Date: March 7, 2008

Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. ET

Target Grade Levels: 7-10

Description:

Steeping Myself in the Culture of the Story's World: The Role of the World in Shaping Characters and Plot . Critically acclaimed author, Donna Jo Napoli, is often credited with putting fresh perspectives on classic tales; however, she refutes this idea. Instead, the author describes her process as “steeping herself in the culture of the story’s world.”

In Napoli’s own words:

I try to go back to the roots of the tale, looking for the oldest version I can find. If that version stirs my soul, I work from it. If not, I go to more recent tales, moving up through the years till I find something I'm passionate about. I do not try to put a fresh perspective on classic tales, even though that's what people often say I do. Instead, I work hard to understand the tale within the world that it takes place in. So I steep myself in the culture of the story's world.

And I take every event of the original tale as gospel, working to make a coherent path from one twist of the plot to the next -- where coherency means not just (psycho)logical, but appropriate to the time and place of the story.

In this videoconference event, students will hear Napoli read from her newest book, Hush, and participate in an interactive dialogue with the author about how elements of the world shape character and plot. The session will be a discussion of the role of the world in shaping character and plot. Together, students and the author will ask which elements of a story force it to be in the world Napoli placed it in, and which elements of a story allow it to be in other worlds, such as modern times. In order to participate in this event, students should be familiar with one or more of Napoli’s young adult classic tale novels (there are many and we've listed them below!).

This event is available on a first-come first serve basis and is limited to six sites.

  

 

  
 


Resources:

Students will need to pick and read one of the following Young Adult novels by Donna Jo prior to participating in this event (click on the book title for more information!):

Visit Donna Jo's website!

Teens Point Author Profile (by Scott Phillips)


Preparing Students:

Prepare your Site Introduction! During the videoconference, each site will have an opportunity to introduce themselves. Introductions must be less than 30 seconds and should include:

  • Your school's name
  • Your location
  • Introduction of the class (i.e. "This is Ms. Smith's 2nd Grade Class)
  • An interesting fact about your school or community

Choose, Read, and Take Notes on a particular book. Students need to pick one of Donna Jo's young adult classic tales to read (see links above under 'Resources'). Students should read the novel with a pencil and paper beside them and note any facts about the time or place that they didn't know before they read it.

Prepare for Discussion. Students should pick those facts that they don't see the "point" of for the story and come to the interactive session prepared to ask the author about them.The interactive videoconference session will be a discussion of the role of the world in shaping character and plot. Together, students and the author will ask which elements of a story force it to be in the world I placed it in, and which elements of a story allow it to be in other worlds, such as modern times.

Craft a Class Reflection. Please craft a CLASS REFLECTION to the videoconference event and post it to the Creative Minds Blog under the blog entry titled: Donna Jo Napoli. Class reflections could include any of the following: observations, questions for other students and/or the author, what they liked/did not like about the work they read, etc. Class reflections must be received no later than one week before the videoconference event.

Prepare Questions: Have students come up with questions for Donna Jo Napoli about her work, her background, how she bacame a writer, etc. As a class, choose the top 5 questions. Make sure students are prepared to ask these questions as part of the videoconference event. Each school will have a chance to ask at least 2 questions - - but by preparing 5, we can make sure that questions aren't repeated.


Follow-Up Activities (After the Videoconference!):

Class Reflection: After the videoconference, please craft a CLASS REFLECTION to the videoconference event and post it to the Creative Minds Blog under the blog entry titled: Donna Jo Napoli. The reflection might include the following: What did you learn from the videoconference? What surprised you? What questions do you still have? What did you agree with and what did you disagree with? Visit the blog and comment on other classes' reflections!

Optional Follow-Up Activities:

Write your own re-telling of a classic tale! An optional follow-up activity might be to have students craft their own 're-telling' of a classic story using Donna Jo's approach. We'll be happy to post or link to student work from our website! Just let us know!

 

  
     
© MAGPI 2008