"The Landlady" and Other Short Stories Lesson Plan

Does “An African Story” have a hero? Did you find yourself rooting for any of the characters? Why or why not?

Students will likely have to decide for themselves what a hero is in order to answer this question. Also, the answers to the first question and the second question will not necessarily be complementary. For instance, students may say the story does not have a hero because it does not have a clear “good guy,” but animal lovers may still find themselves rooting for the old man’s revenge plot even if they don’t consider him a hero. Other students may find that because none of the characters are “good” in the way may people think about heroes, they do not feel like...