Wednesday, December 2, 2009

How does SETTING affect a story?

Our Houghton-Mifflin selection this week is Cendrillon, a Carribean Cinderella Story, by Robert D. San Souci.
We are looking at how the setting of the Carribean changed the story from the original Cinderella story we are used to. We have also read several other versions of this classic story and noted how the setting changed things.
Then we made up our own settings and talked about how the Cinderella story would be changed.
For example:
if it took place in modern times VS the time of the dinosaurs

in modern times: Cinderella would arrive in a limo, have a DJ at the ball and it would be held at the Save Mart Center or maybe at a fancy casino in Las Vegas. Cinderella would have very high-heeled glass slippers.

in the age of dinosaurs: Cinderella would arrive on the back of a very large dinosaur, drums would be the only music played at the ball, and Cinderella would wear a moccasin.

We also discussed a winter VS summer setting

summer: Cinderella would arrive in a convertible or on a surfboard, the ball would take place at the beach, she would wear a tank top and shorts, and would leave behind a flip flop

winter: Cinderella would arrive on a sled or maybe a snowmobile, the ball would take place at a ski hill or ice rink, she would be wearing a parka and would leave behind a boot

2 comments:

  1. I'm a teacher looking for a fabulous idea for my 3rd grade class to teach setting. I actually own this book and am so thankful that you posted this!

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  2. Happy to oblige! I'm sure I borrowed the general idea from someone else!

    ReplyDelete