Neverwhere

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What kinds of setting, characters, imagery, and storylines do you expect from the traditional fantasy genre? What examples from popular fiction fit into this genre? How might calling something “modern” fantasy change these familiar tropes? What examples from popular culture do you consider belonging to this genre? Finally, consider the subgenre “urban fantasy.” What changes do you expect in story elements, and what examples from popular culture might belong here?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may benefit from graphic organizers such as a Venn diagram or a three-column chart for brainstorming and notetaking on this topic. Completion in small groups with subsequent sharing or a whole-class discussion format may suit the prompt. To increase engagement, consider charting each subgenre’s characteristics as a group and then suggesting examples that might fit more than one category: “Would the movies Coraline or Howl’s Moving Castle be considered modern or urban fantasy?” or “Would superhero movies count as fantasy?”

• This article describes the urban fantasy genre and introduces the genre’s history and potential concerns.

2. Why is fantasy such a popular genre? What, if anything, can fantasy do for readers that realistic fiction and nonfiction cannot? How might a fantasy writer like Neil Gaiman answer these questions?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to brainstorm and review other genres and subgenres that are more specific than fiction and nonfiction. This question set can be used as an individual writing activity or as a discussion starter. This interview or a similar resource might be helpful in determining the author’s opinions.

• In this 2022 interview, Gaiman shares his views regarding fantasy’s popularity, its benefits, and where he finds his inspiration for characters in his Sandman series.

Short Activity

Explore tropes associated with urban fantasy. Pick at least one character trope, one setting trope, and one plot trope and use these to outline a story. Share your story with the class.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Limiting word counts and emphasizing that the goal is to explore tropes, not create a masterpiece, may encourage engagement and efficient time management. Students may benefit from teacher modeling before trying the activity on their own. Depending on student familiarity with storytelling techniques, students may benefit from a brief explanation of the term “trope.”  

• This Masterclass article offers a compilation of popular character, setting, and plot elements within the urban fantasy genre that can be used for this task and referred to throughout the novel.

Differentiation Suggestion: English learners and students with organizational or executive functioning differences may benefit from graphic organizers, preselected or a more limited bank of tropes and elements, and/or step-by-step instructions to complete the task. To extend the assignment, consider having students write or discuss the benefits and drawbacks of relying on tropes for both writers and readers.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Portal stories, in which the main characters find themselves in a new world or an unexpected place, are popular with many age groups. Do you find the portal premise in books and movies appealing? Explain. Why do you think readers enjoy stories with a portal premise?

Teaching Suggestion: Students can meet in small groups to create a brief working definition of a portal story: What characteristics are present? How does the use of the portal impact the structure of the story? As they read Neverwhere, the small groups might periodically reconvene to compare their working definition to the protagonist’s experiences, motivations, and outcome.