In this activity, students will identify a theme from The Phantom Tollbooth and support the theme with three scenes from the text.
The main character is always rushing to be nowhere in particular, or wasting time because he has nothing to do. Later, he meets Tock, a watchdog whose job it is to make sure that nobody ever wastes any time. At the end of the novel, Milo believes that his parents will be worried because he had been gone for such a long time. However, it turns out that Milo had only been gone an hour.
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Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that identifies recurring themes in The Phantom Tollbooth. Illustrate instances of each theme and write a short description below each cell.
Introduce students to the concept of themes and central ideas and how they play a significant role in the narrative and its development. Teachers can also discuss some universal themes as examples such as justice, relationships, growth, etc. Help the students identify the specific themes present in “The Phantom Tollbooth” and conduct a general discussion on its central ideas.
Examine and contrast the various facets of the human experience as represented by the Lands Beyond. Ask students to discuss how each of the lands Milo visits adds to the exploration of themes as they compare and contrast them. Think of talking about the Doldrums, Digitopolis, and Dictionopolis, to name a few.
Aim for students to produce mental maps, concept maps, or diagrams that show how the book's topics are connected to one another. Visual aids can assist students in planning their thoughts and create a comprehensive analysis.
Connect the themes to instances from everyday life. Students should be encouraged to consider the ways in which the principles learned in "The Phantom Tollbooth" might be applied to their own lives, their education, and the wider community. Talk about instances of indifference or circumstances where using reason and imagination in moderation is necessary.
Ask the students to ponder if they have found similar themes in other narratives or stories they have read and to try and compare the development of similar themes in different narratives. This can help students understand how one theme can be used to portray different ideas and result in different outcomes.
Every land in the Lands Beyond adds to the thematic investigation and symbolizes a distinct facet of the human experience. To comprehend the thematic relevance of places like the Foothills of Confusion, the Mountains of Ignorance, and the Valley of Sound, students should examine their features. Students can try creating visual representations of these settings and try to analyze the symbolism present in these settings from various perspectives.
Throughout the book, symbolism is used to express deeper meanings. In the Mountains of Ignorance, figures such as Tock, the watchdog, the Humbug, and the demons have symbolic meanings that students can investigate and discuss in relation to the topics.