What truth can be found in fiction?

As we read John Steinbeck's The Pearl, I asked my students to look for the "truths" that emerged in this fictional story filled with hope, dreams, greed, and tragedy. We were searching for the parts of the story that connected to the real world and to today's world in particular. Students were also asked to keep track of symbols as we read as a class.

When we finished reading, students were asked to create a "reduction" of the book. In other words, they were asked to select the most critical elements of the plot, settings, conflicts, themes, and symbols and then create a visual piece that expressed those ideas. Students were asked to show their own symbolic thinking by using a combination of literal and nonliteral images to represent their ideas. Students were also asked to write about the theme that stood out to them the most as well as the symbol that had the "deepest" meaning in the book. 

Reductions were due today, and once again I was impressed by the ideas and thinking that students shared with this assignment. Because I am not very artistic myself, I fully appreciate the artistic talent that so many students possess!  And even the students who are not so artistic produced work that was inventive and demonstrated nonliteral concepts in unique ways! 

This is one of my favorite assignments all year because it shows how even though we may all read the same book we come away with different interpretations and ideas about what matters overall.