Students can follow what happens in “House Taken Over” and still miss the strangest part: Irene and the narrator barely resist as their world gets smaller. This lesson sequence slows the story down, makes the house and both takeovers concrete, and then moves students into ambiguity, evidence, and interpretation.

Teach Julio Cortázar’s “House Taken Over” with a chronological lesson sequence that helps students keep the house straight, follow exactly what changes during each takeover, and then tackle the story’s refusal to explain itself.

Students begin with the siblings’ ordinary routines and the physical layout of the house. A text-grounded house map gives them a workable way to picture the divided space before anything strange happens. The map is clearly presented as one possible interpretation based on details in the story—not as a definitive architectural plan.

As students read, they track what the siblings lose, what they simply accept, and what unexpectedly becomes easier after the first takeover. Once the basic sequence is secure, the lesson moves into the harder questions: Why do Irene and the narrator adapt so readily? What does the story actually tell us? What are readers only inferring? How does Cortázar make uncertainty itself unsettling?

The optional comparison with the “Ice Age” episode of Love, Death & Robots gives students a second domestic setting in which the impossible enters ordinary life. Students compare changing reactions, normalization, what the characters do not investigate, and the effect those responses have on an audience.

The resource is designed as a 4-day core sequence for approximately 40-minute class periods, with an optional Day 5 for response vs. genre and/or a comparison to Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The teacher guide also includes a slower supported-reading route for classes that need more time with the story.

WHAT’S INCLUDED
• 23-slide lesson presentation — PDF + editable PowerPoint
• 11-page student packet — PDF + editable PowerPoint
• 8-page teacher guide — PDF + editable Word
• 10-question comprehension quiz — Versions A and B
• Editable quiz PowerPoint
• Google Forms-compatible 10-question CSV bank
• START HERE file guide

STUDENTS WORK WITH
• Literal comprehension before interpretation
• Chronological reconstruction
• Setting and spatial details
• Character response and adaptation
• Evidence vs. inference
• Ambiguity and defensible interpretation
• Claim, evidence, and reasoning
• Comparison across text and media
• Character response vs. genre
• Gothic, fantastic fiction, and magical realism as possible literary lenses

LESSON FLOW

Day 1 — Before Anything Happens
Establish the siblings’ routines, get the house straight, and read through the first takeover.

Day 2 — Making Room for the Impossible
Track what is lost, what oddly becomes easier, and finish the story through the yarn and key.

Day 3 — What the Story Refuses to Explain
Separate what the story tells us from what we infer, then build a text-based claim.

Day 4 — “Ice Age”: Tracking a Changing Response
View with school-approved access, track the couple’s response, and compare the two domestic intrusions.

Optional Day 5 — Response vs. Genre
Separate how characters react from the kind of literary world a text creates. An optional “Usher” comparison is included for teachers using the stories in the same unit.

GOOD TO KNOW
The text of “House Taken Over,” the “Ice Age” episode, and the text of “The Fall of the House of Usher” are not included. Teachers will need a licensed copy of the Cortázar story and school-approved access to any media used. Preview the episode and follow your school’s media-viewing policies.

The Poe comparison is optional and assumes students have already read “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

MAJOR UPDATE - September 2026

This resource has been rebuilt for easier classroom use. The new version now follows "House Taken Over" chronologically, adds a functional house-mapping activity and stronger comprehension support, expands the teacher guide with clearer reading landmarks and pacing options, strengthens the evidence/ambiguity and claim work, separates character response from genre, and includes corrected A/B quizzes.

The "Ice Age" comparison is still included, but it now comes after a fuller close reading of Cortázar so the comparison feels earned rather than rushed.

Please re-download the updated files to replace the previous version.