Character Relationships in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Outsiders (Junior English)
Lesson Overview and Purpose
This is a lesson that would be part of a multimedial novel study of The Outsiders. This is primarily targeted towards a "junior level" English class (likely English 8). I would frame this unit as a "connection-building" unit and bring in a variety of texts and mediums to give the students as many reference points as I could to engage with the central theme we would be exploring in our study of the novel: "Who are the 'outsiders' in our society and why?"
One of the "texts" I would bring into the class would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would bring in a few episodes from Season Five and Season Six to explore the socioeconomic situation the characters (particularly Buffy and her little sister, Dawn) found themselves in and how that impacted the relationship between the two characters. In one particular episode ("Tough Love"), Buffy is notified by the principal at Dawn's school that Dawn has been skipping class; the principal tells Buffy (off screen) that if things with Dawn don't improve, Buffy will lose custody and Dawn will be taken away. As the episode unfolds, Buffy is seen struggling with being an authority figure, often being hard on Dawn and putting a strain on their relationship.
We would discuss this episode in conversation with the relationship between Darry and Ponyboy in The Outsiders. Since the story is told from Ponyboy's perspective, we know that Ponyboy thinks that Darry hates him because he is so hard on him. Looking at this relationship from what we have seen on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we know that this likely isn't the case. To engage in this conversation, I would ask the students to write a "compare and contrast" piece between the relationships of the characters in the two texts.
One of the "texts" I would bring into the class would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would bring in a few episodes from Season Five and Season Six to explore the socioeconomic situation the characters (particularly Buffy and her little sister, Dawn) found themselves in and how that impacted the relationship between the two characters. In one particular episode ("Tough Love"), Buffy is notified by the principal at Dawn's school that Dawn has been skipping class; the principal tells Buffy (off screen) that if things with Dawn don't improve, Buffy will lose custody and Dawn will be taken away. As the episode unfolds, Buffy is seen struggling with being an authority figure, often being hard on Dawn and putting a strain on their relationship.
We would discuss this episode in conversation with the relationship between Darry and Ponyboy in The Outsiders. Since the story is told from Ponyboy's perspective, we know that Ponyboy thinks that Darry hates him because he is so hard on him. Looking at this relationship from what we have seen on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we know that this likely isn't the case. To engage in this conversation, I would ask the students to write a "compare and contrast" piece between the relationships of the characters in the two texts.
Lesson Plan
Supporting Materials: Paragraph Graphic Organizer
Although this is a supplementary resource for students in my class who might struggle with writing, I would make this handout available to all to student to plan their response before writing their formal paragraph response.