Mary K. Donahue
It is imperative that the students begin to draw comparisons. It is one of my goals for this unit to play on as wide a range of knowledge as possible. The students must begin to be aware of their surroundings and the society that they operate as a part of. At this age they are becoming consumers. They are developing personalities and working on the sensibilities that will carry them into maturity and adulthood. Therefore, they must recognize that they operate as a part of society on a daily basis. They must acknowledge through the years there has always been a ‘correct’ way to act and react. However, there have always been those who choose to take the individual path. Here is where sample lesson 2 will be located (see attached). In addition to Lesson 2, several readings of Walt Whitman will come in handy here to allow them to see that your ability to be an individual is not an easy choice, and it is not always a clear cut path. Whitman struggled with his ideas and beliefs about breaking conformity. Although I am striving to make the students aware of this manifest idea of society, I do not want to frighten them into believing they must be radically individualist and completely separate from everyone in order to be themselves. Instead, my goal is for them to recognize that everything is a choice. I have noticed that sometimes the students are completely blinded by peer pressure. Just the other day one of my students confided in me on the issue of sex. They told me they lie about having actually had sex, because it can be ‘uncool’ to be a virgin. This type of belief is what can rapidly cause deterioration in our society. At fifteen these students are beginning to make choices that can and will be life-altering. Therefore, what better time for them to ruminate on the sometimes unattainable beliefs of Emerson and Thoreau than now when they might make a difference in their view and position on the world. For everyone, and for students especially, it can be easy to get caught up in believing that the small world you gravitate in is all there is out there. These students need to have the ability to both learn from society’s mistakes and to see that there is life outside the fishbowl they are operating in.
Now it is time for the students to begin putting into practice this new ability to objectively look at society. The students will be assigned to small groups and given an advertisement to look at (from the fifties). We will discuss stereotypes that we have of the 1950’s. Since Emerson and Thoreau lived and wrote in the 1850’s, what changed in the hundred years? How is life in the 1950’s represented? Go home and ask your parents or grandparents. Think about what was going on in the world during that time and bring in that knowledge: WWII just ended, segregation still strong, women have the vote but many are still homemakers, etc.
After the students have learned and practiced in class reading the paintings they will apply this knowledge to looking at the advertisements from the ‘50’s. They will answer a worksheet of questions on it. When this is complete they will receive an advertisement from today’s time and ‘read’ this. What are the differences and similarities between these two societies? What would you say or think about the society that these advertisements came out of? What would Thoreau say about this process of commercializing a product? We will begin to discuss the process of something becoming commercial.
After this it will come time to begin to wrap up the unit. To bridge the gap between discussing these ideas and having the students actively begin to uncover stereotypes for themselves, they will be assigned a research and presentation project. As specified in my objectives, the students will be put in small groups and will be given a label to research, i.e. preppy, jock, punk, gothic, etc. They will be asked to research this label, to find out what sort of stereotypes people have of this label, and if in fact they are true or not. It may be advantageous to do a warm-up activity to aid you in breaking them into their groups. Maybe putting up a photo for each label (i.e. a photo of a sports star, one of a group of preppie-looking students, etc) and asking them which one they connect to the most, which one the least, and why. That way you can break them into groups by who they have the most stereotypes against. The goal here is to get the class to diversify, rather than allowing the same students to work together you are attempting to aid their learning process by assigning them the topic that will be hardest for them. This is the time when it may be advantageous to push their comfort barrier. By this point, you will have been working on this idea of individuality for between eight and ten classes. Since this is the culminating activity, and your goal at the outset was to get the students to recognize their choices and their ability to be individuals, now is the best time to really give it a test run. This is the time for you to find out what they have really learned.
Each group will prepare a presentation, including a visual, for the class. The visual may be anything from a collage, to a skit. However, the point here is to give students freedom to express their discoveries freely. You are striving to see that they have learned that the clothes and labels do not always make up the person. Before the students give their final presentations on society and their connection to it, I will bring in some literature that takes place more in the modern era and we will discuss, alongside the art, whether or not these pieces are individualist. I’m thinking that an excerpt from either
A Handmaids’ Tale
or
The Stepford Wives
would be ideal. Both of these pieces discuss society and our individuality; therefore, the author must understand the desire to rise above it. This will be the final piece in seeing if the students have fully grasped the concepts we have been working so hard on. If they are able to look at both the art and the literature objectively, then they should be able to argue for it both ways (meaning as a piece that promotes individuality and a piece that pushes conformity). Remember, you are choosing the excerpt, so make sure it is one that has enough evidence for either side. Through our discussion we will explore exactly what it is that makes you a part of ‘society’. Is it possible to define? It may work best to set the class up in a debate format, with students facing one another. Make sure you have given them some class time to prepare their arguments, but not too long. You really want to see what will just come out of them while they are on the spot, with only the piece of literature in front of them and your previous conversations to use as evidence.