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.

“Sara’s Nicknames”

Students will revisit three scenes in which other young characters bestow nicknames upon Sara Crewe and discuss in a group how each nickname reflects Sara’s emotional arc in the story.

Nicknames can reveal a lot about both the person who has the nickname and those who have given the name to the person. In this activity, you will revisit three key scenes in which other young characters give Sara a nickname and write about how the nickname reveals both Sara’s personality and that of the people who give it to her. Finally, you will meet in a small group and discuss what each nickname tells about Sara’s emotional journey at that point in the story.

• Reread the scenes in which Sara is nicknamed “Princess Sara” (Chapter 6); “The-little-girl-who-is-not-a-beggar” (Chapter 10); and “the un-fairy princess” (Chapter 17).
• Write two paragraphs for each nickname: one stating what the nickname tells about Sara, and the other stating what the nickname tells about the characters who call her this.
• In a small group, discuss your conclusions and decide what each nickname tells about Sara’s emotional journey at that point in the story.