While re-reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon, I was struck by the role of emotion in moving the plot forward. Novels are always laden with emotion, but in this book emotion drives the plot in a unique way.
This is mostly due to the role of sorrow in the book. Like magic, sorrow is a named and assumed power in the story–it shapes both characters and events. Ignatia rules through sorrow, and the characters find their freedom by piercing the fog that sorrow has created around them.
This reminded me of the activities I made for my Labeling Emotions unit (part of my RULER bundle). These activities ask students to trace the emotional journey of a character while they’re recording events that make up the plot. I decided to do the activity myself, and here’s what I came up with:
Tracing the Emotional Journey of Luna in The Girl Who Drank the Moon
I chose to focus on Luna, although I think Xan or the Madwomen may have been better choices. The madwoman’s move from sorrow to hope has straightforward implications for Ignatia, the fog surrounding the Protectorate, and the climax.
This is a series for teachers who are reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill with their students. You’ll read about focusing your novel study around major literary devices found in the book. If you’re looking for activities to go with the book, you can preview my novel study here.
