The Experience
The
story of Deadline by Chris Crutcher
is as much about getting to know the character of a terminally ill high school
senior as it is getting to know his hometown. The scavenger hunt allows fans to
live a day in the life of Ben Wolf. Most people don’t know how it feels to have
an expiration date on their life. So, the time limit connects to the novel
because people want to enjoy the experiences they have at each station, but
they also know that they have to hurry to experience as much of his life as
they can. As Ben stated, “I have
maybe twelve months to fall in love, marry, make smart investments, grow old,
and die” (Crutcher 24). The locations along the scavenger hunt all correspond
to the novel. For example, Ben ran cross country and spent a lot of time on a
running trail to process thoughts. So, the fan might have to run a sample
length of trail to experience this. One of the major conflicts in the book is Ben arguing with his teacher Mr. Lambeer about wanting to do a project about changing a street name. He ends his arguing in the principal office that he will do the Malcolm X project even if he fails. Ben says about his project, “’I’m doing it because I decided at the beginning of this year that I wanted the most out of my education’ ” (Crutcher 225). A major point in the scavenger hunt will be in the school the fans have to yell something that they have always wanted to do but had fear to say it. Another example is that was Ben’s life time
goal to get a street named after Malcolm X to try to get his town to be more
open-minded to the controversial hero Ben respected. In the scavenger hunt
there would be an actual street sign with a fake petition to add to Ben’s
cause. In Ben’s letter that he wrote to be read at his funeral, he writes “‘I’m
hoping my death will cause enough guilt that you will name a street Malcolm X
Avenue. Do it’ ” (Crutcher 313). The other stops along the scavenger hunt
correspond to Ben’s final year as he is forced to visit a therapist by his
doctor, becomes a part of the football team, and is able to land the girl of his
dreams: Dallas Suzuki. Each part of the books plot is incorporated on the scavenger hunt.
Why Make a Fan Experience?
The fan based experience would be a
scavenger hunt tour throughout the town of Trout, Idaho to recreate some of the
experiences Ben Wolf had in the book. Since the town the book is based on is
fictitious, the fans would be led to start in an actual small town in Idaho and
there would be clear postings for the scavenger tour areas and tasks to complete at each area. Players in the
scavenger hunt are given 2 hours to find and complete all clues.
Locations along the scavenger hunt include: Running trail,
football field, therapist’s office, Dallas Suzuki’s house, Trout High Civics
Class, Malcolm X Street, and a Cemetery
The final clue leads fans to a Ben Wolf's grave and instructions to
add to the bucket list tree. The tree would have ribbons tied to the branches
and people would write things they want to do before they die on the ribbons to honor Ben with his inspiration to accomplish great things.
Deadline Connection
The
story of Deadline by Chris Crutcher
is as much about getting to know the character of a terminally ill high school
senior as it is getting to know his hometown. The scavenger hunt allows fans to
live a day in the life of Ben Wolf. Most people don’t know how it feels to have
an expiration date on their life. So, the time limit connects to the novel
because people want to enjoy the experiences they have at each station, but
they also know that they have to hurry to experience as much of his life as
they can. As Ben stated, “I have
maybe twelve months to fall in love, marry, make smart investments, grow old,
and die” (Crutcher 24). The locations along the scavenger hunt all correspond
to the novel. For example, Ben ran cross country and spent a lot of time on a
running trail to process thoughts. So, the fan might have to run a sample
length of trail to experience this. One of the major conflicts in the book is Ben arguing with his teacher Mr. Lambeer about wanting to do a project about changing a street name. He ends his arguing in the principal office that he will do the Malcolm X project even if he fails. Ben says about his project, “’I’m doing it because I decided at the beginning of this year that I wanted the most out of my education’ ” (Crutcher 225). A major point in the scavenger hunt will be in the school the fans have to yell something that they have always wanted to do but had fear to say it. Another example is that was Ben’s life time
goal to get a street named after Malcolm X to try to get his town to be more
open-minded to the controversial hero Ben respected. In the scavenger hunt
there would be an actual street sign with a fake petition to add to Ben’s
cause. In Ben’s letter that he wrote to be read at his funeral, he writes “‘I’m
hoping my death will cause enough guilt that you will name a street Malcolm X
Avenue. Do it’ ” (Crutcher 313). The other stops along the scavenger hunt
correspond to Ben’s final year as he is forced to visit a therapist by his
doctor, becomes a part of the football team, and is able to land the girl of his
dreams: Dallas Suzuki. Each part of the books plot is incorporated on the scavenger hunt.Why Make a Fan Experience?
The scavenger hunt will let fans
connect with the story more because they can go through Ben’s experiences and sympathize
with his lack of time to make each event memorable. There could be a broader
audience for this book because people will want to read the book if they could
eventually travel throughout the book’s town. It makes the reading experience
more interactive and adventurous. The fans can relive the themes of the book
over and over while inviting friends to go through the story with them. It
could become more common for people to recreate fictional towns. So, Deadline could attract attention by
being one of the first attractions to be a near full scale.
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This sounds like a very fun idea! It combines all the fun of a scavenger hunt with the elements found in the story.
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