We Have Always Lived in the Castle Lesson Plan

The Rashomon Effect

Kind of Activity:

Creative Writing

Objective:

This activity will allow students to question the reliability of first-person narration as they experience the novel from different perspectives.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4

Structure:

Rashomon is a famous 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. In it, a murder is described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses. The movie inspired the term “Rashomon Effect,” which is when multiple observers of an event produce different, but equally plausible, accounts of the event.

We Have Always Lived in The Castle is written...