The Alchemist Symbolism Personal Legend Creative Project, Themes, Paulo Coelho

This exciting and creative Personal Legend Project for The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho will bring fun and engagement to your middle or high school English classroom. The purpose of this project is to bring to life the themes in The Alchemist while also providing students the opportunity to explore symbolism in The Alchemist.  During this project, students start by answering reflective questions that relate to themes in The Alchemist. These questions get students to reflect on what they want out of life and help them better understand what their true desires are in regard to many important areas of their lives. This step helps students process what they believe is their own unique personal legend. Students enjoy answering these reflective questions for their project because they make connections between their journey and Santiago’s quest for his personal legend. 

Once students have thoroughly answered each reflective question, they will then begin their Personal Legend Board. These boards are similar to a vision board but are created using students’ reflective question responses to guide their decisions for their board. The personal legend board can be completed digitally or as a physical poster, depending on your student’s preferences. Included in the project document are links to numerous digital poster platform options with links to sites that provide them with high-quality free images. If students prefer to create a physical personal legend, they can cut out images from magazines, and the internet, and/or draw their own images. While creating their personal legends students practice working with symbolism since symbolism in The Alchemist was very important to Coelho. Students create their own symbolism to represent different aspects of their personal legends. Once they have completed their personal legends, students complete a paragraph writing assignment where they discuss the symbolic meaning of the images they included. This step allows students the opportunity to reflect on the process of their creation while also reflecting on how they feel about pursuing their personal legend. This project includes a detailed and efficient grading rubric to support you. My students get so excited about this project and I trust that yours will as well! It is a lot of fun to see them light up when thinking about their personal legends!

Once your students have finished their final projects, have them complete a gallery walk to showcase their work using this Gallery Walk & Presentation Feedback Form for any Project. This is a great way for your students to celebrate the hard work of their peers while also providing each other with high-quality and meaningful feedback. Students enjoy showcasing their work on the last day of this project and this feedback form brings structure to that process.

CHECK-OUT MORE FROM THIS UNIT...

-The Alchemist: BUNDLE!

-The Alchemist: Pre-Reading Guide

-The Alchemist: Message from the Author

-The Alchemist: Creative Reading Guide (pages 1-20)

-The Alchemist: Reading Questions (pages 20-36)

-The Alchemist: Close Reading (pages 33-35)

-The Alchemist: Reading Questions (pages 36-50)

-The Alchemist: Reading Questions (pages 64-72)

The Alchemist: Reading Questions (pages 82-104)

-The Alchemist: Close Read with Textual Analysis Questions (pages 112-116)

- The Alchemist Literary Analysis Writing (pages 122-124)

-The Alchemist: Four Corners Activity (end of novel) 

- The Alchemist Personal Legend Project (end of novel) 

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