56 pages 1 hour read

Sharon Creech

The Great Unexpected

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012

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Essay Topics

1.

Why does Finn appear in Blackbird Tree? He’s been dead for several decades, yet he falls out of a tree in a different time and place, apparently at random. However, given the text’s genre and themes, some connection must provide the foundation for his appearance. What could those connections be?

2.

What other elements of magical realism can you find in the text? Is magical realism, as embodied by this text, compatible with your own worldview? Why or why not?

3.

Could the novel convey the same major themes were it not a work of magical realism? Consider the third theme and the idea that if fantasy and reality are compatible, then this means what seems to be fantasy is actually real.