Lolita Lesson Plan

What's In A Name?

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Students will analyze the significance of the names Nabokov has chosen for this novel.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4

Structure:

Starting at the foreword, Nabokov subtly begins to work his themes into the novel's text. In fact, many of the names he has chosen have a far greater significance than what meets the eye. Help guide students through this discussion by introducing these points and encouraging them to relate them to the novel's major themes.

1. The name Humbert Humbert does a fair bit of work in promoting Nabokov's themes. Given that shadows and the idea of the...