Forbidden City

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.

“Advocacy”

In this activity, students will reflect on advocacy in the novel and develop strategies to advocate for a cause in their own local or national governments.

Alex admires the fortitude of the student protesters who have been denied basic rights in their government. Consider issues in your local or national government and develop an advocacy strategy to address threats to personal freedoms. Compare your strategies to those of the student protesters in the novel. Consider these questions to guide your thinking.

• What injustices should be addressed in government systems?
• How might you inspire others to join your cause?
• What organization and planning may be required for advocacy?
• How can media be used to inspire change?
• What are simple strategies that can be used to advocate for a cause?
• What solutions can you develop to resolve an important issue?

Create a media presentation to share with peers describing your cause, the strategies you will use, and how they relate to the strategies used by the student protesters in the novel.

After class members have shared their presentations, compare the content of the presentations and consider the ways in which they might be connected by the novel’s themes.