Performing "The Black Cat"
Grade Levels: 9 - 12
Objectives
Students will perform Edgar Allen Poe's play, "The Black Cat".
Materials
- Copies of the "The Black Cat" Annotated for Readers Theatre
- Stage (an open part of your classroom)
- Optional: props, markers and paper to make props and sets
Procedures
- Students read Poe's "The Black Cat."
- Have a class discussion about the story using the questions in the Annotated "The Black Cat."
- Divide students into groups and assign a few sections of the story to each group. There are eleven sections in the annotated version of the story so, if possible, creating eleven groups is simplest.
- Ask students to assign acting parts to each group member.
NOTE: Students may want to divide the part of the narrator into an actor and a narrator. The narrator will read the story and the other members of the group will act out the story.
- Give students time to find or make props. They may also want to design a set for their sections of the story.
- Instruct students to rehearse their scenes.
- Direct students to perform each scene following the order of the story. Those students not performing act as the audience for each scene.
- As a follow up activity, ask students to give positive feedback to the groups about elements that were successful in each scene.
