Life As We Knew It

How does Pfeffer use literary elements such as dialogue, description, and characterization to bring the story to life? How does she use aspects of the science fiction genre to give a timeless quality to the story that can appeal to generations of readers? How do these elements help express themes of Faith, Love, Survival, and Maturity?

Teaching Suggestion: This discussion will allow students to focus on textual details—the nuances of dialogue, description, and characterization that make this novel come alive. Consider having students respond to the prompt independently or in small groups before discussing as a larger class. You may also consider structuring the activity as a gallery walk in which students contribute examples of particular dialogue, descriptive details, characterization, and/or aspects of science fiction that they feel are particularly impactful in the story.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners and students who would benefit from additional support, this class discussion might be used along with a graphic organizer to collect ideas and details from the text. Students may also benefit from being provided examples from the text to more simply explain the impact of each example on the story. More advanced students might create their own graphic organizer as a presentation to share their analyses with the class.