Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY: “To Tell the Truth”

In this activity, students observe and analyze Frank Abagnale’s persuasive strategies during his 1977 appearance on the television show To Tell the Truth. They then experiment with persuasive strategies themselves.

Part A

Watch the first 11 minutes of this 1977 episode of To Tell The Truth in which Frank Abagnale was able to convince a panel that he was not, in fact, Frank Abagnale.

Then, as a class, discuss the following questions:

• How did the real Frank act in comparison to the other two panelists?
• Why might the panelists have voted for numbers 1 and 2 over the real Frank?

Then, on a note card, write two truths and a lie. Take five minutes to do this.

Each person should take turns reading theirs aloud. You should stand in front of the class and state your two truths and a lie. Everyone else should vote on which one they think is the lie. Then, you should reveal which one it is. 

Keep in mind that your goal is to subtly misdirect the group, causing them to misidentify one of your true statements as a lie.

After everyone goes, discuss the following questions:

• Why did you choose to put these three statements together? What was your strategy for not getting caught?
• How did you adjust your delivery of each statement so as to mislead the class?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think about Frank as a narrator and the ways in which he presents himself to different audiences. How did the students present themselves to their classmates? How might they adjust their two truths and a lie in different settings?

Differentiation Suggestion: In a group including students who are nervous about reading in front of the class or struggle with reading confidently, the activity might be conducted with each student passing their notecard to the left, with that student reading the two truths and a lie. Students will still vote on which one is the lie. The person reading the notecard should be aware of which is the lie so that they can use any rhetorical techniques they’d like in attempting to pass it off as a truth.

Paired Text Extension:

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Watch the 2002 film based on this book. Afterwards, think about the following questions:

• How does the movie compare with the book?
• Why might this movie appeal to audiences? What is fascinating about con men?
• How might this movie’s success work in the real Frank Abagnale’s favor, especially as he now runs a consulting firm providing advice on how to prevent fraud?
• How has Frank Abagnale become a mythical figure through his supposed exploits?

Teaching Suggestion: Students can think about this story as one not unlike a game of telephone. The actual truth of Frank Abagnale’s life is much different from how it is portrayed in the book, let alone the movie.