Teaching And Then There Were None

Instructions for You

Objective: There are ten little characters in the story. (Actually, there are a few more in the beginning and end, but we're not counting them, not even the tenth victim, Morris.) If asked to describe them, how would you? Are they who they first appear to be? What are their pasts and their secrets?

Students will partner up to figure all this out and create character cards for the ten lucky island visitors. Then they'll order them according to their own ideas of guilt and write a short reflection. This'll take 1½ classes with time between to find pictures. Steps 1 – 4 are day one, Step 5 is homework, and Steps 6 – 9 are day two. They won't need the whole class on the second day unless you want the groups to share their orders of guilt.

Materials Needed: Paper and pen, plain paper (copy paper, construction paper), scissors, markers or pens (optional), pictures from home

Step 1: Students begin by finding a partner.

Step 2: Partners work together to create a character card for each of the ten main characters. They'll need paper, scissors, and writing instruments.

• Here
• are
• some
• ideas.

Be sure to preview Steps 3 – 5 before beginning.

Step 3: Here's the information students should include on each card:

• Name
• Profession
• Personality traits; at least three (i.e. Philip—calculating, courageous, corrupt, quick)
• Main desire in life (i.e. Vera wanted to marry, love, and be with Hugo.)
• Supposed crime (i.e. Mrs. Rogers allowed her employer Jennifer Brady to die.)
• Their defense of the crime (i.e. Anthony Marston didn't deny what happened. He said it was "bad luck" and a "nuisance." (4.2))
• The truth of the crime (i.e. Anthony Marston ran over and killed John and Lucy Combs.) (Sometimes the defense and the truth are the same.)
• The order in which they died
• Picture (printed from internet or torn from magazine)—This part will be done at home, but leave a blank space on the card where it'll go.

Step 4: The cards themselves...

• need to be neatly written and organized.
• can be any size but have to include all the information from Step 3. Thus, the smaller they are, the smaller the writing. Students should plan accordingly.
• will be single-sided.

Step 5: For homework, have students find pictures that represent their ideas of the characters.

• These can be printed from the internet or cut from magazines.
• They'll tape or glue the pictures onto the character cards.

Step 6: Back in class, partners get together and read paragraph 36 (It begins, "The order of death upon…") of the Manuscript Document (AKA Wargrave's message in a bottle) from the Epilogue. They'll discuss this question with each other: How did Wargrave decide on the order that everyone died?

Step 7: Partners now discuss the the cards and place them in the order they think it should have been.

• It's okay if they don't agree.
• If they don't, they can try out both ways. They'll need to write down the order for the next step.

Step 8: Independently, students sum things up with a written reflection of about 500 words by answering these questions:

• Who on that island was innocent? Explain.
• Why did Wargrave murder people in a certain order?
• Do you agree with his order or not? Be specific.
• If you don't agree, explain your order.
• Compare a character that was honest about his/her crime with one who tried to cover it up.

Step 9: Allow students to display their cards in the orders that the partners choose. If you want to finish things up with a small discussion about the different orders partners chose or have partners share their ideas, go for it.

Instructions for Your Students

There are ten little characters in the story. (Actually, there are a few more in the beginning and end, but we're not counting them, not even the tenth victim, Morris.) If asked to describe them, how would you? Are they who they first appear to be? Are they their pasts? What about their secrets?

You're going to figure all this out and make character cards for the ten lucky island visitors. Then you'll order them according to your own idea of guilt and write a short reflection.

Step 1: Your teacher will help you to find a partner.

Step 2: Work together to create a character card for each of the ten main characters. You'll need paper, scissors, and writing instruments. 

• Here
• are
• some
• ideas to get you going.

But be sure to read Steps 3 – 5 before beginning.

Step 3: Here's the information to include on each card:

• Name
• Profession
• Personality traits; at least three (i.e. Philip—calculating, courageous, corrupt, quick)
• Main desire in life (i.e. Vera wanted to marry, love, and be with Hugo.)
• Supposed crime (i.e. Mrs. Rogers allowed her employer Jennifer Brady to die.)
• Their defense of the crime (i.e. Anthony Marston didn't deny what happened. He said it was "bad luck" and a "nuisance." (4.2))
• The truth of the crime (i.e. Anthony Marston ran over and killed John and Lucy Combs.) (Sometimes the defense and the truth are the same.)
• The order in which they died
• Picture (printed from internet or torn from magazine)—This part will be done at home, but leave a blank space on the card where it'll go.

Step 4: The cards themselves...

• need to be neatly written and organized.
• can be any size but have to include all the info from Step 3. Thus, the smaller they are, the smaller the writing. Plan accordingly.
• will be single-sided.

Step 5: For homework, find pictures that represent your idea of what the characters look like.

• These can be printed from the internet or cut from magazines.
• Tape or glue the pictures onto the character cards.

Step 6: Get together with your partner and read paragraph 36 (It begins, "The order of death upon…") of the Manuscript Document (AKA Wargrave's message in a bottle) from the Epilogue. Discuss this question with your partner: How did Wargrave decide on the order that everyone died?

Step 7: Discuss and put the cards in the order in which you think they should have died.

• It's okay if you both don't agree.
• If you don't, try out both you and your partner's ways. Write down the order for the next step.

Step 8: Independently, sum things up with a written reflection of approximately 500 words by answering these questions:

• Who on that island was innocent? Explain.
• Why did Wargrave murder people in a certain order?
• Do you agree with his order or not? Be specific.
• If you don't agree, explain your order.
• Compare a character that was honest about his/her crime with one who tried to cover it up.