No More Mundane Mondays!

We all have them . . . Monday mornings when we slog into school, wishing for another weekend. The students come in the same way: half-asleep and certainly not anxious to discuss poetic tropes. 

On a recent Super Bowl Monday, I determined No More Mundane Mondays! A local team had played the day before, and students had been up late celebrating. That day, I began planning activities for Mondays after vacations or special events. On this blog, I am beginning a weekly Monday feature highlighting a fun literature activity to enliven those mundane Mondays. 

Image Credit: Karen Birt

Fun Literature Activity: Game Show 

Because students often disengage while hearing about famous authors’ lives, I present information through a game show rather than a lecture.

1. While researching an author, I look for interesting trivia and write it in question/answer format.

2. I arrange the classroom in game show format: three chairs in front for participants and a podium for the announcer. I project a screen saying “Who Is the Real Author?” and create a sign saying “Applause.”

3. I make four scripts, highlighting each with the dialogue for one participant. Depending on the class, I give the scripts to participants the day before, or I call on students the day of the game.

          4. It is time to play! I or a student announcer asks the questions and holds up the “Applause” sign at appropriate moments. Each of the participants reads his/her answer.

         5. Each audience member votes on which participant was the true author; then I reveal the answer. 

Poe Game Show

Edgar Allan Poe is a favorite in high school literature because of his intriguing life and suspenseful writing. I show a biography of his life and tell the story of the cognac and roses to start the Poe discussion. Then the fun literature activity begins!

Image Credit: Digital Public Library of America

 Poe Game Show Script

Announcer: Welcome to today’s episode of Who Is the Real Author? Today we have with us three authors, two imposters and one who is the true Edgar Allan Poe. You need to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying. Let’s begin.

A: I understand that you were a well-known author while you were living and ever since. Can you tell us about your first book?

Participant 1: My first book of short stories, called Tamerlane and Other Poets, was published when I was eighteen. It was never popular though.

Participant 2: I published Tamerlane and Other Poets while I was a teenager. If you wanted to buy a copy of this book now, it would cost you a quarter of a million dollars.

Participant 3: I didn’t start writing until I was in my late twenties. My cousin helped me put my poems together in a book called Tamerlane and Other Poets.

A: What was your philosophy of a short story?

P1: I would sit down to write, and finish a short story in one sitting. I thought a story should make the reader tremble.

P2: I thought a short story should not have a moral, but should creatively use language.

P3: I thought short stories were a means of getting my psychological fears into the open.

A: How would you describe your typical story?

P1: To me the stories were normal. I never understood why people thought my stories were scary—I was just describing what went on in my brain.

P2: I liked to have a narrator who got stuck in an intense situation where at least one major character went insane.

P3: I spent much time planning the plot, making sure there was a great psychological climax.

A: I understand that your family was a bit unique. What can you tell us about them?

P1: I made my rounds of several foster homes before finally settling in with the Allans.

P2: I had brothers and sisters, but we didn’t know each other well. I lived in several different countries when we were growing up.

P3: After age twelve, I was responsible for raising myself.

A: I’ve heard you had some rather bad habits. Do you want to tell us about them?

P1: To my shame, I have to admit I was a drug addict.

P2: Those are rumors made up by people who want to harm me. I only gambled to make money in college when my father wouldn’t give me any. And I didn’t die of alcoholism; someone poisoned me with mercury.

P3: I stole some money from my uncle when I was young, and later was involved in a duel where I killed a man.

A: Who did you live with during your adult years?

P1: No one. After my wife died, I never wanted to be around people again.

P2: Various people, but I never lived with more than two people at once. I was married once and had a lady friend after my wife died. At one point, I lived with my wife, cousin, aunt, and mother-in-law.

P3: I lived with as many people as I could surround myself with. I never wanted to be alone because my mind frightened myself.

A: Now, audience. It’s time to vote. Using the device supplied at your seat, choose whether Participant 1, 2, or 3 is the true Edgar Allan Poe!

After the Game Show

After the game, we move into Poe activities, categorizing tone from one of my favorite English class blogs. Students also browse online at the Poe Museum. By now, the students are engaged and intrigued—we have broken the Mundane Monday—and it is time to read!

What fun literature activities do you use to break up the mundane lessons? Comment below. And the answer for this game show is . . . Participant 2.

Sources

Sova, D. B. (2007). Critical companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A literary reference to his life and work. New York: Facts on File.

St. John, R.A. (Ed.). (1991). American literature for Christian schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press.