Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What features—including plot points, characters, themes, and symbols—are typical of fantasy novels?

Teaching Suggestion: You may provide your students with the links above as part of their pre-reading homework assignments, assign them computer lab time for the same purpose, or display these resources on a smart board or other projection system in your classroom. Students should be invited to discuss whether any of the features are familiar from other texts they have read or watched. Encourage students to look for them when they begin reading Inkheart.

• This chart (on Page 4) introduces students to common tropes within fantasy.
• This article, which was designed for aspiring writers, outlines tropes and themes commonly featured in fantasy works.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from an extra challenge, they could independently research the Reading Context question above using additional online or library sources.

2. Cover art can frequently allude to important themes or ideas present in the work. What does the cover of Inkheart suggest about the plot or theme?