Misery

Discuss these three themes in Stephen King’s novel Misery: The Writing Process, Drug Addiction, and Confinement and Captivity. What role does each theme play in the novel? How are the themes interconnected? How might the novel have been different had one of the themes been left out? How do Annie and Paul each have a part in the three themes? How might each theme be related to King’s own experience as a writer?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider permitting students to brainstorm key words or phrases related to each question before discussing as a group for a more engaged response. If responding in writing, students may want to focus on one theme at a time to better support their thinking about how the themes work together in the novel as a whole. Students might want to explore the themes and the relationships between them through the use of a graphic organizer; it might be beneficial (and an opportunity to address metacognitive processes) to have students share first what type of organizer would best suit the question.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who are English language learners or who perform best with a focused line of questioning, it may be beneficial to suggest they focus on one theme rather than all three.