The Red Pyramid

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.

“Interview with a Magician”

In this activity, students will analyze the various types of magic portrayed in the novel and craft a hypothetical interview with one of the magic users.

• Throughout The Red Pyramid, we encounter an intricate and detailed magic system. In order to understand this system and its impact on the story, we will explore different types of magic, analyze their roles in the story, and conduct an imaginary interview with a magic user from the book.
• Your group will be assigned a specific type of magic used in the novel, such as divine words, transformation, or combat magic. In your group, find examples of your magic in the text.
• Choose a character who prominently uses your assigned type of magic. When and why do they use it? How does it affect them, their decisions, and their interactions with others?
• Craft a hypothetical interview with your chosen character. Write questions that delve into their relationship with their magic, how they feel about it, and the challenges and advantages it brings. Write their responses based on your understanding of the character and their usage of magic. When you write their responses, think about how this character would normally talk. Consider their use of humor, formality of speech, and cultural references.
• Using your script, act out your interview for the class.
• As you watch other groups’ presentations, take notes on how other characters use magic and how it impacts the plot.

After the interviews, reflect in your notes or reading journal on the differences and similarities between the different types of magic. What type of magic would you like to master and why?

Teaching Suggestion: Depending on the size of your groups, you may want to assign specific roles to the group members such as interviewer, magician, narrator, props manager, and/or magic expert. It could be helpful to assign groups of mixed abilities, so that students are able to help each other. Before students write the script for the interviews, consider asking students to find an example of dialogue from their character so that they can write authentically in that character’s voice.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners, students with executive functioning differences, and students who benefit from a more structured approach, consider offering a graphic organizer to help them take notes during interview presentations. Headings could include: Character name, Scenes involving this magic, Impact on the plot, Impact on character development, Magic rules/limitations. English learners may also benefit from sentence starters when writing dialogue for their interviews. For students/groups who need an extra challenge, consider encouraging them to imagine and write another scene involving their character and that character’s preferred magic.