Pictures for The House of the Scorpion (Nancy Farmer)

Students will choose a theme and/or symbol found in Nancy Farmer's The House of the Scorpion and then find a part of an event from the novel that exemplifies that emotion, symbol, or theme. Then students will create a PowerPoint presentation with pictures and words that show that theme, save it to GoogleDocs and send the teacher an invitation to edit -- make sure you remember to give the teacher permission to access it!  :)

Introduction

 The purpose of this assignment is to have the students aware of the themes and symbolism in the novel The House of the Scorpion and to synthesize that information with the photographic symbolism.

Search quickly, and complete one theme/symbol as thoroughly as you can in the class period.  This is not meant to be homework (although if you desire, you may add to it and re-send notice to the teacher), so make sure that no matter what, you save to GoogleDocs and invite the teacher with access before you leave the classroom today.

Task

Essential Questions

What are themes in Nancy Farmer's The House of the Scorpion?

What are the emotions in the novel?

What did you feel when you read/listened to the book?

What can readers learn if they understand symbols found in the novel?

What are some messages or lessons that are important throughout the story?

Which parts of scenes really stuck out for you?

Remember your interpretation may be different from the status quo, but still needs to be supported by facts in the book. 

 You will choose a theme or emotion that is evident in The House of the Scorpion and present pictures related to that theme and the scene it is found in a powerpoint presentation.

Process

 Step 1:

Find a theme that is interesting to you. How do you find a theme? What is a theme?

What do you think is an idea or concept thread that is running through the book? What did you learn about life by reading the book? If you can see and understand the theme you will have an easier time doing the assignment. Sometimes themes have to do with concepts like fate versus free will, love, hate, ownership, greed, rash actions, foolishness, slavery, good versus evil.  You may want to choose an emotion like anger, vanity, love, fear, hate. Think about your life and which part of the book (no matter how small) did you relate to the most?

What others have said about theme in the novel

http://www.shmoop.com/house-of-scorpion/compassion-forgiveness-theme.html

https://www.enotes.com/topics/the-house-of-the-scorpion/themes

Some food for thought about symbolism

http://www.shmoop.com/house-of-scorpion/white-flowers-symbol.html

Step 2:

Find scenes (events) from the novel that relate to that theme/symbol you have chosen. The idea of ownership can be related to how El Patrón felt about things and people. The idea of great loss causes many conflicting emotions as Matt deals with Tam Lin's death. Senator Mendoza is angry with Matt when he believes Matt killed his daughter's cherished pet dog. These are just a few examples. Think of what appeals to you.

Step 3:

Find pictures that relate to the concept - do your best to make sure the pictures are not copyrighted. Cite the source of each picture including the URL. Caption each of the pictures for what it represents. You can choose abstract pictures to represent concepts like hate. However you cannot capture pictures from an actual movie or play for another story. You need to show interpretation and symbolism, not cutting and pasting.   You are going to have to justify the pictures and the sequence. How do they create the mood of the scene?

You can search for images on most search engines. Cite each picture using the URL. If the webpage says "do not use without author permission" (or anything similar), then do not use that picture!

Google www.google.com

Your searches will be safer from inappropriate content if you search at school, as we have a filter.

Making your PowerPoint. Your goal is to include at least three complete slides for your presentation.  Each theme or symbol you present needs to be represented with a picture, the name of the theme or object, and a short explanation of how the picture, the theme, and the book all come together to make meaning (see the bold portion on Step 3, above).

If you use only simple sentences, you may never have only one sentence on the slide. You may find you have much to say on one theme/symbol, or that you want to say fewer things about more than one theme/symbol.  Split up the information onto more slides - no more than three sentences on a single slide, and even that's pushing it.  You must describe the portion of the scene that you choose. Include at least the chapter title, if not actual pages where that part of the story takes place. Tell why is this scene is important to you.  Explain what theme or symbol is represented.  Tell about the emotions depicted and even the emotions the reader feels.  Use fonts and colors which make your text EASY to read if projected in the classroom.  Include a title slide at the beginning which tells your name and class period.  If you can think of a title for your slide show include that, too.

Title Slide: includes your first and last name and class period, is colorful, and has a title for the presentation if you can think of one (the title is optional).  List here your citation for the novel.

Each of the remaining slides has:

• a picture
• names the theme or symbol
• information about that theme or symbol (you might need to break this part up into different slides, so make sure each connected slide continues to have the name of the theme/symbol and consider repeating the picture)

• each theme or symbol includes the following information, yet you may need to spread this over more than one slide:
• tells how it relates to a specific event in the story
• describes emotions the reader may feel
• explains how it enhances the story

Points will be given for creativity, good use of color, pictures, and spacing on the slide.

Points will be taken off for fonts and colors that make it hard to read.

Conclusion

Remember to save the presentation to GoogleDocs, and to send the teacher an invitation to edit along with access to edit.  You are giving me permission to use all slides you create to share with other students, please let me know if you do not want the title slide to show.

Many thanks to J Swanson whose webquest on Romeo and Juliet was used as a model to create this webquest.