In Memoriam

Worksheet Description

This worksheet invites students to engage in a creative and reflective exercise where they choose an epitaph for their favorite writer. It prompts the student first to identify the writer and then to craft or select an epitaph that they feel suitably honors that writer’s legacy. The activity requires contemplation on the essence of the writer’s work and the reasons behind the chosen or created epitaph. This is an exercise in both literary appreciation and expressive writing, as students are asked to articulate their personal connection to the writer’s oeuvre through the epitaph they compose or select.

The worksheet is teaching students to synthesize their literary knowledge with creative expression. It encourages them to consider the impact that writers have had on their own lives and to think critically about what makes an individual’s work enduring. By composing an epitaph, students practice the art of concise writing, striving to capture a person’s essence in a few impactful words. This task also serves to deepen students’ understanding of the concept of an epitaph as a literary form and its significance in commemorating a life and career.