Using I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel Books 2022) as a mentor text, students will explore how writing can provide an outlet for personal expression as well as for political protest. Using excerpts from the book as models, students will create their own letters or poems of protest and share their work with their peers anonymously.

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURE

Setting the Stage

After students complete their reading of I Must Betray You, discuss the events depicted in the novel. Review the discussion suggestions in the related Educator Guide Curriculum Connections & Book Pairings for discussion ideas.

Transition to discussing how writing in secret and anonymously is a crucial part of this story. The protagonist, Cristian Florescu, aspires to be a writer as an adult and keeps a secret notebook to share his private thoughts, as well as his observations about the oppressive political regime. He notes:

"Thinking words. Speaking words. Writing words. Writing things down helped the most. Seeing my thoughts on a page, it positioned them at a helpful distance, out of my head and mouth. 'Processing.' That's the English word I found for it. Processing helped me evaluate and sort things out" (p. 85).

As a class, discuss this quote and what it means to Cristian's journey through the book. Have students do a quick brainstorm of moments in the story when Cristian uses the act of writing to process what is happening around him. Also, locate moments when the act of writing propels the action (plot) forward in some way.

Prewriting

Continue the discussion of how writing can be an outlet for "processing" life experiences and deep emotions. Consider how this writing can be private only for oneself, shared with others, or even used as a political tool to provide information or influence others.

Use the secret and anonymous letter that Cristian smuggles out of the country and is then shared publicly on Radio Free Europe as the model (pages 278–279). If possible, create a poster-sized version of this excerpt to display and refer to. Read the text out loud. If desired, students can volunteer to read individual stanzas with the whole group or class chiming in on the question lines:

"Do you feel me?"

"Do you hear me?"

"Do you pity me?"

"Will you remember me?"

Talk about how this text is presented as a letter, but could also be viewed as a free verse poem arranged in stanzas with refrains. It begins:

A LETTER FROM ROMANIA

Squinting beneath the half-light,

Searching for a key to

The locked door of the world,

Lost within my own shadow

Amidst an empire of fear.

Do you feel me?

After discussing, have students explore the following questions in a writing practice prompt:

• What do you think this piece reveals about Cristian's emotional state and aspirations?
• What details does it communicate about life in Romania?
• What responses does it elicit from readers and listeners?

Writing

Invite students to compose their own letters or poems of protest and revelation. They can write from the point of view of one of the characters in the book like Liliana, Luca, Cici or Starfish, to reflect on the story's events and capture them in a letter or poem. Or, they can write from their own personal points of view, reflecting on school life today or the current political situation in the country. Either way, this should be an anonymous exercise just like it is in the novel.

Students may prefer composing their own individual piece or they may work with a partner to collaborate on a piece.

Use scrap paper for writing first drafts to echo the limited resources available for the novel's characters. Students should compose first drafts and then be encouraged to share those with a peer to discuss, clarify, and refine. Then, final drafts can be created as digital documents, posters, or notebook pages.

ASSESSMENT

Gather the writing of students who are willing to share and redistribute to read aloud, anonymously—echoing the outcome in I Must Betray You. Invite students to share positive comments about each other's pieces. Students who are willing can share their final product for display along with the novel in the library. Another option is creating an informal zine compilation of all the writings and post that alongside the novel.

An assessment rubric would include assignment completion, using a letter or poem format, and reflecting a focus on protest, questioning, or expressing concerns.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

For more on I Must Betray You, see Sylvia Vardell's curriculum ideas and book pairings and the Author Q&A with Ruta Sepetys.