Blindness

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.

“Metamorphosis and Adaptation”

In this activity, students brainstorm, categorize, and analyze examples of transformation in Blindness and literature more broadly.

From Gilgamesh and Greek myth to today’s Marvel franchise or Harry Potter series, transformation is a common creative theme, dating back to humanity’s earliest known narratives. In groups of 2-3, choose a second creative source—either literature or film—to consider in comparison to Blindness. You may choose a source previously studied in class.

Consider together and take notes for group discussion:

• What sort of transformations can you identify in each narrative, and where are the similarities and differences?
• What themes seem universal, and which are tethered to a particular historical moment?
• Why are adaptation and transformation such enduring themes?

Use your source texts for support.

Utilizing notes and points from your small group discussion, create a slideshow with a minimum of five slides to share your conclusions with the class.

Teaching Suggestion: As a warm-up to this exercise, consider the different types of transformation in Saramago’s Blindness alone: from the transformation of humanity from sighted to blind, the Doctor’s Wife’s own internal transformation over the course of the novel, and the transformation of society as a whole in the face of an unprecedented challenge.