Explore The Old Man and the Sea through this comprehensive 6-deck study unit, designed around discussion, interpretation and active learning rather than worksheets.

This resource includes six analysis packs covering context; themes; character; language features and narrative structure; teaching sequence; and analytical paragraph exemplars.

Students explore:
• Ernest Hemingway’s context, the novella’s Cuban fishing village setting, and its place within Hemingway’s broader style and the “Iceberg Theory” of writing
• Themes including perseverance and dignity in struggle, humanity’s relationship with nature, pride and its costs, isolation and companionship, and defeat versus moral victory
• Character analysis of Santiago, Manolin, and the symbolic significance of the marlin as both adversary and mirror to Santiago’s own endurance
• Language features and narrative structure, including Hemingway’s spare, minimalist prose style, extended metaphor and symbolism, and the novella’s allegorical dimensions
• A ready-to-teach sequence guiding lesson flow across the unit
• Exemplar analytical paragraphs modelling strong textual analysis for student reference

Includes rich learning activities such as debates, scene analysis, collaborative tasks, visual literacy activities, retrieval practice, exemplar analysis and essay planning.

Teaching approach
This resource is activity-based rather than a scripted lesson-by-lesson program.
Teachers can select and adapt tasks to suit their classroom needs, with an emphasis on discussion, interpretation and collaborative analytical learning.

File information
• Non-editable PDF
• Not an editable PowerPoint
How to use
• Upload to your LMS for digital learning
• Print selected pages for classroom use
• Display pages to guide discussion and activities
• Adapt in presentation or design platforms if desired (formatting may vary)