Lesson Title: Comparing Monkey Story with Wizard of Oz
Goals for lesson
- To gain an understanding the journey or quest story, a standard literary form in cultures all over the world.
- Be able to compare and contrast the characters in Monkey with the Wizard of Oz story. (two of the world’s most famous quest novels)
Standard met in Language Arts curriculum / Concepts and themes
- Standard 3: Language for critical Analysis and Evaluation
Form an opinion based on information, ideas, and themes expressed in presentations.
Use prior knowledge and experiences in order to analyze and evaluate.
Articulate a main idea and support it with details, examples, and reasons.
Compare and contrast common ideas in more than one text.
Standard met in Social Studies curriculum / Concepts and themes
- Governments of Eastern Hemisphere Nations. Across time and from place to place, people have held differing assumptions regarding power, authority, governance, citizenship, and law.
Activity
As a class, students will summarize the story Wizard of Oz, and each of the main characters (Dorothy, Tin man, Lion, Scarecrow). List the traits of each of the characters.
After reading several Monkey stories, the students will break into 4 groups, each group will be assigned one of the characters from Monkey (Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy), and answer the questions below about their characters. Each group will present their findings to the whole class.
Questions to be answered for group:
- Which character in Wizard of Oz is our character most like? Provide examples.
- What qualities does our character bring to the group, making the quest possible?
- What is the quest in the Wizard of Oz? What is the final quest in Monkey?
Helpful Links
- http://www.turnmeondeadman.com/OZ/Intro.html
an oddly named website, an excellent look at the symbolism of The Wizard of Oz