1. Sociograms: It’s All Connected

2. What is a Sociogram?
A sociogram is a visual representation of the relationships among characters in a literary text. 
Students can make use of pictures, symbols, shapes, colors, and line styles to illustrate these relationships. 
Sociograms can be used at first to help students understand the relationships among characters. 

3. What does it look like?
The central character(s) is placed at the center of the page, and the other characters are placed around him/her.
The spatial relationship on the page should in some way represent each of the character’s relationship with the main character, as well as with each other. 
Lines/arrows are used to show the “direction and nature” of the relationship (e.g., strength/weakness, friend/foe, dominance/submissiveness, etc.). 

4. Example 1: Romeo and Juliet, Act 3
Father Laurence
Capulets
Montagues
Juliet
Romeo
Mercutio
Tybalt

5. Example 2: The Giver
Future
The Giver
Gabe
Jonas
Society
River
Fiona

6. Model Sociogram: Animal Farm
Napoleon
Snowball
Hitler Youth
Animals
As students examine the model sociogram for the dogs have them answer the following questions:
Who do the dogs represent?
How is that idea depicted in the sociogram?
How do the images displayed communicate the dogs’ motives and reinforce Napoleon’s purpose?
German Shepard=Puppies (Loyal; common police dog)
School=Hitler Youth (The education and manipulation of the youth was important to furthering the movement of the dictatorship)
Hitler=Napoleon (Both are clear dictators)
Pigs=Police Cap (Some pigs, mainly Squealer, police the farm to show control)
Three Blind Mice=Animals (The animals are blinded to slow control that goes against the initial purpose of Animal Farm)
X and Snowball (Shows the dogs enforced Snowball’s expulsion from Animal Farm)
Pigs

7. Now, It’s Your Turn
Create a sociogram of either: Old Major, Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball that explains the relationship between the characters and the Russian Revolution or Hitler Youth Movement.

8. Animal Farm Sociogram: Assessment
Create a sociogram for Animal Farm. The sociogram should meet the following criteria:
Animal Farm Sociogram
Possible Points
Grade:
The Sociogram effectively uses technology or artistic skill to represent each character. 5
The Sociogram explains the relationship between each character.
The Sociogram uses symbolism to represent the relationship between the characters
The sociogram explains the relationship between the characters and the Russian Revolution or Hitler Youth Movement.
Total 15