Grimms' Fairy Tale "The Bremen Town Musicians" Close Reading

Support the development of close reading skills for high school with this set of analysis questions on the short story “The Bremen Town Musicians” by the Brothers Grimm. By completing this activity, high school students will demonstrate general plot recall and active engagement with fiction by answering rigorous questions. The narrative has an estimated Lexile measure of 900-1000, making it an appropriate addition to any short story unit at the high school level. An answer key and copy of the public domain text are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.

This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.

Questions pertain to the following:

• Identifying what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
• Analyzing the authors’ craft, paying special attention to diction and how it contributes to the complexity of the text
• Applying knowledge of literary devices to the text, identifying and explaining examples of simile and situational irony in the text
• Defining complex words in context, taking into consideration denotative definitions and connotative associations and using reference materials as needed
• Responding clearly, concisely, and accurately to analytical questioning