The Golden Compass Lesson Plan

Lord Asriel: A Polarizing Figure

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Analyze Lord Asriel's character and role in the text from several different perspectives.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1

Structure:

Lord Asriel is a very complex figure. In this activity, your class will discuss several different ways to analyze his character.

One might expect that in a text as infamously critical of religion as The Golden Compass, a heretical scientist and explorer in search of truth would be the hero. But Lord Asriel is not the ideal Lyra believed him to be, nor is he a picture of...