Northanger Abbey

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

“Catherine Morland, Movie Critic”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of the characterization and voice of Catherine Morland by reviewing a modern genre film from her perspective.

Catherine’s relationship to Gothic Romanticism changes quite a bit during the novel. This activity asks you to consider exactly how her experiences change her and to apply your understanding of Catherine to a new context. Choose a modern movie—a horror film, a dark romantic comedy, or any other genre clearly related to Gothic Romanticism—and use Catherine’s voice and perspective to write a review.

Your review should be about 500 words. If you need some tips about how to write a film review, see this explainer from the New York Film Academy—but remember that you will not be sharing your own opinions and writing in your own voice. The opinions and writing style should be Catherine Morland’s.

When you finish, you will share your review with a small group. The group will vote on which review best reflects Catherine’s voice and perspective.

Teaching Suggestion: If your students have little experience with analyzing voice, you might introduce this activity with a brief lesson on the elements of voice and discuss exactly what makes Catherine “sound” distinctive compared to other characters in the novel and the everyday language students hear around them in real life. This activity is best-suited as a homework assignment so that students can refresh their memories about the details of their chosen films. If circumstances require this activity to be completed in class, you might prepare students by asking them to choose a film and review its details in advance.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who struggle with writing fluency, writing in someone else’s voice may impede the flow of their ideas. You might suggest that they first write the review offering “Catherine’s” ideas in their own voice and then go back and edit to make it sound more like Catherine’s voice. Literal thinkers may have difficulty understanding how to translate Catherine’s perspective to a new situation like a modern movie review. They may benefit from filling out a three-column chart with Catherine’s ideas on the far left, qualities of the film on the far right, and Catherine’s likely response to elements of the film in the center.