The Inquisitor’s Tale

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.

“Illuminated Pages”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of theme in The Inquisitor’s Tale by creating an illuminated-manuscript-style illustration of a scene that conveys theme.

Many illustrations in The Inquisitor’s Tale are in a style common in books in the Middle Ages. These books were called “illuminated manuscripts.” In this project, you will make a page of illuminated manuscript, using text from the novel and illustrations that you create yourself to convey an important thematic idea from the book.

1. Learn About Illuminated Manuscripts: Do some online research into what illuminated manuscripts are and what they look like. Here are two excellent sources:

• This online exhibition from the Fitzwilliam Museum
• This visual introduction from The Collector

2. Choose a Theme: Decide which thematic idea from The Inquisitor’s Tale your pages will convey. You can choose a theme from this list, or you can come up with a theme idea of your own:

• The Power of Difference: Differences among humans make us stronger and should be appreciated, not feared.
• Storytelling as Unity: One of the important functions of telling stories is to create shared experiences and understandings that bring us together.