An Analysis Of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night

III. b) Opportunities of Skill-Based Learning in the Novel The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time

The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time appeals to a wide range of readers. It allows to develop empathy for people who are living with a version of autism. As the novel is written from Christopher’s view, the readers can feel with him and get to know his understanding of the world. Christopher has few friends but takes pride in his capacity to remember nearly every detail he sees. Moreover, he portrays several problems of mathematical nature. He discusses, for example, the population development of frogs in the school pond. In doing so, the readers are encouraged to consider Christopher‘s diagrams and

It suggests to apply everyday life experiences to the characters in the novel and their situation. As the protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a teenager of a similar age as those young people reading the novel in the EFL class, it might be easy for them to apply some of their real life experiences to the situationof the main character, Christopher Boone. Besides, the students will also be able to recognize substantial differences between their lives and the life of the main character, who suffers from autism, for example, which the students in class most likely do not. Moreover, Christopher can hardly interpret social interactions as we can. It requires some empathy to comprehend the complexity of his disease. When the teenage boy sees four yellow cars in a row it makes him feel depressed. Red cars on the contrary have the opposite effect and make him feel confident for the day. When the protagonist shows this most unusual behaviour to a relatively ordinary occurrence, students are most likely irritated. The readers encounter cultural differences in the novel mainly to the extend of Christopher’s unique character and abilities. However, his hobbies and interest in solving riddles and mysteries are not very different from the life of teenagers at school, apart from the fact that he has the Asberger syndrome. His condition makes him sufficiently “unusual“

Also, there can be several opinions to one aspect. Thus, when reading and analysing a novel, students should have the opportunity to develop ideas and concepts of their own. Aside from that, a novel makes the reader aware of the aspect of subjectivity. The characters in a novel have their own subjective way of looking at the world surrounding them. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, in particular, shows the view of a disabled person and his aims in life, which makes students think of their own