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Lesson 1 (from Prologue: “The End” and Part One, “One Minute” - “Nalan’s Story”)
Objective
Students will investigate Shafak’s purpose in using an epigraph to begin the narrative of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World and will make predictions about its possible connection to the thematic messages within the text.
The epigraph of Elif Shafak’s novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is composed of words spoken by Albert Einstein upon the death of his closest friend, Michele Busso. The quote expresses Einstein’s feelings of ambivalence regarding his friend’s passing. He provides a reason, saying, “For people like us who believe in physics, the separation between past, present and future has only the importance of an admittedly tenacious illusion” (7). The epigraph thereby introduces many of the text’s major themes such as friendship, closeness, and connections that transcend physical space. Students will study the author's use of an epigraph to open the text and will see how...
Aligned to the following Common Core Standards:
- ELA-Reading: Literature RL.9-10.1, 9-10.10, 11-12.1, 11-12.10
- ELA-Writing W.9-10.3, 9-10.7, 11-12.3, 11-12.7
This section contains 9,354 words (approx. 32 pages at 300 words per page) |
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