A few suggested techniques to help students explore issues in a common reading.

Discover Relevant Themes

• Ask students to identify themes in the book relevant to your course.
• Have them provide an example (with a quote and page number) that illustrates each theme, and discuss parallels in modern American culture and society.

Pair it with a Film

• Show a film on a related subject or pair it with a film version of the book itself.
• Ask students to look for differences and to notice the effects of those choices on the original themes.

Pair it with the Five Minute Rule

• Ask students to imagine the worldview represented or held by characters in the book. Under what conditions might this perspective be true? What would be different if it were true? What is interesting,  helpful, intriguing about this view?