Cat's Cradle

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.

“What Would Bokonon Do?”

Students will identify a question or problem of interest, and then compose a short poem in the style of Bokonon, imagining how he would respond.

Throughout Cat’s Cradle, John quotes Bokonon’s commentary and advice on a wide arrange of subjects, as collected in The Books of Bokonon. Bokonon’s writings are often insightful, comforting, symbolic, and funny, but not necessarily true.

• Think of a problem or question facing you or society at large. Describe the problem in detail, highlighting its complexity and why it matters.
• Using Bokonon’s teachings and writings from throughout the novel as a guide, write a short paragraph or poem in the style of Bokonon indicating how you think he would respond to that problem.
• Afterward, explain how and why you think Bokonon would respond as you indicated. What have you learned about his character and his role as a religious leader?

Teaching Suggestion: If students are struggling to identify a problem or question for Bokonon to address, consider handing out slips of paper and having them write suggestions anonymously; you could then list them on the board for reference. As they proceed to compose responses in Bokonon’s style, remind them to look for evidence in the text that informs their response both in terms of values (what does Bokonon stand for?) and style (what is his voice?).

After writing, students may enjoy sharing their writing with the class. Alternatively, you could lead the class in selecting a single topic for everyone to address in their responses, allowing for comparative discussion at the end.

Differentiation Suggestion: For beginning writers or English learners, consider providing sentence frames to help them focus their thinking and plan their writing: “If Bokonon were here today, I would ask him about ____.” “While discussing ____, Bokonon might refer to ____ as a symbol or example.” “Bokonon would probably lie about ____ to make his listeners feel better.” You could even encourage them to take a specific poem from the text as a template, switching out key words and phrases to fit their topic.