For the Alternative Book Report Assignment, I created a “character map” in which the interactions of the major/minor characters are plotted are plotted out like a map, in order to show the course of the story. The one caveat for students is that the map must fit one page, which emphasizes the importance of being able to pick out essential details of a novel while eliminating the more inconsequential ones.
Students will also be given quite a bit of freedom with this assignment; if they don’t consider themselves artistic they are welcome to create a more simple timeline or even a scientific map of sorts.
The assignment doesn’t have a specific grade level in mind as it could be altered to be more complex or simple. Additionally, this activity could also be altered to fit any novel.
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