The Looking Glass Wars

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.

“Character Looking Glass Maze”

After analyzing important characters, conflicts, and themes in the novel, students select a character and design a “Looking Glass Maze” for the character to go through that reflects an understanding of the key themes in the character’s arc.

In the novel, Alyss must undergo the Looking Glass Maze trial before she can unlock her full powers. As part of the test, Alyss confronts her deepest fears, her most painful memories, and her worst impulses. Ultimately, Alyss realizes that she must set aside her anger to achieve emotional balance within herself and to place cause before self, which enables her to pass the maze, reinforcing the novel’s themes on the Importance of Emotional Balance and Identity and Responsibility Beyond the Individual.

• In this activity, you will design a personalized Looking Glass Maze trial for one of the following characters:
• Redd
• Dodge
• The Cat
• Hatter Maddigan
• General Doppelgӓnger
• Bibwit Harte
• Queen Genevieve
• Charles Dodgson
• Your Maze should include:  
• 2-3 character traits: significant qualities of the character’s personality.
• 1 or more challenges: Identify one or more key conflicts (internal or external) your character faces in the text and use them  to create a challenge that the character must face within the maze.