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The Power of First Lines
Kind of Activity:
Individual Writing
Objective:
Students will analyze the significance of first lines in literature and use that to assess the first line of the book, explaining, in writing, why it is a compelling first line.
Structure:
Begin this activity by presenting the class with a list of some famous first lines in literature. For example:
"Call me Ishmael." - Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (1851)
"Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure." - The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board." - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning...
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