Activities for Criss Cross
In Criss Cross, Hector thinks, “. . .the world was opening, like
the roof of the Civic Arena when the sky was clear.” (See p. 24) and “I’m a
cartoon . . . my life is a cartoon.” (See p. 248) and “. . .love was like
starting a fire with two sticks. You’ve always heard that it’s possible, but how
likely is it?”
The Civic Arena photographs are of a model made of cardboard and balsa wood and
little glass beads for the crowd. The cartoon is a cartoon. The sticks are in a
photograph. Encourage the sky as the limit.
Write about an event from the point of view of two different participants in the
same event. Make them the same length. (See the Wuthering Heights/Popular
Mechanics chapter in Criss Cross, p. 200.
What is your theory? Can you write it down? Can you draw it? (See “the spectrum
of connectedness” in the front matter of Criss Cross, Peter’s theory on p. 267
and “Debbie’s Theory” on page 282)