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.

“Audubon Bird Drawings”

In this activity, students will develop an artistic rendering of an Audubon bird that reflects their own personalities.

Doug recognizes his feelings and personality in the drawings of Audubon’s birds. Select an American bird and create your own artistic rendering of the bird that reflects your personality, personal feelings, and/or unique characteristics. Draw parallels between Doug’s feelings toward Audubon’s drawings and your own interpretation of images of American birds and how they reflect your personality.

• Select an American bird that symbolically reflects your personality or feelings.
• Create an original artistic rendering of the bird.
• Explain how the bird reflects your own personality traits.
• Draw connections between your rendering of the bird and Doug’s experiences with drawing, emotions reflected in art, and the healing nature of art.

Present your rendering of your bird with your description of how it reflects your personality as well as how it reflects Doug’s experiences in the novel.

Teaching Suggestion: Before embarking upon this activity, students may find it beneficial to first discuss the aspects of a personality that can be perceived through elements of nature.