Dead Souls Lesson Plan

Three-Act Structure

Kind of Activity:

Individual Writing

Objective:

Students will respond to how the novel fits into a traditional three-act structure and predict what may happen in the novel's third act.

Structure:

Many stories take place within a three-act structure, and although Dead Souls aims for a circular structure, it may still fall into this familiar form. Students will write a short essay of 500-750 words in response to the following questions:

1. Provide a brief definition of the three-act structure, including what plot beats typically occur in each act.
2. Based on your reading of the novel thus far, how does Gogol's narrative fit into this structure?...