My Friend Dahmer

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.

“Creative Writing: Dahmer’s Friend’s Perspective”

In this activity, students will write a creative journal entry from the perspective of another of Dahmer’s friends (or a family member) during his high school years.

Derf Backderf’s graphic novel provides insights into Dahmer’s life during his high school years, but it is just one friend’s perspective on Dahmer’s life. For this Activity, you will write a journal entry from the perspective of a friend or family member of Dahmer’s during his high school years. This person does not have to be a friend or family member who actually existed; they can be entirely fictitious. Use the following guidelines as you draft your journal entry:

• First, select one of the scenes from Backderf’s novel to write from the perspective of a friend or family member of Dahmer’s. This could be an imagined student he went to school with, a teacher, or his parents or brother.
• Then, consider how that friend or family member might have felt during this particular scene. Try to consider what their feelings would be both during that moment and also looking back on the scene with the knowledge of what Dahmer had done.