The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli

Summary

This story takes place in Medieval England of a young boy named Robin. Robin is separated from his parents and is shorty after diagnosed with a crippling illness. He is taken in by a Friar and eventually is able to walk with crutches. As the story progresses, Robin, the friar and a minstrel take a journey  to the castle. When they arrive they have to help save the castle from an invading army and Robin is reunited with his parents.

Genre

Historical Fiction

 The book as well as Historical fiction “tells [a] stor[y] set in the past; it portrays events that […] possibly could have occurred. [The] author[…] create[s] plot and character within an authentic historical setting.” (Galda et al., 2010, p. 17). Historical fiction is deeply grounded in setting, where and when something took place and is bound to historical facts, which makes it realistic. Thus, historical fiction is an imaginative narrative influenced by actual historical facts.

Illustrations

This book contains no illustrations.

 Classroom Activity
Reader's Response Questions

1. If Robin's father had not donated money to St. Mark's in the past, would the monks there still have cared for him? What facts from the story support your answer?
2. Do you think Robin will continue to grow and learn new things? What things do you think he will learn? How will he continue to change?
3. How do you think Robin's life would have been different if he had never become ill and lost the use of his legs?
4.  Marguerite de Angeli uses the description of the White Hart to help the readers predict that something bad will happen. Reread the description. What details make you think that this is a bad place?
5.  On the morning that Robin leaves St. Mark's, the narrator says, “He felt sorry to leave Brother Matthew and all the others who had been so good to him, but it was exciting to start out on the long journey.” What do you think Robin will miss most about St. Mark's? What do you think his new life will be like? 
6. What do you think Robin's life will be like ten years after the book ends?

Activity 1

Instruct students to inspect the significant role of music in scenes. Students should answer following questions into their writing journals: What roles does music play in each of these instances? Why is music important to the characters in the story? Provide evidence to support your answer. Develop a visual aid, such as a chart, that can be used to explain your findings to someone else.

Activity 2

Brother Luke describes reading as one of the "doors in the wall." In a class discussion, consider how in today's society the inability to read creates walls for people. Instruct students to do a research on "illiteracy".

Personal Response

The book won the Newbery medal in 1950, Lewis Carroll Shelf Award 1961.

Similar Works

• Helen Keller by Stewart Graff

• Song of the Gargoyle by Zilpha K. Snyder

 

Author's Background Information

Marguerite de Angeli was born in Lapeer, Michigan, in 1889. She spent most of her life in Philadelphia, where she trained as a singer before she married John de Angeli in 1910. Over a 50-year career, she published 30 children's books, most of which are about ethnic children in America. The Door in the Wall, her only book set outside the United States, received the Newbery Medal in 1950. Marguerite de Angeli died in 1987 at the age of 92. 

Reference

De Angeli, M. (1949). The door in the wall. New York, NY: Yearling, an imprint of Random   House Children’s Books, a division of Random House ,Inc.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B.E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmond, CA:Wadsworths, Inc.

Teens@Random | The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=978044040283