Fire on the Mountain Lesson Plan

Re-read this passage from Chapter 1 which takes place just before Ila Das's arrival at Carignano: "Raka sat on her stool with a green plastic fly-swatter and chewed her lip over the problem of whether to swat and flatten a bun or not to swat and let the creatures' snorkels pierce a pastry."

Then, take on the perspective of a writer. As someone intensely interested in the craft of writing, what do you notice about this passage? How many details can you detect? How much information does Desai pack into this one sentence? What choices does she make that you like, and what choices does she make that you dislike?

Students might notice that at first glance this seems like a...