All the Years of Her Life

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Exploring Character Relationships”

In this activity, students will dive deeper into a character’s relationships and explore connections to overarching themes of the text by writing a character analysis and a series of letters between characters.

Part A: Character Analysis

Select a character: Choose either Alfred or his mother to focus on for this activity.

Create a character profile: Imagine you are a character analyst studying your chosen character. Write a detailed character profile that includes their personality traits, their motivations, and their perspective on their relationship with the other character.

Identify key moments: Identify at least three key moments or interactions between the chosen character and the other character (Alfred or his mother) that highlight any changes (or lack thereof) in their relationship throughout the story.

Analyze the relationship: For each identified moment, analyze how it reveals the relationship between the characters. Consider the emotions, conflicts, and any shifts in power dynamics that occur. Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Part B: Letter Exchange

Write a letter: Imagine that your chosen character (Alfred or his mother) decides to write a letter to the other character expressing their thoughts and feelings about their relationship. Write the letter from your character’s perspective, addressing it to the other character.

Response letter: Now, switch roles and write a response letter from the perspective of the other character. Respond to the thoughts and feelings expressed in the previous letter, conveying any changes and growth in your character’s perception of the relationship.

Share and discuss: Pair up with a classmate who focused on the opposite character. Exchange your letters and take turns reading them aloud to each other. Discuss the insights and reflections that emerge from the exchange of perspectives.

Closure:

Reflective journal entry: In your journal, write reflect on how this activity deepened your understanding of the evolving relationship between Alfred and his mother. Consider the themes explored in the story and how the character analysis and letter exchange shed light on the complexities of their relationship and its contribution to the overarching themes.

Share and discuss: As a class, come together to share your reflections and insights from the journal entries. Engage in a discussion about the significance of character relationships and their impact on the themes of the story.

Teaching Suggestion: To help students understand the activity, consider modeling the process of creating a character profile and analyzing key moments for one of the characters. Think aloud as you make connections between the character’s traits and motivations and the shifts in the relationship. This is a good opportunity to model how to use evidence from the text to support analysis.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners or students with lower reading levels, consider providing a simplified version of the text that highlights key passages or excerpts relevant to the character analysis. You might offer additional support through visuals, illustrations, or audio recordings of the text to aid comprehension.