Character Obituary writing activity for literature units, PDF & Google Drive

Give a fresh spin to the standard obituary characterization writing activity with this easy-to-use worksheet where students choose a character who died in a work of literature and submit an obit information summary sheet to the town’s local newspaper.

Instead of writing a typical newspaper obit, students will assume the identity of another character in the novel and complete an “Obituary Request Form.” This writing activity not only requires depth of knowledge about the deceased character, but also requires students to dig back into the book to find textual support for their answers.

This 2-page file (both printable PDF and Google Drive versions) includes a blank form and a completed sample to show students, if you wish. The sample is from my students’ study of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, showing an obituary request on behalf of Lennie Small placed by Slim, but you could use this worksheet with ANY book or short story that includes the death of a character.

Hope you enjoy this activity, which works with sixth graders through high school seniors.

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NOTE: This item is included in my English 9-10 full-year curriculum. If you already own the full-year download, please do not purchase this item here individually. If you’d like to receive this item plus everything else needed to teach 180 days of English 9 or English 10 at a deeply discounted price, click here to learn more about the full-year curriculum download. This item is NOT included in my Of Mice and Men unit.

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Tombstone and globe image credit: Pixabay, Public domain