Mothers

It was incredibly intelligent for Mr. Watts to utilize the mothers in the "classroom." I think Matilda's mother Dolores exemplifies an older individual who is scared and nervous when presented with new information and a new way of thinking about the world. She reminded me of historical figures who's exciting new information was interpreted as heresy by the people of the time. I wanted to concentrate on writing for this exercise, and draw on the students' creativity as well. A possible scenario would be using this activity as a wrap-up activity, but also I think it could be used during the study of the book. I would have the students pretend to be a mother from the island. They should come up with a name and a background story for the individual. The students will have to write a short narrative, I would think about 2 pages or so, maybe more, giving the viewpoint of this mother. I would want the students to think about how disrupted their lives have become because of the war, and to write about what the mother's view is concerning the education of her child/children. Basically, they should create a character and discuss the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of that person. Hopefully they would discuss the mother's experience talking in front of the children, and talk about what she had lectured about, what she feels the children should know from their own culture. I want to focus on writing from a different point of view, a different, varying perspective. I think the whole idea that new ideas can be scary and intimidating, so that they can sympathize with Dolores more.