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.

“Misunderstood Villains”

In this activity, students will give voice to a famous literary villain.

First-person narratives in the voices of famous literary villains like Grendel are a popular form. In Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, for example, the audience hears from the Wicked Witch of the West. In most cases, these villains claim that human rejection causes isolation and bitterness, sometimes leading to violence.

• Choose a popular literary villain who has been silent too long. You might consider the shark in Jaws, the boy in The Giving Tree, Annie Wilkes in Misery, Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, or any other popular villain.
• Begin by listing the alleged crimes or wrongs committed by the villain.
• Then, consider how the villain might offer a defense to each.
• What motivates the villain? What do they want? How have they tried to satisfy their needs? With what success or failure? Who would your villain say is the real villain in the story, and why?
• Give your chosen character voice by writing a brief a dramatic monologue.

Invite students to share their work in small groups or with the whole class.