The Ten Thousand Doors of January

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.

“A New Nested Narrative”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of the novel’s use of embedded narrative by creating a nested narrative within the novel’s embedded text.

When there is a second embedded narrative inside of an already embedded narrative, scholars often refer to this as a “nested” story structure. In this activity, you will create your own nested narrative by embedding another text within The Ten Thousand Doors.

Plan

• Review the sections of the novel that contain the embedded story The Ten Thousand Doors. Decide where the narrator of this story might find and read a section of another book that helps to drive the plot or establishes a new conflict.
• Consider the relationship between The Ten Thousand Doors and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. How do their settings, content, and voice relate to each other? Make choices for your own embedded narrative that mirror this relationship.
• Decide what your narrative will be about and what its title will be. (You will not be writing full chapters for your narrative—just a short excerpt.)

Write

• Begin with a borrowed sentence from The Ten Thousand Doors that establishes what Julian/Yule Ian is doing just before he finds the new book. Stay in the perspective of The Ten Thousand Doors as you show Julian/ Yule Ian finding the book and opening it.
• Your narrative should then jump into the text of your imagined new book and continue from this newly created narrator’s perspective.
• Your narrative should end by jumping back into The Ten Thousand Doors, with Julian/ Yule Ian deciding to stop reading for the moment. He can break off his reading at any point in the new embedded text—it does not have to be a “complete” story.
• Your narrative should be 250-500 words long.

Share

• When you finish writing, share your narrative with a small group.
• As a group, answer the following question:

○ What were some of the most effective choices members of the group made, and how did these choices reflect the relationship between the two narratives in The Ten Thousand Doors of January?

Teaching Suggestion: Because understanding the specifics of the relationship between the main text and the embedded narrative is fundamental to success in this activity, it may be helpful for students to take time to discuss this relationship before beginning work. They might also benefit from a brief discussion of the relationship between the titles of the two works, as this will help them choose appropriate titles for their own embedded texts. Finally, it might also be helpful to review how Harrow transitions into and out of sections of embedded narrative, so that they can mimic her techniques in their own writing.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who benefit from strategies with organizational or abstract thinking may find it helpful to create a t-chart with characteristics of the relationship between the original two texts on one side and related plans for their own text on the other side. Students who benefit from strategies for written expression might use such a chart to create an outline of their proposed narrative; this can be used as a guideline for writing or turned in as an alternative assessment form.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. On the day she learns that her father is missing and presumed dead, January discovers the copy of The Ten Thousand Doors.

• How does this event support the novel’s argument for books as a kind of portal? (topic sentence)
• Identify and discuss 3 examples of language, characterization, and/or plot detail that support your assertion. Lead up to the strongest of your examples, placing it last in your discussion.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this argument relates to the book’s thematic concern with The Power of Words.

2. Harrow makes use of foreshadowing throughout the novel.

• Choose one example of foreshadowing. What is foreshadowed by this detail or plot event? (topic sentence)
• Describe the early and later elements of the text contributing to the foreshadowing. Explain the connection between the two elements.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, briefly summarize the ways in which this example of foreshadowing helps keep the reader engaged in the narrative; evaluate the example’s effectiveness in this regard.

3. Olfactory imagery is less commonly used than other forms of imagery, but Harrow makes frequent use of it in The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

• What pattern of meaning is present in the text’s use of olfactory images? (topic sentence)
• Choose 3 strong examples to analyze and discuss from various places in the novel. Employ the use of a quoted example for each that supports your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how Harrow’s use of olfactory imagery supports the novel’s larger meaning.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by details, and a conclusion.

1. January has a distinct narrative voice with elements that are engaging to the reader. How does her voice relate to other elements of her characterization in the novel? How does Harrow use language, details, and imagery to construct January’s narrative voice? Write an essay in which you analyze the purposes behind Harrow’s construction of January’s narrative voice. Comment on the connection between January’s narrative voice and the novel’s thematic concerns with The Power of Words and Love as a Means of Empowerment. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence, making sure to cite all quoted material.

2. What claims about The Power of Words are implicit in January’s ability to write things into reality? Which of these claims are literal, and which are figurative or symbolic? How do other plot details support these claims? Write an essay analyzing the meaning of January’s power to write things into being. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence, making sure to cite all quoted material.

3. The novel offers a critique on colonialism and imperialism. How does it critique the social construction of race? What does the novel have to say about wealth and other kinds of social privilege? Write an essay analyzing how various motifs within the novel work together to convey a message about Maintaining Power Through Subjugating Others. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence, making sure to cite all quoted material.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What primarily motivates January to try to curb her adventurous spirit early in her life?

A) Her fear of being grounded and having her journal taken away

B) Her love for Mr. Locke and her desire for his approval

C) Her concern about the danger she might be putting herself in

D) Her desire to be modest and ladylike like the characters she reads about

2. What is the main shared characteristic that first bonds Samuel and January as friends?

A) A love of stories

B) A love of adventure

C) Dislike for their adult caretakers

D) Dislike for conventions and traditions

3. Which characterization details foreshadow January’s eventual purpose in life?

A) Her hair color and her birth date

B) Her hair color and being biracial

C) Her name and being biracial

D) Her birth date and her name

4. Which aspect of Locke’s characterization most clearly links him with colonialism and imperialism?

A) His collection of objects

B) His employment of Julian

C) His willingness to be January’s guardian

D) His burning of the Doors

5. Which character most clearly functions as a foil to Locke?

A) Samuel

B) Julian

C) Jane

D) Ade

6. Although Julian changes a great deal from early adulthood to middle age, what does The Ten Thousand Doors demonstrate has remained the same about him?

A) He still prioritizes scholarship over everything else.

B) He is still hoping that his daughter will follow in his footsteps.

C) He is still interested in acquiring wealth.

D) He still believes in the power of words.

7. Which topic do Julian and Locke most sharply disagree about?

A) Child rearing

B) Love

C) Change

D) Community

8. Why is The Ten Thousand Doors important to January’s progress in learning to stand up for herself and her beliefs?

A) It proves there are people in the world who love her deeply.

B) It reveals the existence of worlds aside from the one she knows.

C) It sparks the idea that morality might change from place to place.

D) It suggests that gender, race, and age do not have to limit achievement.

9. Which characteristic do Jane and January have in common?

A) Word-working abilities

B) Love for Locke

C) Racial ambiguity

D) Absent parents

10. Which character most clearly functions as a foil to January?

A) Julian

B) Ade

C) Samuel

D) Jane

11. Which character is most like the female characters January admires in the books she reads?

A) Wilda

B) Ade

C) Lizzie

D) Molly

12. Which object in the story most clearly symbolizes January’s identity and destiny?

A) The blue Door

B) The chest

C) The coin

D) The Key

13. Which thematic motif is most clearly supported the tattoos in Yule Ian’s world, January’s special powers, and Yule Ian’s area of academic study?

A) The power of words

B) Love as a source of power

C) The evils of colonialism

D) Oppression as a means of control

14. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of what the novel conveys about race?

A) Race is a part of the social order that can be easily misinterpreted by outsiders.

B) Race is a less serious limiting factor than gender and poverty.

C) Race is only meaningful to people who choose to take note of it.

D) Race is a social construct that functions to reinforce power structures.

15. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of what the novel conveys about love?

A) A lack of love and belonging can subvert a person’s belief in themselves.

B) The desire for love and belonging can lead a person to make moral compromises.

C) People offering love and belonging can easily manipulate others.

D) Finding love and a place to belong should be a person’s highest priority in life.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating novel details to support your response.

1. What detail regarding Locke’s special powers, revealed late in the novel, helps to explain the apparent contradiction between his capacity for evil and his willingness to function as a surrogate father to January?

2. What kinds of changes in the world do the members of the Society seek to prevent by getting rid of the Doors?