The Castle of Otranto

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.

“Otranto Dream Journal”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of the role dreams play in driving plot and conveying theme in The Castle of Otranto by creating a dream journal entry.

In The Castle of Otranto, several characters have prophetic dreams. These dreams drive the novel’s plot and help convey its themes. In this activity, you will choose one dream and create a dream journal entry that demonstrates your understanding of the dream’s significance to the plot and theme.

Choose a Dream and Consider Its Significance

• Choose a prophetic dream that Manfred or Frederic had.
• Make notes about the content of the dream—its images, its action, and its meaning to the character that has the dream.
• Consider how this dream drives the character’s subsequent actions and which of the novel’s themes the dream supports.

Create a Dream Journal Entry

• From the perspective of the character who has the dream, create a dated entry in a dream journal.
• The entry should describe the dream, illustrate its significant images, and offer the character’s thoughts about what the dream means and what the character will do next as a result of having had this dream.