dear mr.

henshaw - literary discussion guide

dear mr. henshaw

by beverly cleary
literary discussion guide
1. characters

leigh botts
bonnie botts
bill botts
mr. henshawbandit
miss martinez
mr. fridley
katymiss neely
barry
angela badger

2. conflict

person vs. self (inner conflicts of feelings & thoughts)

person vs. person (protagonist vs. antagonist)

person vs. society (larger organizations/belief systems of society)

person vs. nature (battling the elements of nature)

3. themes/symbols

analyze themes such as: friendship, acceptance, loneliness, courage,

believing in yourself, coming of age, divorce, working mothers
(latch-key kids), poverty/economic hardship, honesty, and the power
of writing/journal keeping, etc.

do symbols foreshadow the plot, affect tone and/or meaning?

4. pre-reading/post-reading activities

social studies: economic hardship & poverty, etc.

classroom projects: art, vocabulary, journal & letter writing, etc.