War and Peace Lesson Plan

Family Therapy for the Bolkonskys

Kind of Activity:

Role Play

Objective:

Analyze the relationship dynamics existing between characters

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.B; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.D

Structure:

In another novel, Anna Karinina, Tolstoy wrote: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The Bolkonskys are a prominent example in War and Peace of a family with dysfunctional interpersonal dynamics. Those dynamics inform each of the characters and why they respond the way they do to the circumstances they encounter. This exercise will...