Teaching The Death of Ivan Ilych

Instructions for You

Objective: It's no secret that a lot of obituaries are written through rose-tinted glasses. After a loved one's gone, their mistakes and flaws are usually ignored, at least in the notice that goes out to the public. Thus, most obituaries are written as the final "hurrah" to honor a deceased person's life.

If Ivan's friends and family were to write an obituary for him, what would it say? Surely their good intentions would lead them to honor the man Ivan pretended to be every day of his life. However, what would Ivan's obituary be like if he had written it? How would it differ from what his friends and family would write?

This lesson will focus on Ivan Ilych's outward appearance, inward thinking and realizations, and explore major thematic elements of the text.

This lesson should take about one class period or 60 minutes, with anything unfinished assigned as homework.

Materials Needed:Access to the New York Times Obituaries section, a copy of The Death of Ivan Ilych, and/or Shmoop's handy summary of the book.

Step 1: First, students might need a little thematic rejuvenation. Prepare the students for each theme and then ask them a couple questions about each, to get everyone chatting.

Certainly one important theme in the book is happiness (how to get it, how to obtain it, what it really is).

Discuss as a class:

• What made Ivan Ilych happy?
• Does his idea of happiness change over the course of his illness?

Then there's mortality. No shocker here; you can't escape thinking about death when you read…The Death of Ivan Ilych.

• What is the connection between death and life in The Death of Ivan Ilych? More specifically, how and why is it suggested that an understanding of death is important to an understanding of life?
• How does Ivan's relationship to his own death change over the course of the story? At what particular moments can you see this change taking place?

Society and class status is another theme that Tolstoy wiggled into this story.

• What about being simple and ordinary makes Ivan's life "most terrible" in the eyes of the narrator?
• What are the characteristics of the Russian middle class as Tolstoy portrays it in The Death of Ivan Ilych?

Step 2: Open it up to discuss with the students any other themes they might have noticed as they were reading. For extra ideas, see Shmoop's theme here." target="_blank">page.

If you want to dive deeper into the ideas that Leo Tolstoy included in his story, you could have students find specific quotes from the novella that demonstrate additional themes.

Step 3: As a class, check out the New York Times Obituaries section. Make note of the heading for each person (Name + Accomplishment + Age at Death= a clickable obituary for all) and call attention to the little photo next to each heading.

Click on a few obituaries and read them out loud. Show students that the obituaries are in paragraph form. They are also chronological, littered with accomplishments and events.

Step 4: You guessed it…Students will be writing an obituary for Ivan Ilych. Two, in fact. The point is to help students draw connections between who Ivan Ilych was on the outside, and the realizations he had on the inside. The two versions should stand in stark contrast, as Tolstoy would have wanted. Students will write Ivan Ilych's obituary from the perspective of a friend or loved one, detailing his life, accomplishments, legacy, and family, and incorporating details from the book.

Students will then also write an obituary as if Ivan Ilych himself had written it—how would this differ from the outsider's obituary? Considering the themes that were reviewed earlier, this version should also incorporate details from the book.

Here is a quick list of criteria for the obituaries:

• Each obituary should be approximately 200 words. A two-word obit may work in the real world, but not here mister. Don't be like this guy.
• Students must include a heading for each obit, in the form of Name + Accomplishment + Age at Death.
• The obituary should include an image of Ivan Ilych, which can be either drawn or pulled from the internet.

Instructions for Your Students

As you probably know, an obituary is a notice that someone has died with the inclusion of a biography of the deceased. It's no secret that obituaries are sometimes written through rose-tinted glasses. After a loved one's gone, their mistakes and flaws are usually ignored, at least in the notice that goes out to the public. Thus, most obituaries are written as the final "hurrah" to honor a deceased person's life.

If Ivan's friends and family were to write an obituary for him, what would it say? Surely their good intentions would lead them to honor the man Ivan pretended to be every day of his life. What would Ivan's obituary be like if he had written it? How would it differ from what his friends and family would write?

This lesson will focus on Ivan Ilych's outward appearance, inward thinking and realizations, and explore major thematic elements of the text.

Step 1: You might need a little thematic rejuvenation, which is cool with us. Let's talk.

Certainly one important theme in the book is happiness (how to get it, how to obtain it, what it really is).

Discuss as a class:

• What made Ivan Ilych happy?
• Does his idea of happiness change over the course of his illness?

Then there's mortality. No shocker here; you can't escape thinking about death when you read…The Death of Ivan Ilych.

• What is the connection between death and life in The Death of Ivan Ilych? More specifically, how and why is it suggested that an understanding of death is important to an understanding of life?
• How does Ivan's relationship to his own death change over the course of the story? At what particular moments can you see this change taking place?

Society and class status is another theme that Tolstoy wiggled into this story.

• What about being simple and ordinary makes Ivan's life "most terrible" in the eyes of the narrator?
• What are the characteristics of the Russian middle class as Tolstoy portrays it in The Death of Ivan Ilych?

Step 2:Did you notice any other themes as you were reading? For extra ideas, see Shmoop's theme here." target="_blank">page.

Step 3: As a class, check out the New York Times Obituaries section. Make a note of the heading for each person (Name + Accomplishment + Age at Death= a clickable obituary for all) and also the little photo next to each heading.

Click on a few obituaries and read them out loud. Notice that the obituaries are in paragraph form and are also chronological, littered with accomplishments and events.

Step 4: You guessed it…you're the obit writer now. In fact, you'll be writing two obits. First, you'll put together Ivan Ilych's obituary from the perspective of a friend or loved one, detailing his life, accomplishments, legacy, and family, and incorporating details from the book.

You'll also write an obituary as if Ivan Ilych himself had written it—how would this differ from the outsider's obituary? Considering the themes that were reviewed earlier, this version should also incorporate details from the book. The two versions should stand in stark contrast, as Tolstoy would have wanted.

Here is a quick list of criteria for the obituaries:

• Each obituary should be approximately 200 words. A two-word obit may work in the real world, but not here, mister. Don't be like this guy.
• You should include a heading for each obit, in the form of Name + Accomplishment + Age at Death.
• The obituary should include an image of Ivan Ilych, which can be either drawn or pulled from the internet.