Crabbe

Crabbe is a “coming of age” story. This means that a relatively young protagonist encounters a series of challenges that cause them to gradually mature, becoming more like an adult by the end of the story. What is Crabbe like at the beginning of the story? What evidence supports your description of his initial character? What are the most important challenges and obstacles that he faces while he is in the wilderness and when he is recovering afterward? How do these challenges cause him to mature? What evidence is there in the end of the story that shows the reader how Crabbe is different—more like a real adult—after all of his adventures?

Teaching Suggestion: This straightforward prompt asks students to consider how Crabbe matures throughout the novel and to offer evidence to support their observations. It may be helpful to point out to students that the prompt is asking about moral, intellectual, and emotional changes, not physical ones. Students can answer in writing or through class discussion. If you choose to have students answer aloud, allowing time for them to gather their evidence in advance will probably lead to a richer discussion. Although it is not essential to answering this prompt, if you wish to offer students more information about the coming-of-age motif in literature, you can gather ideas from this excellent explainer from Stanford University’s The Stanford Daily.

Differentiation Suggestion: Because this prompt asks for evidence gathered from throughout the entire novel, English language learners, students with dyslexia and other reading challenges, and students with attentional and executive function issues may struggle to find evidence quickly and accurately. You might consider simplifying the task by asking them to focus on one aspect of Crabbe’s maturity—his tendency to blame others for his problems, for example—and trace this issue through the novel. Or, you might allow them to work with partners or in small groups and offer them a graphic organizer where they can record evidence. If you are asking students to respond in writing, students who struggle with written language might be allowed to turn in such a graphic organizer in lieu of a full written response.