The Age Of Miracles

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.

“Explorer Time Capsule”

In this activity, students will create artifacts representing items they recommend for the rocket The Explorer explained in the end of the novel.

In the final chapter, the narrator explains about a rocket, The Explorer, launching into space to carry information about Earth. She lists items that will and will not be on the rocket, calling it “a souvenir of Earth” (Page 366, Chapter 34). Contribute at least five items to the rocket.

• Re-read the final chapter, in particular reviewing the section discussing the rocket.
• Brainstorm items that capture life on Earth. Try not to censor yourself. What comes to mind?
• Choose five or more items to include in the collection.
• Create artifacts for the items you chose. You can represent each however makes sense to you: a literal item, a symbol, etc.

Add your items to our class collection display.

Discuss how you chose your items.

Teaching Suggestion: Discussing symbolism could help students discover new ways to represent even abstract ideas. Students might journal at various points in this activity, which would provide them with opportunities to pause and express themselves without the pressure to present. In addition to displaying the items, students could present their ideas to a small group or the entire class.

Differentiation Suggestion: For advanced learners, the activity might extend to include a written component. This could take the form of analysis, where they analyze their choices, what they mean to them, and how they connect to the novel. Alternatively, students could write creatively, using character details to build voice in a deleted scene of the novel that connects to the artifacts they chose for the project.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Reflect on the title of the novel.

• What is the significance of the title? (topic sentence)
• As you craft your essay, incorporate at least three quotations and other specifics that develop your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how well the title fits the novel.

2. Julia narrates her story. Consider when and how she reveals events.

• What is the effect of Julia telling the story? (topic sentence)
• As you craft your analysis, include three or more quotations and additional details to support your points.
• In your conclusion, explain how reliable of a narrator Julia is.

3. Different conflicts arise throughout the story.

• What most drives conflict in the novel? (topic sentence)
• As you write your essay, include three or more quotations and other details that develop your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, state the book’s warning about conflict.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. The slowing affects individuals and the entire planet. How does the author intertwine the personal and global to build meaning in the novel? What are major ways Julia is affected? How do different characters react? What shifts are there in systems like government, education, agriculture, etc.? How do individuals cause ripple effects? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing the function of the personal and universal in the novel. Connect your analysis to the theme of The Loss of Personal and Planetary Ecosystems.

2. Consider the role of nature in the novel. Does the novel suggest people are more separated from or connected to nature? How do people impact the Earth and how does the Earth impact its inhabitants? What messages do animals and plants send? Where is harm evident, and where is healing? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing the relationship between people and nature in the novel. Connect your analysis to the theme of Small Changes Have Large Consequences.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. How does Julia’s relationship with Hanna shift?

A) They go from teammates to coworkers.

B) They go from neighbors to roommates.

C) They go from enemies to best friends.

D) They go from close friends to strangers.

2. How does the government justify “clock time”?

A) It is necessary for the economy.

B) It is helpful for human health.

C) It is important for farming.

D) It is imperative for education.

3. What figurative language does the following quotation include?

“At last, like a fever, the night broke.” (Page 39, Chapter 4)

A) Hyperbole

B) Simile

C) Alliteration

D) Personification

4. How do Julia’s parents react differently in the early days of the slowing?

A) Julia’s mom goes to numerous protests, and her dad refuses to leave the house.

B) Julia’s mom quits her job, and her dad gets a second job and is never home.

C) Julia’s mom becomes more calm and worries less, and her dad imposes stricter rules.

D) Julia’s mom stockpiles supplies, and her dad tries to maintain a sense of normalcy.

5. What best describes Julia’s feelings about the bus stop?

A) Nervousness, uncertainty, and fear

B) Excitement, enthusiasm, and hope

C) Anger, aloofness, and superiority

D) Interest, curiosity, and belonging

6. How does Julia’s mom, Helen, react to Sylvia as the slowing continues?

A) Helen worries excessively about Sylvia.

B) Helen offers Sylvia help.

C) Helen taunts Sylvia daily.

D) Helen angrily excludes Sylvia.

7. What keeps Seth and Julia apart after their day trying to save the whales?

A) Their parents

B) An accident

C) A misunderstanding

D) The solar eclipse

8. Which of the following most clearly illustrates the division between people following “real time” and those following “clock time”?

A) Seth refusing to talk to Julia

B) Tom and Carlotta being arrested

C) Sylvia and Joel’s ongoing affair

D) Julia and Seth’s painful sunburns

9. What best describes the people of Circadia’s beliefs about “clock time” and “real time”?

A) They follow both equally.

B) They refuse to follow any time.

C) They follow “real time.”

D) They follow “clock time.”

10. Which plot point best represents Julia’s grandfather’s hope?

A) Stockpiling a bunker

B) Refusing to celebrate New Year’s

C) Telling stories about his uncle who disappeared

D) Hiring Chip to help him around the house

11. What best illuminates people’s dependence on nature?

A) Sylvia’s birds

B) Beached whales

C) The wheat point

D) The snow

12. Why does Julia’s mom stop driving?

A) She has never liked driving, and Julia begins driving her everywhere.

B) She develops gravity sickness, which leads to her fainting and crashing while driving.

C) She blames cars for the slowing and begins walking or biking everywhere.

D) She is hit by a driver, breaking her arm and leg, so she cannot drive anymore.

13. How do their sunburns affect Seth and Julia differently?

A) Julia gets very sick, and Seth hardly feels his burn.

B) Julia hallucinates, and Seth loses feeling in his legs.

C) Julia develops gravity sickness, and Seth develops pneumonia.

D) Julia heals quickly, and Seth becomes increasingly ill.

14. What is the purpose of The Explorer?

A) To rescue the astronauts stranded on the space station

B) To take people to Mars to live in a permanent settlement

C) To keep memories of Earth alive in some form

D) To research how to prolong food sources

15. What best describes Julia’s mood at the end of the novel?

A) Wondering, nostalgic, and somewhat hopeful

B) Despairing, unhappy, and very overwhelmed

C) Extremely confident, buoyant, and prideful

D) Mostly dreamy, nonchalant, and unfocused

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How are Julia’s father’s deceptions about Sylvia and about the pedestrian dying different?

2. What job is Julia considering at the end of the novel, and what does that reveal about her?