Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Contents
Introduction to the Resource
Introduction to The Blackhope Enigma
Activity 1 – Labyrinths and Other Riddles
Activity 2 – Classical Gods and Goddesses
Activity 3a – Painting With Words
Activity 3b - Openings With Atmosphere
Activity 4 – Literary Focus: A Critical Essay on Marin
Worksheet – Marin: Writing a Character Study
Activity 5 – Blackhope Enigma – The Game and
Example
Further Reading
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Introduction to the Resource
Scottish Book Trust Online Teacher in Residence is an online community and
resource hub aimed at teachers in Scotland with a particular interest in creative
learning for literacy within Curriculum for Excellence.
These class notes are offered free of charge, and are designed to support teachers
looking for a new book to use with their pupils.
CfE gives pupil-led learning high priority, and working with novels may provide an
excellent opportunity for pupils to design and drive their own learning, with facilitation
from the teacher, using the narrative as a shared ‘jumping off point’ and framework.
Teachers are experienced at using stories with their pupils and since you know your
pupils best, it may be that the work you do with your class takes you in a completely
different direction from the ideas detailed below. It will follow that you will use the
book in ways that meet the needs of your pupils and your local community.
These materials have been compiled using suggestions from the Scottish Book Trust
Online Teacher in Residence Book Group.
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Introduction to The Blackhope Enigma
The Blackhope Enigma is a truly engaging adventure story set in the
present, but which quickly delves into the world of Renaissance art, as
its chief protagonists, Sunni and Blaise, set out to rescue Sunni’s step-
brother, Dean. Dean has become unwittingly trapped in a famous Italian
painting by the mysterious artist known as Il Corvo and art lovers Sunni
and Blaise set out to bring him home with exciting consequences..
As with all teaching resources, these ideas are simply a starting point
and will no doubt give rise to further developments as you begin to teach
the text. Whenever pupils are involved, the direction of study often takes
on a life of its own!
Whatever your educational adventure turns out to be, I hope you and
your class enjoy The Blackhope Enigma.
CM
December, 2010
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Activity 1: Labyrinths and Other Riddles
The whole idea of a labyrinth is very appealing to children, particularly if attached to some of
the classical stories such as Theseus and the Minotaur. But The Blackhope Enigma is also
a puzzle, a riddle and it is worth taking time to discuss with
the children what mysteries are solved during the story. Ask
the children to think of some of the puzzles that are
Curriculum for Excellence:
answered. They may think of these and other ideas.
Creating Texts 2 - poetry
Some of the questions raised and answered are:
ENG 230AH/330AH
Who were the skeletons in Blackhope Tower?
Understanding, analysing
Lady Ishbel and another ‘escapee’. Their mortal bodies could and evaluating
not travel beyond their time and into the 21st century
LIT 217 T
How did Dean get into the painting?
By whispering ‘chiaroscuro?
Who is il Corvo and how did he make the painting come alive?
The artist who harnessed ‘astral magic’ to combine art and nature.
Within another painting of the master’s workshop, never to be seen by the outside world
These questions could be displayed as they come to light in the story and then the answer
written below as they are resolved by the plot. This will reinforce the idea of the mystery
genre and show the author’s craft in posing and answering questions for us to follow.
Other riddles:
Use the idea of riddles as a springboard to writing riddles as poems.
Some examples by Pie Corbett use just one line and are a good starting point:
Pupils could work alone or in pairs to turn an everyday object into a one line riddle and make
a book of the results for other classes to try and guess.
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Longer riddle poems (4-6 lines is a good target) can be developed from a one liner.
The example below is beautifully written with rhyme, but if you ask pupils to keep to a rhythm
rather than a rhyme (by counting syllables) this tends to produce better poems with less
forced rhymes.
(Answer – an egg)
Christina Rossetti’s poem ‘A Pin Has A Head’ is another fun model to work from.
Extension: A group or even whole class poem can be created by joining these couplets together.
Children love being part of a bigger whole and all can contribute to a longer finished poem. Illustrate
with pictures of the different objects in the riddles.
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Activity 2: Classical Gods and Goddesses
http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_(utopia)
Venus Neptune
Mercury Apollo
Zeus/Jupiter
Minotaur
Janus
Arcadia
Listening
Oral Presentation: and Talking:
Once complete, ask pupils to share their classical character through an LIT 207G, LIT
individual talk/presentation with the whole class/small groups. Pupils can be 209/309J,
paired so that one can evaluate the other’s performance by means of a formal LIT 210/310K
assessment sheet. All pupils will enjoy hearing and learning about the other
characters and through evaluation, will learn to improve their own talking skills.
Extension: Create a class display of the finished A3 sheets and a table of books in which
pupils have found classical references to gods or creatures which could be marked or written
out above e.g. Harry Potter Series, Beast Quest series, Superheros, Shakespeare plays etc.
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Activity 3a: Painting With Words
Display the painting, or colour print the worksheet as large as you can. Explain that
the author, Teresa Flavin, enjoyed the paintings of this artist and others
like him when she was young. The small figures in the painting helped to
inspire the painting in The Blackhope Enigma. Creating
Texts 2:
Allow time to discuss the figures in the painting –
ENG
What is happening in the picture? 230AH
Who are the hunters of the title? Where are they heading?
What else can you see? Skaters? Workers? Animals? Curlers?
(You could ask individuals to come up to the smart board and describe a detail or cut
out small squares from a piece of A5 card and lay this over the painting. What can
they zoom in on now?)
Ask the pupils to think about which character they would like to be and explain that
you will be writing the story of one person from the picture.
Use the worksheet ‘Painting with Words’ to allow pupils to imagine themselves into
the picture just like Sunni and Blaise. The story which emerges might be more
successful if coupled with the Openings worksheet with a discussion on setting.
However, the Openings activity could easily work as a stand alone lesson. It
requires some sophistication to imagine the view and perspective of someone in the
picture but could provide a good assessment opportunity for use of language to
create atmosphere. Provision of a thesaurus for each child is essential for this
activity.
Extension: Personal writing based on using sensual description can really move creative
writing forward. After working on Openings, give pupils a task based on describing their own
sensual experience. E.g. The Day of the Snow or Soaking in Scotland. Once children are
familiar with the thesaurus and the impact new vocabulary can give their writing, they enjoy
and benefit from using it to tell their own stories.
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Painting with Words Worksheet
Now you have discussed what the painting is about, choose one figure from the
painting and look at them carefully. Think about the following questions and jot down your
answers on your planning page.
Next, start to think about the story that surrounds this character you have created. If they
had one problem to sort out in the course of the story what could it be? If a skater, it could
be that you had lost your new scarf and your mother would be very cross; if a hunter, it could
be to tell your family some grim news.
Write out your story trying to resolve the problem by the end.
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3b: Openings with atmosphere:
This is a painting of winter, yet there is warmth in it. Think about the senses you feel as
you leave the warmth for the cold outside and as you leave the cold for the warmth of your
home.
Write down as many adjectives as you can to replace the word cold – e.g. chill, frozen etc
in the snowflake.
Now write down from the painting as many action words (verbs) as you can see e.g.
trudging, skating.
trudging
Don’t forget to
change paragraph
Describe the scene in three paragraphs from your character’s point of new
for each
view. You will need to think about what he or she can see from where they are in subject
the picture. Include as many interesting adjectives and verbs from your word
banks above.
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Activity 4: Literary Focus: A Critical Essay on Marin
Of all the characters in The Blackhope Enigma, Marin develops the most: from fearsome
captor to heroic rescuer. He also seems to go on an emotional journey during his time with
Sunni, Dean and Blaise. At first he is hostile and fears their motives, but we come to learn
that he is a complex character with fears of his own. He has also let his master down and
needs to find forgiveness. Sunni’s compassionate nature and 21st century ‘can do’ attitude
impresses Marin and she is similarly impressed by his attractive appearance and prowess as
an artist. She leads Marin to believe that not all intruders have evil intentions and the
introduction of Angus Bellini and the children’s attitude to him seems to confirm that the
children’s motives are honourable. Finally, Sunni and Blaise help Marin by leading him to
his old Master where healing and reconciliation can take place. The closure of Marin’s story
– that he is trapped within the painting but under his il Corvo’s forgiveness and care is a
fitting ending to his part. He is captured in charcoal, but he is released from his torment.
Pupils can use the Worksheet (Marin – A Character Study) to work through the
developments and write up their first critical essay. This is a challenging task, but will stretch
able pupils and encourage them to think in a more analytical way
about character.
Progression:
Curriculum for
Writing a character study is an excellent progression towards
Excellence:
Secondary School English where pupils will be expected to skim and
Understanding,
Analysing and scan a whole story for ideas and quotations. I have tried to give
Evaluating plenty of guidance in the worksheet to lead pupils through the
stages of Marin’s story. Selecting evidence for the first time is often
Finding and Using
quite tricky for some children and it may help to model this with them
Info
or allow the first stage to be done in pairs. I have given a rough
ENG 219V, guide to ‘writing up’ following the style of POINT – EVIDENCE –
ENG 319V, LIT COMMENT commonly taught in Secondary School. This usually
217T,LIT 215R provides a good basis for critical analysis.
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Marin – Writing A Character Study
Writing a character study is a bit like being a detective. You have to scan the
text for clues in the story that tell us more about the person you are writing
about. Once you have some evidence, just like a detective, you need to write
that down to prove that your assessment of the character is true. We are
going to analyse the character of MARIN. We can look at his physical
appearance, the way he acts and treats people, as well as the way others
speak or react to him.
...................................................................................................................................................
The character of Marin emerges from a dark and rather sinister section of the book. The
very first clue we find about him is that he rises out from a pool, p.77). The author says he
was ‘kicking at something below him, forcing it back down’ and that the naiads ‘shrank back
to let him pass’.
What do these clues tell us? They suggest Marin is a man who is in a battle or fight with
someone. We know this from the words, ‘kicking and forcing’. The way the naiads ‘shrink’
from him also tell us he is someone who is feared.
p.105 -107 gives us our first view of Marin. Jot down a few quotes to show what he looks
like. Write down his first words (p.107) and think about what impression they give?
Ch 12-14 shows Marin’s personality. How would you describe him here? Use your role on
the wall to come up with adjectives. Try to find evidence (quotation) to prove your point.
Now you can write up your first section of the essay. Take a new paragraph
for each point that you wish to make. Try copying the style of the following
extract filling in the blanks from your notebook:
Although Marin captures Sunni and Dean, Sunni finds him attractive. His appearance
is described in Ch. 10, where the writer says he ............................................................and
he.............................. ..................
Continue in this way, making further points about Marin’s personality with examples.
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Step 3 : Exploring the Further Stages of Marin’s Development:
You will see that Marin’s behaviour changes as he gets to know the children. Notice how in
Ch. 14-20, Marin protects and saves the children’s lives on several occasions. The early
suspicions are still there, but he seems to know they are not real trouble-makers. We can
see that Sunni trusts Marin in the maze:
While he is not yet a friend (he still has that drawing of Dean), he becomes an ally against
Angus Bellini.
Can you find other examples of Sunni beginning to trust Marin and Marin protecting the
children (p.148, p.167, 185)? Jot them down to use as evidence when you write up the rest
of the essay.
When Marin’s life is in danger (Ch.20,p.217) Sunni does not hesitate to save him. A new
trust between Marin and Sunni blossoms from this key moment in the novel. Blaise still has
suspicions and makes these clear:
‘I don’t really trust you. Too many people think you’re a traitor’.
Marin makes a decision to tell the children the truth about his past. Re-read Ch. 22 and jot
down the details of the story which help to explain his hostile behaviour. Do you feel
differently towards Marin now that you have this evidence? How does it change the
children’s view of him? How does it change our view of him?
At the end of the novel, Marin helps to capture Angus and save Sunni. He also meets his
Master and begs forgiveness for letting him down in the past:
Do you think it is a satisfying end to Marin’s story? Is the ‘fatherly hug’ at the end of Ch.23
deserved? Write down a summary of how you feel Marin changed over the course of the
book. What are your final feelings towards him as a person?
Now write up the rest of your notes as you did for section one. Well done, Detective!
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Activity 5: Blackhope Enigma – The Game
Devising a board game is a great way to revise plot and allow pupils to discuss and explore
the order of events as well as cause and effect. It can also provide a natural curricular link
with Art (EXA 2-06a) where pupils are designing, drawing and creating based on their
literary knowledge.
Depending on the age and ability of the pupils, this could be done in groups, or alone, or for
younger groups as a whole class, but teacher-led. The image of the labyrinth on the front
cover provides an obvious board game format of spiralling squares leading to a winning
central space. However, what goes in the squares to move the contestants forward or back
and what the counters, cards and board look like is up to the pupils’ imaginative design. If
you are fortunate enough to have access to an Art specialist, this would make a super,
longer term project, but even within the classroom setting, it is quite easy to create a game,
and assessment can be based on playing the game to see if it works, followed by a self-
evaluation report by the pupil.
EXAMPLE
NB – The games that work best are those where the winning objective is relatively simple;
complexity can be added by using ‘pick-up’ cards, collecting specific objects on the way or
earning points on special squares.
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BLACKHOPE ENIGMA – THE GAME
Maze attack.
Throw again.
Apprentice Card
Apprentice Cards
Jump
onto boat
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Further Reading
About the Author:
There is a super video and interview on the STB website:
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/podcasts/video/teresa-flavin-author-interview
http://talltalesandshortstories.blogspot.com/2010/07/interview-with-debut-author-
teresa.html and another angle on this book review site.
The Blackhope Enigma website also has useful information and ideas about the author’s
inspiration for the novel, as well as character summaries, games and competitions:
http://www.theblackhopeenigma.co.uk/
It is full of good reproductions of recognisable works of art and sculpture, each accompanied
by poetry and activities inspired by the paintings.
The National Galleries of Scotland also have a competition for Creative Writers inspired by
any one of the paintings in the galleries – a great reason for a visit and extension work!
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/education/competition/6:3740/18832
Tall Story by Candy Gourlay –moves between two worlds and involves 12 year old hero, Andi. A
charming tale about accepting differences and superstition.
Over Sea Under Stone by Susan Cooper - the three Drew children come to stay with Merriman
Lyon. In his attic, they find an ancient treasure map that leads to a hidden grail -- if they can only
figure out what the map's writing and symbols mean. But they are not the only ones who are looking
for the grail -- three sinister people are in pursuit
Laura Marlin Mysteries 1: Dead Man’s Cove – Tracey Beaker meets The Famous Five!
The Glass Swallow Series, Julia Golding – Runaway adventure with 3 misfit children.
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