102 pages • 3 hours read
José SaramagoA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.
“Metamorphosis and Adaptation”
In this activity, students brainstorm, categorize, and analyze examples of transformation in Blindness and literature more broadly.
From Gilgamesh and Greek myth to today’s Marvel franchise or Harry Potter series, transformation is a common creative theme, dating back to humanity’s earliest known narratives. In groups of 2-3, choose a second creative source—either literature or film—to consider in comparison to Blindness. You may choose a source previously studied in class.
Consider together and take notes for group discussion:
Use your source texts for support.
Utilizing notes and points from your small group discussion, create a slideshow with a minimum of five slides to share your conclusions with the class.
Teaching Suggestion: As a warm-up to this exercise, consider the different types of transformation in Saramago’s Blindness alone: from the transformation of humanity from sighted to blind, the Doctor’s Wife’s own internal transformation over the course of the novel, and the transformation of society as a whole in the face of an unprecedented challenge.
By José Saramago