Recently, I had my students working on some prep for the upcoming AP English Literature Exam. They had recently finished reading a Shakespearean play (selected by student choice, interest, and previous Shakesperience). In order to prepare for their Shakespeare in-class essay, students were brainstorming possible questions that might be presented for Question #3, the Open Question.
Students were focusing on part-to-whole ideas that might be addressed in the prompts. They considered past questions and made their own, and no matter how much they tried to focus on Shakespeare, they just kept coming back to Harry Potter.
Now, no matter how much I tell them it might not be the wisest decision to use Harry Potter on the AP Exam, there is no stopping the love they have for this magical series.
Some samples from their conversations:
Student 1: The question about a character who briefly appears or doesn't appear at all?
Student 2: Works for Harry Potter. You could address Harry's parents, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew
The list went on...
Student 1: A question about seeking revenge?
Student 2: Again, Harry Potter! Could be Snape. Or Harry. Or Hermione. Or Mrs. Weasley. SO MANY.
Student 1: Hmmm...and if we wrote about Harry Potter, would we have to stick to one book? Or could we address action that happens in all of them? Would we have to limit our knowledge?
Another:
Student 1: We could do the symbol question!
Student 2: Yeah! It could be the snitch. Or the Whomping Willow. Or the Hapee Birthday Haree cake. Or Hogwarts itself!
Student 1: Oooh--and that could be a setting question! Hogwarts!
Other Prompt Creations They Made:
Death of a character
Dysfunctional family relationship
An act of betrayal
Impact of a matriarch
They DID eventually make it back to Shakespeare, but it was fun to see them think of all the different ways that part-to-whole functions...which what I wanted them to do in the first place.
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