Prologue
Objective
Big Idea
Prologue
As a class we talk about what the prologue is and why do we need to read it. Most of the class understood that it is written before the actual story begins and provides background information critical to the novel.
Read Prologue
Even though we have integrated several pre-reading activities prior to this lesson, I still read the prologue of Tangerine by Edward Bloor, so we can stop and discuss the meaning of several parts:
- Mrs. Fisher wanting to check the house one more time
- The flashback
- Paul’s reaction to his mother finding a cigarette butt
- Mention of the zombie
We discuss personality traits of Paul and his mother; symbolism of the “zombie”.
Double Entry Journal
I have students respond to the following questions about the prologue using Double – Entry Journal Format :
- “Erik. He tried to kill me.” (page 3) is an emotional response from Paul in the flashback. What impact might this have in the plot?
- Does Paul’s mother understand him?
- What does it mean, “The zombie was locked out. And we were on our way.”?
Trailer of Tangerine
As a closure, I showed a trailer clip of Tangerine to grab the students’ interest. It is a short overview of the book to pique their curiosity, especially reluctant readers.
