25 Family and Friendship
Thursday, October 21, 2010 - 10:00am - 11:30am
Waterfront Theatre
$17 / $8.50 for student groups
You can choose your friends but not your family. And in fiction, that simple truth provides plenty of room for intriguing, offbeat and challenging characters. Martha Brooks plagues siblings with tuberculosis and, in facing their illness, the children also must face a difficult relationship with their reticent father. Rebecca James loads up her heroine with the weight of a murdered sister and a menacing psycho friendship. Alice Kuipers burdens her protagonist with a mother unable to cope with tragic death and a friend who leaves her behind in her grief in favour of partying. Three different styles and scenarios, but universal truths are still the result.
Suitable for grades 8 to 12
View the study guide for this event.
Family and Friendship
You can choose your friends but not your family. And in fiction, that simple truth provides plenty of room for intriguing, offbeat and challenging characters. Martha Brooks plagues siblings with tuberculosis and, in facing their illness, the children must also face a difficult relationship with their reticent father. Rebecca James loads up her heroine with the weight of a murdered sister and a menacing psycho friendship. Alice Kuipers burdens her protagonist with a mother unable to cope with a tragic death and a friend who leaves her behind in her grief in favour of partying. Three different styles and scenarios, but universal truths are the result.
Curriculum Connection:
• analyze the nature of families and culture.
• critical thinking.
• use literature as a key to understanding oneself and community.Activities:
1. These three authors propose that we can’t choose who our families are, but what if we could? Have students imagine a world where everyone chooses their own family and nothing is chosen for them. What would change? How would this world be different than the one we live in now? How has the role of families changed throughout history in general? Students are welcome to create a short story or a short essay on this topic. Have them share their ideas with the class.
2. Ask students to think of situations where surrogate siblings or other family members are present. What really makes someone “family”? Is it blood or something more? Does it make a difference if someone is related by blood or not? In what way is it an advantage to have a sibling? What way is it disadvantageous?
