Edward H. Fitzpatrick
Ths writing activity should begin on the opening day of the unit and continue as the unit progresses.
Objectives
A.
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To familiarize students with the objectives of the unit.
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B.
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To enable students to arrive at their own definition of what it is to be a stranger.
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C.
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To enable students to gain first-hand knowledge of how one surmounts the problem of estrangement.
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Method
Gather the students together to explain the purpose of the unit. Explain that all of us are seeing each other for the first time. We are, in effect, strangers.
Explain that what is to follow is a very personal, very private assignment. Students are to choose one person from the group. They must in no way be familiar with this person. The stranger chosen must in no way know that he/she is the subject of observation.
The details of the observation are as follows: Students are to initially write a physical description of the stranger they have chosen to observe.
The next step is to expand the physical description to include observations of the stranger’s more subjective qualities. For example, based on furtive observation in the cafeteria, what sort of food does the stranger like or dislike? Is the stranger’s language different from your own? What about the stranger’s style of dress? What about his dancing style, the books he reads, the music he listens to on the gigantic portable radio slung over his shoulder?
The final step will be an analysis of the stranger written in such a way as to answer the following questions. Does the person observed communicate with the observer in such a way as to overcome the state of being a stranger? Or does the person continue to be a stranger? Do the qualities observed act in such a way as to cause you to befriend the person, or do they cause you to repudiate this person?