The+Curious+Incident+of+the+Dog+in+the+Night-time

__The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time__ Level: Grade 9-10 Subject: Language Arts __Summary:__ Christopher is an autistic child and also whiz kid at math and science, but for him, human emotions are particularly complex. At the beginning, he tells us "I know all of the countries of the world and their capital cities, and every prime number up to 7,057."He doesn't like strange places or people he doesn't know. If people touch him, he will hit them. If his senses become overloaded or his brain too confused, he will curl up in a ball and groan loudly. His world needs order and precision. He will do math problems in his head for hours just to pass the time or distract him from an unpleasant situation. Christopher lives alone with his father after his mother died from a heart attack two years earlier. One day, he finds a neighbor's dog, named Wellington, murdered and decides to write about it. With the help of his teacher, Siobhan, he decides to write a book about his attempt to solve this mystery. It's a search for information that will ultimately upset his carefully constructed world. His enquiries lead to him uncovering secrets about his own family, and his dead mother in particular. The main focus is not the disclosure of who killed the dog, but Christopher’s disclosure of the secrets about his family and who is responsible for them __Main Issues & Teaching Approaches:__ __Textual Knowledge__ Point of view: Everything is seen through the eyes of the main character, Christopher. He is a genius at math, so he sees emotions in a very matter-of-fact, logical way. It makes the description of his emotions so unusually distant to the readers. At the same time, Christopher’s own behavior is much more understandable from the point of view of his own mind than it might be to an outsider looking in. __Social Knowledge__ The society is so indifferent and cruel: Cops: When Chris is suspected to kill the dog, the cops mistreat him, bombard him with questions and touch him. The interrogation and the touch irritate Chris and make him retreat to curl up in a ball and groan. At first, Chris only needs to solve one mystery only - the death of the dog. But as he progresses, he needs to solve one more mystery – his dead mother’s whereabouts. He is disclosing more and more about the cruelty of life that he’s so innocent before, e.g. his own illness drives their parents mad and makes them quarrel and break up; his mum has affair with another man; his father who he trusts most killed the dog; and he has affair with their neighbour after his mum left; and Chris’s existence leads to the break-up of his mum and her boyfriend, and a heavier financial burden to his mum. __Topic Knowledge__ Autism: From the point of view of an autistic child, readers have a better understanding of how an autistic child’s mind works. They have an “abnormal” mindset, (Chris: logical. Doing math to kill time; number the chapter of his book with prime numbers) and they are afraid of interacting with strangers. __Challenge:__ - Students may not be able to put themselves into the shoes of autistic children. Discussion Q: How easy did you find it to relate to Christopher? Do you feel that you were really able to get inside his mind? - This novel is unusually realistic as a children novel. From the POV of Chris who misunderstands everything in daily situation, readers can realise what a challenge it has become for his parents to cope with bringing up such an innocent and special child in today's cruel world. __Activities: (Focus on how autistic children think about the society)__ 1. Imagine if you were Christopher having the same adventure like this, design a book cover for your book. 2. Compare the covers of different versions and explain the meanings of the designs. 3. If the story is told in the perspective of Ed (Chris’s father), how will the story be told in a different way? (to teach the text critically.)