The Sign of the Beaver
by Elizabeth George Speare
THEME PROJECT
due Wednesday, February 29
Several themes are discussed in The Sign of the Beaver i.e. Survival, Friendship, Fear & Courage, Pride, Gender Roles, and Initiation. Each theme has significant importance in reading the novel. In reading the text all themes will be discussed and elaborated upon in class. Each student is then responsible for choosing a theme they would like to discuss for their Theme Project.
Students may choose from: Survival, Friendship, Fear & Courage, Pride, Gender Roles, and Initiation.
Survival -- Matt survives in the Maine wilderness for about six months. Discuss the skills Matt uses to survive. What did Matt's father do that helps Matt survive? What beneficial skills does Matt Learn from Attean ? What does Saknis provide? What does Matt learn from the women of the tribe? What does he learn on his own? Cou Matt have survived on his own without the help of Attean and his grandfather.
Friendship -- Matt and Attean do not form an immediate friendship. At what point do the two boys become friends? Students should select passages from the book that signify the developing friendship of Matt and Attean. Which boy needs the friendship the most? How does Matt feel on the day that Attean leaves with his tribe to go to the winter hunting ground?
Fear and Courage -- There are times in the novel when Matt is quite fearful. For example, a stranger comes into Matt's cabin and takes his father's gun. Matt is left without protection. Students should identify other times that Matt appears fearful. Matt might also be called courageous. How are fear and courage closely related? Students should discuss whether they think a person has to experience fear before they can show courage.
Pride -- Both Matt and Attean accomplish tasks that make their families proud of them. Students should identify and dramatize the scenes from the book that illustrate how pride is expressed by each of their families.
Gender Roles -- Compare and contrast Attean and Matt's views regarding man's work and woman's work. How do their beliefs reflect a cultural difference? Perhaps students would enjoy interviewing several people from other cultures. How do their cultures regard the roles of males and females?
Initiation -- Fourteen-year-old Attean and thirteen-year-old Matt are on the verge of becoming adults--initiation into manhood. Attean is considered a man, and is entitled to hunt with the adult men when he finds his "manitou." Matt's culture does not have such a rite of passage to determine his entrance into manhood. At the end of the novel, he is considered a man because he has accepted his responsibility as a part of the family. Research other cultures and their views regarding a child's initiation into adulthood.
Students may choose from: Survival, Friendship, Fear & Courage, Pride, Gender Roles, and Initiation.
Survival -- Matt survives in the Maine wilderness for about six months. Discuss the skills Matt uses to survive. What did Matt's father do that helps Matt survive? What beneficial skills does Matt Learn from Attean ? What does Saknis provide? What does Matt learn from the women of the tribe? What does he learn on his own? Cou Matt have survived on his own without the help of Attean and his grandfather.
Friendship -- Matt and Attean do not form an immediate friendship. At what point do the two boys become friends? Students should select passages from the book that signify the developing friendship of Matt and Attean. Which boy needs the friendship the most? How does Matt feel on the day that Attean leaves with his tribe to go to the winter hunting ground?
Fear and Courage -- There are times in the novel when Matt is quite fearful. For example, a stranger comes into Matt's cabin and takes his father's gun. Matt is left without protection. Students should identify other times that Matt appears fearful. Matt might also be called courageous. How are fear and courage closely related? Students should discuss whether they think a person has to experience fear before they can show courage.
Pride -- Both Matt and Attean accomplish tasks that make their families proud of them. Students should identify and dramatize the scenes from the book that illustrate how pride is expressed by each of their families.
Gender Roles -- Compare and contrast Attean and Matt's views regarding man's work and woman's work. How do their beliefs reflect a cultural difference? Perhaps students would enjoy interviewing several people from other cultures. How do their cultures regard the roles of males and females?
Initiation -- Fourteen-year-old Attean and thirteen-year-old Matt are on the verge of becoming adults--initiation into manhood. Attean is considered a man, and is entitled to hunt with the adult men when he finds his "manitou." Matt's culture does not have such a rite of passage to determine his entrance into manhood. At the end of the novel, he is considered a man because he has accepted his responsibility as a part of the family. Research other cultures and their views regarding a child's initiation into adulthood.