Howl’s Moving Castle

Use this activity to engage all types of learners while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“A Helpful Enchanted Object”

In this activity, students will explore the motif of the power of words in Howl’s Moving Castle by using a poem to create their own “enchanted” object for one of the novel’s characters.

In Howl’s Moving Castle, Sophie accidentally enchants a suit by weaving an attraction spell into it while she is working on it. In this activity, you will create your own “enchanted” object for a character in the story. Your spell, however, will be even more powerful because the words will be from a poem, like the John Donne poem that creates a bridge between Howl’s two worlds and reveals his fate.

Choose a Character Who Needs Help

• Go back into the text of Howl’s Moving Castle and find a character who is in a situation that they could use a little help with.
• Make sure that you clearly understand the problem and what you want your magical object to accomplish in order to help the character.

Choose a Poem to Use as a Spell

• Choose a poem (or song) that is school-appropriate, relevant to the character’s situation, and focused on helpful advice or positive wishes.
• Select at least five lines from this poem or song to use in your enchanted object. Save a copy of the poem or song in its entirety, as you will need to read the whole poem aloud later.

Weave the Words Into an Object

• Choose an object that the character might reasonably have access to in Ingary and that they might carry, wear, or hold.
• Create a version of this object that you can write on or weave a strip of paper through. (You might draw it on paper and cut the shape out, for instance, then “weave” words through by writing on the object.)
• Weave the five lines you chose through your object.

Present Your Object

• Show your small group the object you have created and read them your chosen lines of the poem or song.
• Your group members will try to guess which character the object is for and what it is meant to accomplish.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can be completed in part of one class period, using supplies on hand (paper, markers, etc.), or it can be assigned as homework and students can gather more elaborate supplies for their projects at home. In either case, it will be helpful to students to have access to the internet so that they can search for appropriate poetry or song lyrics. If your students are ready for an extra challenge, you might ask them to write about or discuss this follow-up question: In what ways do words—the words we hear, read, or speak ourselves—get “woven” through us in everyday life?

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with aphantasia may have difficulty creating an object without a visual reference. These students might be offered internet access to find pictures of their chosen object and allowed to copy these pictures or print them out. Students with visual impairments may not be able to complete this assignment as written. A reasonable alternative would be to ask these students to choose a poem and then write a paragraph about what object it might be woven through and why. Students with anxiety, perfectionism, and other conditions that impact their ability to make choices effectively may need to be offered a finite selection of objects and poems to choose among. It is possible that you will encounter students with cultural or religious objections to pretending to create an enchanted object. You might offer these students the alternative of writing a brief essay about the relationship between poetry, language, and magic in Howl’s Moving Castle.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Several scenes in the novel stress the importance of clothing.

• What is the symbolic value of clothing in Howl’s Moving Castle? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples of language, imagery, or plot detail from different places in the novel to support your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the symbolic use of clothing supports the novel’s larger concern with Identity.

2. Howl’s Moving Castle contains allusions to Hamlet, The Lord of the Rings, the Arthurian legends, and Alice in Wonderland. Choose one of these allusions as the basis for your response.

• What is the function of this allusion? (topic sentence)
• Identify where the allusion occurs by quoting the relevant text from Howl’s Moving Castle.
• Offer at least two pieces of textual evidence to support your interpretation of the allusion’s purpose.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this allusion supports one or more of the novel’s larger concerns: Age and Moral Growth, Compensation and Exploitation, and Identity.

3. The Witch of the Waste casts a spell on Sophie that makes her appear many decades older than she really is.

• What is ironic about the spell the Witch of the Waste has cast on Sophie? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples, from different places in the text, that support your interpretation of this irony.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect the irony of this spell to the text’s larger concern with Age and Moral Growth.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. When the scarecrow is first introduced, what kinds of language and imagery are used to describe it? How do language and imagery change in later descriptions? Why do Sophie’s reactions to the scarecrow change over time? What do other characters claim about the scarecrow, and how does its behavior either support or contradict these claims? What might the scarecrow represent in this story? Write an essay in which you analyze the symbolic value of the scarecrow. Show how this symbol supports one or both of the themes of Identity and Age and Moral Growth. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

2. Now that you have finished the text, you know that Howl was unable to truly fall in love with the various women he courted because he had become separated from his heart. What do his romantic adventures contribute to the novel’s themes related to Compensation and Exploitation? Why is he able to fall in love with Sophie—does this only happen once his heart is returned to his body, or are there signs that this happens even before his heart is returned? In what sense are Sophie’s communications with Calcifer also communications with Howl’s heart? What does it mean that Sophie is allowed to live in the castle, while other women are rarely even allowed to enter it? Write an essay in which you analyze the messages about romantic love that are conveyed through the love story between Sophie and Howl. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

3. What is the purpose of including the setting of Wales, in the “real” world, in this story? What does the juxtaposition of Wales with Ingary reveal about each world? How much does the characterization of Megan contribute to the reader’s feelings about Wales and what it represents? What does it mean that Howl comes from Wales but chooses to live in Ingary, and how does this help develop the novel’s theme related to Identity? How do language, imagery, and plot detail contribute to the contrast between these two worlds? Write an essay in which you analyze the purpose of including the Wales setting in Howl’s Moving Castle. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which best describes how Sophie changes during the novel?

A) She develops more confidence and self-acceptance.

B) She learns to have more tolerance of others’ opinions.

C) She tames her own impulsiveness and temper.

D) She accepts that all people have both a good and a bad side.

2. Which is the best characterization of Calcifer’s morality?

A) He is a demon and therefore not only immoral but evil.

B) He pretends to be immoral but is actually deeply and conventionally moral.

C) He is somewhat amoral but also motivated to help those he cares for.

D) He is entirely amoral, and his moral choices are essentially random.

3. What point is made by both Martha and Lettie switching apprenticeships and Howl’s move to Ingary?

A) People do not have to let social expectations limit their choices in life.

B) People learn and grow the most from being in new surroundings.

C) People should be cautious about trying to interfere with fate.

D) People are not at their best when they are surrounded by chaos.

4. What do Calcifer’s remarks about Howl catching a falling star and his “heartless” treatment of women foreshadow?

A) Calcifer’s decision to stay with the house even after he is free

B) The revelation of the details of Calcifer and Howl’s contract

C) Howl and Sophie falling in love with each other

D) Howl’s reliance on Calcifer’s magic to defeat the Witch

5. Which thematic element is most clearly supported by the spells on Sophie and Percival?

A) Confidence

B) Moral growth

C) Exploitation

D) Identity

6. What is ironic about Sophie’s ability to see through the Witch’s disguises?

A) Sophie is able to understand other people very easily, but she is often a mystery to herself.

B) Sophie is the only person whom the Witch is actually trying to disguise herself from.

C) Sophie is more perceptive than most people in this way, yet she misjudges some of the people she is closest to.

D) Sophie is clearly fooling herself about how well-developed her own magical abilities are.

7. Which most accurately describes Howl’s personality?

A) He has a terrible temper and can be a bit of a bully, but he is also intelligent, curious, and witty.

B) He is somewhat vain and has a tendency to tell lies, but he is also generous, kind, and respectful.

C) He lacks self-confidence and has trouble making up his mind, but he is also gentle, loving, and fiercely loyal.

D) He can be sneaky and selfish, but he is also clever, creative, and an excellent judge of character.

8. Which of these characters changes the most over the course of the novel?

A) Howl

B) Michael

C) Miss Angorian

D) The Witch of the Waste

9. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of what Sophie and Howl’s flower shop represents?

A) The end of Fanny’s exploitation of Sophie in the hat shop

B) The advantage that magic gives them over non-magical people

C) The positive impact that Sophie and Howl have on one another

D) The constant growth and change that magic promotes

10. What is Sophie’s society’s attitude toward magic?

A) It is unreal, and only superstitious people believe in it.

B) It is a rare and exciting ability that only a few possess.

C) It is something dangerous that should be suppressed.

D) It is a fairly routine and normal part of everyday life.

11. In the world of the novel, what is the relationship between Sophie’s society and our own society?

A) The two societies exist in different geographic places in the same physical world.

B) Sophie’s society is a distant past version of our own current society.

C) Sophie’s society is a future version of our own current society.

D) The two societies exist side-by-side in different dimensions.

12. What message is conveyed by the length of time the spell on Sophie lasts?

A) There is really no such thing as a “curse.”

B) Sometimes people help create their own “curse.”

C) The desire for revenge is its own kind of “curse.”

D) Growing older is not really a “curse.”

13. What do Sophie talking to the hats at the hat shop and her talking to the flowers foreshadow?

A) Howl and Sophie’s decision to turn the hat shop into a flower shop

B) The method Sophie uses to keep Calcifer alive after taking back Howl’s heart

C) Her eventual confession to Calcifer that she is in love with Howl

D) Fanny’s reappearance in the story as Mrs. Sacheverell Smith

14. Which most accurately describes Sophie’s attitude toward her sisters?

A) Sophie values her sisters’ opinions highly.

B) Sophie finds her sisters frivolous.

C) Sophie feels bullied by her sisters.

D) Sophie enjoys guiding and mentoring her sisters.

15. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of what Sophie’s walking stick and the scarecrow both represent?

A) Sophie’s wish to retreat behind the facade of old age

B) Sophie’s desire to leave behind her life at the hat shop

C) Sophie’s struggle to accept her magical identity

D) Sophie’s need to have her opinions validated by others

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Sophie’s attitude toward Fanny change during the novel?

2. How do the rumors about Howl in Ingary turn out to function as a metaphor for his actual behavior?