Misery

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.

“Survival”

In this activity, students select 10 items Paul could have used to escape Annie and plot Paul’s escape for him.

Misery was published in 1987, before cellphones were an everyday staple and when technologies such as computers were uncommon in the home. Describe how Paul’s experience might have been different with some of the technology we have today to assist us in emergencies. Use the plot questions below to speculate as to how the right tools might have helped Paul survive. Then create a presentation with one plot scenario per slide.

• What choices could have prevented Paul’s accident in the first place?
• What are some tools Paul might have used to get help after his car accident?
• What technology might Paul have used to escape Annie in the house?
• What might Paul have used to escape after Annie left the house?
• What investigation techniques or technology might the police employ today that they did not have access to in 1987?
• What technology would have made Paul’s discovery more likely?
• How could a novel like this still be believable even today?

Be prepared to share your presentation with your peers. As you reveal your slides, discuss the methods involved and engage peers in a discussion of the reliability of your survival tools and how they would have affected Paul’s chances for escape.

Teaching Suggestion: Students might consider items such as cellphones, GPS devices that would locate Paul’s missing car, and remote emergency services that may have assisted Paul after his accident. After the presentations and discussion, students might discuss how many of King’s plot scenarios depend on the “modern” technology available at the time the story was created.