Code Name Verity

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.

“Code Name Marguerite, Code Name Ambroise, Code Name Mimi: The True Stories of Other Women Spies in World War II”

Students will research the life and times of real-life female spies during World War II who served as Elizabeth Wein’s models for protagonists Julie and Maddie in Code Name Verity.

There was Francine Agazarian (code name: Marguerite); there was Denise Bloch (code name: Ambroise); there was Yvonne Fontaine (code name: Mimi). These are just a few of the women who bravely served as spies for the Allied forces to help take down the Nazis and bring about the end of World War II. They also served as models and inspiration for Elizabeth Wein in her depiction of Julie and Maddie in Code Name Verity.

In this activity, you will work in a group of 3-4 students to conduct research on 1 female spy of your choosing; then, you will craft a presentation to share with the class. Your group’s presentation should be no less than 5 minutes long (and no more than 10 minutes) and should answer and provide insight into the following questions:

• Biographical data. Consider the who/what/where/when of your selected spy. Where was she born, and when? In what country did she grow up? Where was her family from, and what did they do?
• Contribution to Allied efforts. What was your spy’s most significant contribution to the Resistance movement?
• Postwar legacy. What was your spy’s life like after the war? If your spy did not survive, discuss her legacy.
• Comparison to Julie/Maddie in Code Name Verity. Recalling the primary themes of Code Name Verity (Friendship, Valor, The Nature of Truth, and Women’s Roles in World War II), discuss how your spy’s life and work speak to some of the larger messages in the book.

Teaching Suggestion: Students will find no shortage of high-quality resources online to begin their research on real-life female spies in World War II. However, to get them started, you may opt to share with them the following resources:

• “Female Spies and Their Secrets” by Liza Mundy (The Atlantic; may require subscription to view)
• “Women in World War II: The Spies They Never Saw Coming” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; 45-minute video)

Differentiation Suggestion: For classes or individual students who are energized and motivated by assignments that draw upon their imagination, you could adapt this activity into a creative writing project instead of group presentations. After each group compiles research, you might ask students to individually write a one-page imagined scene involving the female spy. The scene could be a moment of high drama and action (a fight scene, for example), or it could be a moment when the spy has an internal moment of reckoning (an inner monologue in which the spy debates a difficult choice). Either way, before they embark on the assignment, encourage students to review their favorite scene from Code Name Verity to serve as a model.