Imagine your students engaged in deep discussions about literary analysis? That’s what happens with this author purpose jigsaw activity!
When we discuss theme in my classroom, I often compare it to doing a jigsaw puzzle: when you do one, you shake out all of the pieces, then look for the corners and edges to make a start. Next, you use the picture on the box to guide you as you fill in the rest. When you try to figure out the author’s overall purpose or message in a text, you are doing the same thing — without the picture on the box. So, when we look at texts in my room, we think of the different parts of a story as the pieces that we need to put together to get the whole picture.
I love teaching The Merchant of Venice because there are so many pieces to the puzzle–and many of these pieces are seemingly contradictory: the play has all the elements of a comedy, but there’s also evidence that it’s a tragedy. Shakespeare relies on the some of the Jewish stereotypes of his time, but he also explores Shylock’s humanity while emphasizing the negative characteristics of several of the Christians.
It leaves one wondering: what is Shakespeare really saying with this play? So, as we discuss the scenes, I point out to my students that a certain aspect is one of the puzzle pieces we are collecting (Yes, Portia is a wise woman, but she’s a hypocrite as well. What is Shakespeare doing with her? Where does that piece fit?)
STEP ONE: Brainstorming
When we finished the whole play, I grouped students and told them to brainstorm a list of the puzzle pieces that we had discussed. After their list was complete, they had to decide which of the pieces were the corners and edges; in other words, which elements of the play were the most important ones in understanding Shakespeare’s overall purpose?
Then, I gave them a pile of these ledger sized sheets, each with a blank puzzle piece on it.
STEP TWO: Independent work
Each student chose one element of the play to focus on.
For example, one girl was looking at the intertwining plots in Merchant. Her task, for homework, was to record information about these plots on her puzzle piece, then to make a conclusion about how they might contribute to the overall purpose of the play.
STEP THREE: building the puzzle pieces
The next day, the groups were given more paper. This time, each group got two copies of a smaller page with linked puzzle pieces.
They wrote the conclusion of each student on one of the pieces on the yellow sheet, and then had to discuss what they saw when everything was put together, and come up with an overall conclusion.
This was the hardest part for them, because it required a great deal of critical thinking. But as I circulated, I heard some amazing discussions and debates. If I felt they were stuck, or going off in a bad direction, I’d stop and join the conversation. We’d discuss whether or not an element they chose was a piece of the puzzle –did they need to discard it? Use another one? At any point, they could make that decision.
Next, they started the whole process again on the green sheet. This time, I told them to look at it from a different angle and try to come up with a different conclusion. For example, had they been looking at the evidence and seeing Shakespeare as presenting Christians as superior, what would the puzzle look like if they were to argue that they were all very flawed?
By this point, they were well into the thinking process for the author purpose jigsaw.
STEP FOUR: Putting the puzzle together
Finally, each group was given chart paper, scissors, markers and glue sticks so they could create their final puzzle. They decided on an overall conclusion, wrote it on the top of the paper, then arranged their puzzle pieces underneath.
They hung their sheets on the walls of the classroom and did a quick presentation to the class about how and why they had reached their conclusion. Students walked around the room to look more closely at what other groups had concluded with their own copy of the sheet with the multiple puzzle pieces.
That night, they were to create an outline for an essay that discusses Shakespeare’s purpose in the play, so I wanted them to have their own sheet to refer to as they worked on it.
This author purpose jigsaw activity took three classes, but it was time very well spent. The students were able to go into their analysis essays with a much better understanding of the play than any class had before.
👉🏻 Here’s another author purpose activity
If you’d like a summary of the process, plus the puzzle pieces and handouts, click here. This was a process I did with an advanced group of high school students. If you’d like something similar, but a little simpler, check out my Discovering Theme Learning Stations.
I’ve also just posted some collaborative placemats for discussing theme, character and significant passages in The Merchant of Venice
And if you want over thirty active learning exercises you can use with your students, check this out!
Do you have an example of a conclusion that the students reached by combining pieces? A picture of the pieces fitting together would be helpful.
I'm out for meetings the next few days, but when I'm back at school I will take one and post it!
Have you ever use this activity with poetry? I just started my poetry unit and I’d love to work this activity in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I’ve used variations, for sure. I would get them to break down the puzzle pieces of the poem – how does structure & rhythm affect meaning? What about the figurative devices used? Get them to brainstorm the important elements in the poem to create their puzzle pieces and see where it goes from there. Try it once and tweak it for the next time!
Have you used this activity with poetry? If so, I’d love some information on how you did it.
Thanks
See my reply above!