Flight Behavior Lesson Plan

The Power of First Lines

Kind of Activity:

Individual Writing

Objective:

Students will analyze the significance of first lines in literature and use that to assess the first line of the book, explaining, in writing, why it is a compelling first line.

Structure:

Begin this activity by presenting the class with a list of some famous first lines in literature. For example:

"Call me Ishmael." - Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (1851)
"Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure." - The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board." - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning...