The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What kind of story do you think the term “embedded narrative” refers to? What examples of this technique can you think of?

Teaching Suggestion: The Ten Thousand Doors of January includes an embedded narrative: the supposed text of a book called The Ten Thousand Doors. Although students may not be familiar with this specific literary term, they should be able to make reasonable guesses about its meaning; they might work in pairs to compose a definition for sharing. After they have made initial guesses, they might explore the sources below or similar resources, then refine their initial responses. Students are likely to have encountered a few examples of this technique in works they have read, watched, or played, and they may enjoy discussing examples aloud. It may be helpful to clarify for students the relationship between the terms “embedded narrative” and “frame story.”

• This article succinctly defines the term and offers several examples.
• This brief analytical article from the scholarly journal Poe Studies explores the significance and symbolism of the embedded narrative of “The Mad Trist” within Poe’s classic short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

2. What kind of story do you think the term “portal fantasy” refers to? What examples of this genre can you think of?

Teaching Suggestion: The Ten Thousand Doors of January is an example of the portal fantasy subgenre. Understanding this subgenre will be helpful to students as they consider the novel’s themes, especially those related to The Power of Words. As with the previous prompt, students may be unfamiliar with this term but can likely guess its meaning and have almost certainly encountered examples in their reading and viewing. Many students will be familiar with the Harry Potter series; The Chronicles of Narnia might be mentioned as another example. The resources listed below may be helpful as students refine their understanding of the term. If time allows, students might work in small groups to brainstorm brief points common to portal stories such as “rules” that govern the use of a portal and character conflicts often associated with portals.

• This brief description from Penguin Random House includes several relevant examples of portal fantasies with short plot premises.
• Powell’s Books offers a mix of children’s, YA, and adult portal fiction cover images on one page; readers might briefly discuss imagery similarities and titles.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

If you encountered your own magical portal, what kind of a world would you hope it opened into? What does this choice say about the “real” world or about who you are as a person?

Teaching Suggestion: Portal fantasy offers a particular kind of vicarious adventure: Through the characters, the reader experiences what it is like to escape into another reality. This prompt builds empathy for January prior to reading; later, students might address how the makeup of the alternate reality January experiences reveals aspects of character and theme.