by Philip Pullman
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Carnegie Medal Winner
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Erinn Crowley Sabra McIntosh Revised By: Nida Moore &Michael Sullivan Feb. 2002 |
Like another great fantasy adventure, The
Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman (1995, Ballantine Books), begins
in a wardrobe. The adventure develops through Lyra’s quest to save
her friend Roger, who was kidnapped by the Gobblers, before whatever happens
to the children at the facility in the north run by the General Oblation
Board, happens to him. Lyra Belacqua is a young, not much more than
11, supposedly orphaned girl, of royal birth, left by Lord Asriel, her
Uncle, to be raised by the Scholars, Administration and staff of the prominent
and majestic Jordan College in Oxford, England. She runs the buildings,
the streets, the alleys, the basements, the catacombs and the rooftops
of
Young adults
(of all ages) will be captivated by the children in this story. The
heroine is a “half-wild” child; children are being kidnapped and mutilated;
they need to be rescued; children are the source of a power which the adults
need to master, harness or maybe use to control the Dust; with the help
of the alethiometer, the heroine has the power to measure truth, any truth;
she struggles with choices between right and wrong, good and evil, loyalty
and disloyalty and love and revulsion. The children live this adventure;
they make difficult choices and experience harsh and fantastic realities.
Lyra must
travel north, towards the
Two unique elements of the story are 1) the particular names of people, places and animals and 2) the daemon. Every human, and witch, has a daemon which is named and assumes various forms until the human is mature, at which time the daemon matures too. Daemons respond specifically to their human’s emotional state of being. While they seem independent at times, they always reflect their human’s soul. The emotional struggle of wills between Lyra and Pantalaimon, when they are searching for Iorek Byrnison to help him retrieve his armor, his soul, captures the happiness and sadness you risk as you learn to make an independent life, to make decisions for yourself which, good or bad, affect your life forever. The possibility of separation causes them to feel as if they are ripping apart from each other. As they began to work together again, they each recognize their need for each other. The device is glorious. The use of unusual or made-up names is also fascinating and lyrical. Some of the names, like Scholars and Master and gyptian, capture the essence of the character traits of those people and their lifestyle without having to laboriously identify and describe them after the initial introduction. Then the names like Gobbler and General Oblation Board strike a looming and growing terror each time they are uttered. Lyra’s journey will assist the reader in making sense of gyptian, Gobbler, daemon, Pantalaimon, alethiometer and panserbjorne, to name a few. If the fantasy genre is even remotely to your liking, The Golden Compass will keep you reading without pause. You will be delighted that the story will continue in another book and another reality, as it is part of a planned trilogy.
Philip Pullman
was born in
Children’s
literature was never too far from his heart. Pullman is a member of the
Board of Trustees of the Centre for the Children's Book. He was a
member of the judging panel for the Guardian Children's Book Award for
1994 and 1996, and also of the panel of judges for the Betty Trask Award,
1997. In 1995 he wrote the first of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy,
called The Golden Compass. The novel, The Subtle Knife, the
second in the series, was released in 1997 and his final book will be released
in September 2000. Other books to his credit include, The
Tin Princess, The Ruby in the Smoke and The Tiger in the
Well.
He and his wife, Jude, have two sons: Jamie, a professional viola player; and Tom, who is still at school.
by Dawn Renee Bozman
These ideas are general and would have to be refined to suit the grade level and the particular students:
Ideas for Classroom Activities – The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
Example Lesson Plan - Creating a Graphic Organizer/ Using the Internet
Performance Objective: Students will use the computer to access the Internet. They will be able to use the following links to complete a list of confusing and unfamiliar characters and terms from the novel The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman.
(http://www.randomhouse.com/features/goldencompass/goldencompass/keywds.html)
(http://www.randomhouse.com/features/goldencompass/goldencompass/cast.html)
Students will be able to share their lists with their partners.
Rationale: Learning about key terms and characters prior to reading a novel helps students gain a full understanding of the novel. Learning about these terms and characters on the Internet can be motivating for students who like working on computers. Creating a graphic organizer of unfamiliar terms and characters may help students understand them better. If students read about characters or terms they have not yet seen in the novel that interest them, they may be more motivated to continue reading.
Introduction: Students have been introduced to this unit by reading the first chapter of the novel. Students were asked to write down any unfamiliar or confusing words or characters that they encountered during the first chapter of the novel.
Lesson Content:
1. Readiness/Pre-activity:
Students will be asked to take out their lists of confusing or unfamiliar characters and words they found in chapter one.
2. Lesson: Method/Media
Students will be asked to look up this
site first. (http://www.randomhouse.com/features/goldencompass/goldencompass/keywds.html)
Students will be asked to read the site.
Students can look for words they already have on their lists and write
brief definitions of those words. On the other side of the page,
students will be asked to also write down words and definitions that they
were not familiar with prior to reading this site or that they have not
yet discovered in chapter one.
Students will then be asked to look up
the following site:
(http://www.randomhouse.com/features/goldencompass/goldencompass/cast.html)
Students will be asked to read this
site. Students can look for the characters they thought were confusing
as they read and describe them on one side of the page. On the other
side of the page, students will be asked to list characters that they have
not yet met and describe those.
3. Post-Activity: Supervised or independent practice
Students should help their partners by discussing their lists and comparing them.
**If a group finishes early they may look up chapter 2 on the web and begin reading. (http://www.randomhouse.com/features/goldencompass/goldencompass/chapter2.html)
Materials and aids:
· Paper
· List of confusing characters and terms
· Computers- Internet
·
Chalk
Other ideas for classroom activities:
·Students could draw a picture of one of the characters. In the area outside the picture they could write several descriptive characteristics of that character. This will help students use their creativity and imagination. Also, it helps students’ better associate a character’s traits and actions with the character.
· Students could write a short essay describing what they think might happen next in the story. This activity could be used at any point in the story. This encourages creative writing and motivates students to continue reading because students want to know if their prediction came true.
· Students could write their own fantasy story. They could use some of the characters in the novel or create entirely new characters.
More
classroom activities:
-The
students could be assigned different character parts and put on a play
for the parents, to better understand the book.The
students could act out some of their favorite scenes in the book.
-The
students could be assigned the different books in Pullmans trilogy and
the students could design a group discussion comparing the what each book
is about.
-After
the students have read the book, they can be presented with a fantasy movie
and have to compare the similarities and the differences between the two.
And do related project, of their choice, on both.
Teachers Resource
- Reading Group Guide from Random House http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/rc/rc_rg_knopf10.html
Powells.com introduces the readers to Dave Weich who expresses his opinions about Pullmans trilogy and The Golden Compass. Weich discusses how Pullman’s writings touch his inner-self. This site also contains an interview between Weich and Pullman.The interview contains a variety of topics.
Students Resource
- Student Science Fiction & Fantasy Contest from Bucconeer http://www.bucconeer.worldcon.org/contest/index.htm
- His Dark Materials from Random House http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pullman/alethiometer/index.html
