Objective

Analyzing literature helps students think critically about society and understand the issues faced by characters in a particular place and time. Stop-motion video will allow students to create a meaningful, visual representation of a scene in the text that demonstrates their comprehension of detail—such as imagery, symbolism, and theme—and convinces others to read it.

Overview

Topic	English literature
Target age	14+ years old
Ideal group size	2 or 3 students
Time to complete	3 to 4 class periods

Activity

1. Student groups will choose a scene they think will make an appealing trailer to promote a book’s theme, imagery, or symbolism.
2. They’ll need to decide on appropriate images to include, how to design the set, and which props to use. Creating a storyboard will help keep the stop-motion video flowing.
3. The video must promote the book and entice others to want to read it. The chosen scene must introduce a theme, imagery, or symbolism.
4. After viewing the videos, take some time as a class to reflect on which book trailers effectively enticed the audience to read the book.