Around the World in Eighty Days

Objective

Students will read and analyze the opening chapter of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, identifying how the author uses specific details to characterize Phileas Fogg as mysterious, precise, and eccentric, and how Passepartout is introduced as his contrasting new servant.

Materials

• Copies or projection of the provided text (Chapter I and start of Chapter II)
• Notebook or paper for each student
• Board or chart paper for class notes

Warm-up (~5 min)

Write on the board: "If you knew nothing about a person except their daily habits, what could you guess about their personality?"
Have students jot down 2–3 quick sentences answering this, then ask 2–3 volunteers to share aloud. Tell students they are about to meet a character in a novel who is defined almost entirely by his habits.

Main Activity (~25 min)

1. Read aloud together (10 min): Read Chapter I aloud as a class (teacher or volunteer students taking turns by paragraph), starting from "Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872..." through the arrival of Passepartout and Fogg's exact instructions about the time.

1. Guided discussion & note-taking (10 min): As a class, list on the board evidence from the text under two headers: "What We Know About Fogg" and "What We Don't Know About Fogg."
2. Known: lived at No. 7 Saville Row; member of the Reform Club; precise daily schedule; dismissed his servant for shaving water being two degrees off; plays whist but gives away winnings; no wife, children, or close friends.
3. Unknown: how he made his fortune; whether he has traveled; why he lives so mysteriously.

Discuss: Why might Verne choose to introduce a character this way—through habits and mystery rather than direct description?

1. Character contrast (5 min): Read Passepartout's self-introduction speech ("Jean, if monsieur pleases..."). As a class, list his past jobs (singer, circus-rider, gymnastics professor, fireman, valet) and discuss how his talkative, varied background contrasts with Fogg's silence and rigid routine.

Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

On a half-sheet of paper, have students answer in 3–5 sentences:
"Based on Chapter I, describe Phileas Fogg's personality using at least two specific details from the text. Then explain one way Passepartout seems different from him."
Collect exit tickets as students leave or place them in a designated basket.

If Time Remains

Have students predict in writing: "Why do you think Mr. Fogg dismissed his last servant over a two-degree temperature difference in shaving water? What might this tell us about what could go wrong later in the story?" Share a few predictions aloud before ending class.