Students have Opinions on Everything-- Except the Book.
Ask your students whether a hot dog is a sandwich, and suddenly everyone has a law degree. There are arguments. There are counterarguments. Someone is personally offended by someone else’s definition of bread.
Ask what they think about a character’s choices, though?
Silence.
Maybe someone tells you what happened in the chapter. Someone else agrees. You ask, “But what does that tell us about the character?” and begin the familiar process of dragging an interpretation out of the room one question at a time.
They clearly have opinions. So how do we help them find something to say about what they’re reading?
One place to start: have them make a meme.
Yes, really.
A good literary meme takes some thinking.
Students have to notice something worth making a joke about. Maybe a character says one thing and does another. Maybe the audience knows something the character doesn’t. Maybe a supposedly brilliant plan is obviously going to end in disaster.
Those are useful observations. They give students something specific to interpret.
Take Macbeth. A student might create a meme with this caption:
When the witches’ predictions have already ruined your life, so you go back to the witches for more advice.
It’s a joke, but there’s an interpretation underneath it. The student has noticed a pattern in Macbeth’s behavior: he keeps returning to predictions that seem to promise security, even as his pursuit of that security becomes increasingly destructive.
That gives us something to discuss. Does Macbeth want advice, or does he want reassurance? How much responsibility belongs to the witches? What does he choose to believe, and why?
We have somewhere to go now.
The explanation is where you find out whether the student understands the joke.
A funny image alone doesn’t tell you enough. A student might understand the text beautifully, or they might have stumbled into something funny without thinking much about it.
Have them explain their choices.
Three questions can move the assignment beyond “make something funny”:
- What are you suggesting about the character, conflict, or situation?
- Which specific detail from the text supports your interpretation?
- How does that detail make your joke work?
For the Macbeth example, “He goes back to the witches” is a starting point. Push a little further. Why is that decision worth pointing out? What is he hoping to hear? How does he respond when he hears it?
Students don’t need to produce an entire essay underneath the meme. They do need to connect their joke to something they can support.
And sometimes the explanation reveals that the meme doesn’t quite work. That’s useful, too. Now the student has a reason to return to the text and reconsider a claim.
Give the class something to disagree with.
Once students have an interpretation in front of them, the discussion can become more focused.
Put a student-created meme on the screen and ask, “Is this a fair reading of Macbeth?”
Someone might argue that the witches manipulate him. Someone else might point out that he hears what he wants to hear. Both students need evidence.
You can also ask:
“Which scene best supports this?”
“Where does the joke oversimplify things?”
“Would this still fit the character at the beginning of the play?”
Students now have a specific idea to test. They can agree, qualify it, or challenge it.
Then show them that they already have the beginning of an argument.
The next step is helping students carry that thinking into their writing.
Return to the caption:
When the witches’ predictions have already ruined your life, so you go back to the witches for more advice.
Ask the student to explain the observation without the joke. With some refinement, it might become:
Macbeth returns to the witches because he wants certainty, and his willingness to accept their reassuring predictions reveals how his fear shapes his judgment.
That claim still needs evidence and development. But the student has something to develop.
This is a connection worth making explicit: the observation that made the meme funny can also give the paragraph something to say.
Keep the focus on the reading.
A simple image and a thoughtful explanation can give you plenty to work with. Students shouldn’t need impressive design skills or an hour of searching for the perfect template.
Make the expectations clear: accurate understanding, a defensible interpretation, and specific textual support. Humor should stay focused on the text, with the same classroom expectations you’d apply to any shared work.
If you want a ready-made way to bring this into your reading routine, my Meme Mondays resource provides an editable literary analysis assignment for use with any novel.
The next time a student makes a surprisingly sharp joke about a character, pause before moving on.
Ask them to explain why it’s funny.
There may be a pretty good argument in there.