,000 students in the freshman class(evenly comprised of whites, blacks, and Hispanics), the student population embodies educational pluralism. I have students who are impoverished,and I have students who come from more affluent neighborhoods. Though they come from all walks of life, my students have a commonality: they all, for the most part, work hard. Rather than be circumscribed by circumstance, my students choose to achieve. Their determination inspires me.
My Project
The traditional high school curriculum includes texts that address race, class, gender, and other social constructs. When we consider that illness is an inextricable part of being, it is concerning that our students aren't asked to critically think about this unfortunate aspect of existence. All of us will either be sick or watch another combat illness.Literature provides our students the space to ask questions and offer insight concerning what it means to struggle with conditions that can often challenge the way we think of self.
A Monster Calls is the poignant story of Connor O'Malley, a young boy who's coping with his mother's cancer diagnosis.
Haunted by a reoccurring nightmare, Connor is visited one night by a monster. Though he believes this monster is the one from his nightmare, he quickly realizes that this being is here for an entirely different reason.
I want to use this text to introduce my students to important literary concepts:mood,theme, diction, symbolism, etc. More importantly, I want to use this text as a kind of anchor text. Itself a story about the power of stories, Ness' book would be a great way to grab my students' attention at the beginning of the year.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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