Catcher in the Rye Jigsaw Activity
Part One: With the help of your group members (yes, that means that you have to talk to one
another), discuss the significance of your assigned symbol using the organizer below.
1) Assigned Symbol: The Ducks in Central Park Lagoon
2) Using prior knowledge, what are the first THREE things that come to mind when you
think of ducks?
3) ANNOTATE (TALK TO THE TEXT) the quotes below and evaluate what these things
may have in common:
 “I live in New York and I was think about the lagoon in Central Park, down near
Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over if I got home, and if
it was, where did the ducks go. I was wondering where the ducks went when the
lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if a guy came in a truck and took
them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away” (Chapter 2).

“’You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little
lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it
gets all frozen over?’ I realized it was only one chance in a million. He turned
around and looked at me like I was a mad man. ‘What ya tryna do, bud? ‘ he said.
‘Kid me?’” (Chapter 9).

“’Hey Horwitz,’ I said. ‘You ever pass by the lagoon in Central Park? Down by
Central Park South?’
‘The what?’
‘The lagoon. That little lake, like, there. Where the ducks are. You know.’
‘Yeah what about it?’” (Chapter 12).

“What it was, it was partly frozen and partly not frozen. But I didn’t see any ducks
around. I walked all around the whole damn lake—I damn near fell in once, in
fact—but I didn’t see a single duck. I thought maybe if there were any around, they
might be asleep or something near the edge of the water, near the grass and all.
That’s how I nearly fell in. But I couldn’t find any” (Chapter 20).
4) Now, look at your annotations and the things you listed above when you think of ducks.
Using all of this information, what do you believe these ducks represent? Why? This
response needs to be AT LEAST THREE SENTENCES.
Part Two: Now, in your new groups, share what you learned about your assigned symbols with one
another. Take notes on what your other group members had to say about their symbols. You do
NOT have to take notes on your own symbol.
1) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
2) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
3) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
4) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
Part Three: When done sharing, answer the question individually below.
1) Which symbol do you believe is the most important to the novel. Why? EXPLAIN.
Catcher in the Rye Jigsaw Activity
Part One: With the help of your group members (yes, that means that you have to talk to one
another), discuss the significance of your assigned symbol using the organizer below.
1) Assigned Symbol: Holden’s Red Hunting Hat
2) Using prior knowledge, what are the first THREE things that come to mind when you
think of hunting?
3) ANNOTATE (TALK TO THE TEXT) the quotes below and evaluate what these things
may have in common:
 “He took another look at my hat while he was cleaning them. ‘Up home we wear a
hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake,’ he said. ‘That’s a deer shooting hat.’
‘Like hell it is.’ I took it off and looked at it. I sort of closed one eye like I was
taking aim at it. ‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said. ‘I shoot people in this hat’”
(Chapter 3).

“When I was all set to go, when I had my bags and all I stood for a while next to the
stairs and took a last look down the goddam corridor. I was sort of crying, I don’t
know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back,
the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya
morons!’” (Chapter 7).

“She wouldn’t answer me. All she did was, she took off my red hunting hat—the
one I gave her—and practically chucked it right in my face. Then she turned her
back on me again. It nearly killed me, but I didn’t say anything. I just picked it up
and stuck it in my coat pocket” (Chapter 25).
4) Now, look at your annotations and the things you listed above when you think of hunting.
Using all of this information, what do you believe the hunting hat represents? Why? This
response needs to be AT LEAST THREE SENTENCES.
Part Two: Now, in your new groups, share what you learned about your assigned symbols with one
another. Take notes on what your other group members had to say about their symbols. You do
NOT have to take notes on your own symbol.
5) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
6) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
7) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
8) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
Part Three: When done sharing, answer the question individually below.
5) Which symbol do you believe is the most important to the novel. Why? EXPLAIN.
Catcher in the Rye Jigsaw Activity
Part One: With the help of your group members (yes, that means that you have to talk to one
another), discuss the significance of your assigned symbol using the organizer below.
1) Assigned Symbol: The Museum of Natural History
2) Using prior knowledge, what are the first THREE things that come to mind when you
think of museums?
3) ANNOTATE (TALK TO THE TEXT) the quotes below and evaluate what these things
may have in common:
 “I get vey happy when I think about it. Even now. . .I always smelled like it was
raining outside, even if it wasn’t, and you were in the only nice, dry, cosy place in
the world. I loved that damn museum” (Chapter 16).

The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right
where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and
that Eskimo would still just be finishing catching those two fish, the birds would still
be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water
hole. . .Nobody’d be different The only thing that would be different would be you”
(Chapter 16).

“I was the only one left in the tomb then. . .Then, all of a sudden, you’d never
guess what I saw on the wall. Another ‘fuck you.’ It was written with a red crayon
or something, right under the glass part of the wall. Under the stones. That’s the
whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there
isn't any” (Chapter 25).
4) Now, look at your annotations and the things you listed above when you think of museums.
Using all of this information, what do you believe the Museum of Natural History
represents? Why? This response needs to be AT LEAST THREE SENTENCES.
Part Two: Now, in your new groups, share what you learned about your assigned symbols with one
another. Take notes on what your other group members had to say about their symbols. You do
NOT have to take notes on your own symbol.
5) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
6) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
7) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
8) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
Part Three: When done sharing, answer the question individually below.
9) Which symbol do you believe is the most important to the novel. Why? EXPLAIN.
Catcher in the Rye Jigsaw Activity
Part One: With the help of your group members (yes, that means that you have to talk to one
another), discuss the significance of your assigned symbol using the organizer below.
1) Assigned Symbol: The Carousel
6) Using prior knowledge, what are the first THREE things that come to mind when you
think of carousels?
7) ANNOTATE (TALK TO THE TEXT) the quotes below and evaluate what these things
may have in common:
 “We kept getting closer and closer to the carrousel and you could start to hear that
nutty music it always plays. It was playing ‘Oh Marie!’ It played that same song
about fifty years ago when I was a little kid. That’s one thing about carrousels, they
always play the same songs” (Chapter 25).

“All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was
sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do
anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to
let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off , but it’s bad if you
say anything to them” (Chapter 25).

“Boy, it began to rain like a bastard. In buckets, I sweat to God. All the parents
and mothers everybody went over and stood right under the roof of the carrousel,
so they wouldn’t get soaked to the skin or anything, but I stuck around on the
bench for quite a while. . .I got pretty soaking wet, especially my neck and my
pants. . .I didn’t care, though, I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old
Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn
happy, if you want to know the truth” (Chapter 25).
8) Now, look at your annotations and the things you listed above when you think of carrousels.
Using all of this information, what do you believe the carrousel represents? Why? This
response needs to be AT LEAST THREE SENTENCES.
Part Two: Now, in your new groups, share what you learned about your assigned symbols with one
another. Take notes on what your other group members had to say about their symbols. You do
NOT have to take notes on your own symbol.
9) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
10) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
11) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
12) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
Part Three: When done sharing, answer the question individually below.
9) Which symbol do you believe is the most important to the novel. Why? EXPLAIN.
Catcher in the Rye Jigsaw Activity
Part One: With the help of your group members (yes, that means that you have to talk to one
another), discuss the significance of your assigned symbol using the organizer below.
1) Assigned Symbol: Allie’s Baseball Mitt
2) Using prior knowledge, what are the first THREE things that come to mind when you
think of baseball?
3) ANNOTATE (TALK TO THE TEXT) the quotes below and evaluate what these things
may have in common:
 “So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie’s baseball mitt. It was a very
descriptive subject. It really was. My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s
mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was so descriptive about it tough, was that
he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. . .He’s
dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946”
(Chapter 5).

“I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the
poems that were written on it. All I had to do was change Allie’s name so that
nobody would know it was my brother and not Stradlater’s. I wasn’t crazy about
doing it, but I couldn’t think of anything else descriptive. Besides, I sort of liked
writing about it” (Chapter 5).

“All of a sudden, he said, ‘For Chrissake, Holden. This is about a goddam baseball
glove.’. . ‘God damn it. You always do everything backasswards.’ He looked at me.
‘No wonder you’re flunking the hell out of here,’ he said. ‘You don't do one damn
thing the way you’re supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing’” (Chapter 6).
4) Now, look at your annotations and the things you listed above when you think of baseball.
Using all of this information, what do you believe Allie’s baseball mitt represents? Why?
This response needs to be AT LEAST THREE SENTENCES.
Part Two: Now, in your new groups, share what you learned about your assigned symbols with one
another. Take notes on what your other group members had to say about their symbols. You do
NOT have to take notes on your own symbol.
5) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
6) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
7) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
8) Symbol:
Significance:
WHY this symbol means this (one sentence):
Part Three: When done sharing, answer the question individually below.
9) Which symbol do you believe is the most important to the novel. Why? EXPLAIN.