Black Ships Before Troy

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: “A Story is a Trojan Horse”

You just read a story about a wooden horse that was used to secretly deliver soldiers into the enemy’s city. Did you ever think about how stories can be like Trojan Horses, though? Stories contain hidden ideas--themes--that they deliver to you while you read. Whether you consciously realize what a story’s themes are or not, you’re still absorbing them while you read.

For this project, you will create a representation of a Trojan Horse--and then you will fill it with themes from Black Ships Before Troy.

Part A: Think about the themes of Black Ships Before Troy.

• Read Esther Lombardi’s article “How to Identify the Theme in a Literary Work.”
• Make a list of five messages about life that this story seems to contain.
• Write each theme on a separate slip of paper.
• On the back side of each slip of paper, explain how the theme you wrote on the front side is “hidden” inside Sutcliff’s story.

Part B: Create a Trojan Horse to carry your messages about theme.

• Use construction paper to create a Trojan Horse that has a hollow space in the middle for carrying your messages: Cut two identical horse shapes out of the paper, then glue them together along the edges--remember to leave an opening along the horse’s belly where your messages can be tucked inside the horse!
• Decorate the outside of your horse with words and pictures from the story. Make sure that the book’s title is featured clearly somewhere on the outside of the horse.
• Tuck your messages inside your Trojan Horse.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the story’s themes while engaging in some creative metathinking about the purpose of stories. You might discuss with them the many avenues through which ideas are transmitted in subtle, covert ways--through body language, tone of voice, rituals, and everyday symbols like the flag, for instance.

ACTIVITY 2: “Your Own Adaptation”

Rosemary Sutcliff took a classic story from Ancient Greece and wrote her own adaptation of it for young people. Homer himself, the Greek poet credited with writing the Iliad, adapted it from stories that were already popular in Ancient Greece. Now it’s your turn to adapt a part of Black Ships Before Troy.

Your adaptation will be a story of two to three pages. You will choose just one part of Sutcliff’s book to change into a story that takes place in your own time and in your own community.

Part A: Choose a part of the story to work with. You can choose one of these ideas or another one that you discover on your own:

• A character is forced by authority figures to make a choice between them; any of the choices will cause trouble for the character.
• A character’s parent tries to protect them in an unusual way, and it works for a while, but the protection has a critical flaw that allows the character to be harmed.
• A character is warned not to accept a tempting gift, but they accept it anyway--and the gift contains a hidden threat that places the character in danger.

Part B: Write your story. Here are some general criteria to keep in mind when you are writing a short story:

• Make sure that your story has a clear setting.
• Create characters with clear personalities; make sure your reader understands your main character’s goals and obstacles.
• Introduce your central conflict quickly so that you have time to develop it before your story’s climax.
• Give your story a clear climax--a moment of tension on which everything hinges.
• Make sure your story resolves in a way that is satisfying to your reader--you should wrap things up in a way that makes sense, answers your reader’s questions, and makes a point about life.

Teaching Suggestion: This lesson offers students insight into literary adaptations like Sutcliff’s and an appreciation for the key elements of the source material. You may want to talk with them about which parts of the source material should be preserved and which can be changed. Depending on your goals for them, you might allow or disallow changes to tone, theme, plot elements, and so on. If your students would benefit from a review of story parts, show them this “Elements of a Short Story” video.