Many novels trace their origins to mythology, folklore, fairy tales, legends, epic poems, the plays of William Shakespeare and the parables of religious teachings. Initiate a discussion of heroes, villains, quests and core conflicts predicated on reward, revenge and escape. Compare and contrast the characters, settings and themes of the novel with the source material that inspired it. Have students script and perform short scenes that demonstrate the parallels between the two stories. Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres," for instance, is a modern spin on "King Lear" set on an Iowa farm, but the treachery of sibling rivalry is a timeless theme.
Encourage students to research selected authors' lives and identify the various influences on their chosen genre, writing style, popularity and observations about the human condition. Elements to consider are the era and region in which they were born, social status, education, family and lifestyle, religion, significant events that shaped their views and who their contemporaries were. Set up a classroom talk show in which costumed students portray the authors and answer questions from the host and audience about their "latest" books.
Determine whether the novel for study has ever been adapted to a movie. If practical, rent the movie or create a sampling of short clips that illustrate key scenes. Invite the students to compare and contrast the ways in which the novel delivers a different layer of content, back story and character development that a visual medium cannot achieve as successfully.
Provide your students with the opening line of the selected novel. Ask students to discuss their personal reactions to the line and how they think it sets the tone -- optimistic, depressing, mysterious -- for the upcoming story. Have students write and deliver short speeches in which the opening line is the central theme. Invite them to express the sentiments of the opening line in a rhyming poem, haiku or song lyric.
Assign half the students in the class the roles of characters that appear in the novel. Provide them with brief bios of these characters' backgrounds and motivations. The rest of the class will be TV reporters who interview them for their respective sides of the story. Videotape these news segments. Another classroom exercise is to create a panel of students who offer advice to a fictional character with a major problem. If, for instance, the character is the prince who trades places with a pauper and is then unable to switch back and prove his identity, students can brainstorm creative solutions based on their own frames of reference.