The Haunting of Hill House Lesson Plan

Why and What We Fear (Day 1)

Kind of Activity:

Individual Writing

Objective:

Students will be able to understand the science behind fear and analyze how that science applies to literature.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2

Structure:

To begin the activity, have students do a seven minute freewrite in response to the following prompt: What are you afraid of?

When students have finished, call on two or three student volunteers to share what came up in their freewrite. Explain to students that The Haunting of Hill House is a famously scary story. It is called the seminal haunted house story. This is because it draws on specific and popular fears. Jackson...