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"The earthly meaning of eternal life was death, and she refused to die."
~ Simone de Beauvoir, 1965, A Very Easy Death, p. 60
"If we possess our why of life we can put up with almost any how.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche, 1889/1990, Twilight of the Idols (Trans. R. J. Hollingdale), p. 33
"There is scarcely any passion without struggle."
~ Albert Camus, 1955, The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays
, p. 73
An Assortment of Existentialist Quotations
LESSON ONE: BUILDING A BACKGROUND ABOUT EXISTENTIALISM
By the end of class, you will be able to.... form a basic definition of "existentialism."
Let's Get Started! Today we'll begin a new unit in which the philosophy of "existentialism" will often ground our discussions. Let's watch a clip from the 1970's Monty Python comedy group and try to figure out what the plot is and how it might be considered an existentialist text.
What happens literally in this video clip? Why do the characters hide? What happens to the characters when they don’t hide? Why do some characters get killed even when they do hide?
Look at the Wordle. What key concepts do you see that you might apply figuratively to the Monty Python film clip?
Existentialism is the philosophy that individuals create their own meaning in their lives, as opposed to having a deity or higher power creating it for them. Existentialists believe that life has no meaning because we are all here for no reason other than the fact that our parents gave birth to us. According to the Existentialists, existence precedes essence. Thus, it is contingent upon each of us as individuals to imprint meaning on the footprint of our lives.
Homework: Locate and bring to class ten existentialist quotes that connect to the themes we have discussed today. (F Period)
LESSON TWO: COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
By the end of class, you will be able to....
- Identify distinctions between realistic and absurd theater
- Define and analyze discourse in a text
- Perform select scenes
- Compare existentialism across texts and modalities
- Determine which authors established the existentialist tradition
Let's Get Started! Please pull up your homework: ten existentialist quotes that connect to the themes we have discussed today. Let's discuss the Monty Python clip to begin. Then we'll share our quotes.
Next, please click through this document and make a copy: Lesson Two Word Splash Starter.
Mini-Lesson: Please take notes as you see necessary to fill in your gaps of knowledge about Theater of the Absurd.
Now let's Toss Lines from the play to get its flavor. Predict some possible topics, character conflicts, issues, or themes that might emerge.
Comprehension Check, Lesson Two.
Homework: Locate and bring to class ten existentialist quotes that connect to the themes we have discussed today. (G Period)
LESSON THREE: A LANGUAGE TEA PARTY
By the end of class, you will be able to.... engage in a role play to increase knowledge of the role of language in social class and power relations.
Let's Get Started! Share our homework (G Period): "Locate and bring to class ten existentialist quotes that connect to the themes we have discussed today." Share. (F Period): Review your Existentialist quotes from our previous class.
Post-sharing writing prompt: "Scenario: your best friend just got dumped and is in despair. To help cheer her/him up, explain life from an existential perspective."
Next, we'll turn to a teaching exercise designed by social justice activist, Linda Christiansen, called "The Language Tea Party." Each student will assume the identity and language characteristics of one individual. We'll interview each other, trying to figure out how language, identity, social class, and power relations intersected in that person's life. Afterward, we'll debrief with a conversation. The materials we'll need are below.
Homework: none
LESSON FOUR: TWO CHARACTERS AND A BENCH IN CENTRAL PARK
Objectives: By the end of class, you will be able to... incorporate three acting techniques to portray dramatic characters as real humans.
Let's Get Started! Review and share the writing prompt at the end of the Language Tea Party. For large group discussion: "How are language and power interconnected in today's society?"
Then, let's take the Poetry Out Loud survey.
Have Dr. Carolyn sign in The Writer's Presence. Sign out Zoo Story, by Edward Albee. Survey the structure of the text. Zoo Story background notes.
Next, let's practice with a few Voice Acting Techniques. In that way, when we act out scenes in class, we'll have more ability to sound like we're actual humans in action in real life.
Create a Backstory Activity: Here are some sample lines. It's up to you and a partner to create a backstory for the context in which these lines are uttered.
Then you need to practice your Voice Acting Techniques, using these lines and improvised context.
“Today is the day,” “I have Mr. Massa for HTML Coding class.” “Yuuki was a friend on whom I could depend.” “Have you been on Twitter this morning?” “Did you hear that?”
Now, empowered with Voice Acting Techniques, we'll cast Peter and Jerry per page + stop periodically to discuss.
Homework: Read pages 21-28 for our next class. Fill in this graphic organizer to capture ideas about the 5Ws and 1H of what we have read together so far. [Note: A print Word version distributed in class offers a few hints about note-taking, but these items don't translate to the Google environment.]
LESSON FIVE: AN INTRODUCTION TO GAY/ LESBIAN/ QUEER THEORY
Objectives: By the end of class, you will be able to.... apply a theoretical lens to a dramatic passage in order to shift your Normal perspective.
Let's Get Started! Please take out your homework: the graphic organizer to capture ideas about the 5Ws and 1H of what we have read together so far.
Mini-Lesson: Gay/ Lesbian/ Queer Theory
How are the boundaries around heterosexuality and homosexuality created, regulated, and contested? How can we begin to eradicate the boundaries around heterosexuality and homosexuality? How do sexuality and sexual difference play with, within, and against the very conditions of meaning that allow a word to be uttered? How is same sex orientation represented in society and texts?
How are sexual difference and gender difference and their interplay almost inextricable from each other in Western cultures?
How do gender and sexual difference interact in texts provide clues about the ways in which power operates in the culture producing that text?
What is the role of body image and physique in sexualized and genderized lives?
What happens when we radically deprivilege the status of gender in traditional discourses?[View the story "Theories: Filters on our Worlds" on Storify]
Continue reading and discussing the play together in class, using a Gay/ Lesbian/ Queer Theoretical lens.
Homework: Keep reading. In our next class, you'll spend the entire time reading the play. Your assignment is to finish reading the play for our first class, next week.When you are finished, please make a copy of these Post-Reading Discussion Questions. You'll be required to formulate specific and informed responses, using textual evidence, to four questions.
LESSON SIX: A DAY OF QUIET READING AND CONTEMPLATION
Objectives: By the end of class, you will be able to... decode the Edward Albee play, Zoo Story.
Let's Get Started! Please retrieve your copy of Albee's Zoo Story.
Keep reading. Spend the entire time reading the play. When you are finished, please make a copy of these Post-Reading Discussion Questions. You'll be required to formulate specific and informed responses, using textual evidence, to four questions.
Here is a really comprehensive blog that covers multiple dimensions of the play; it might help you.
Homework: Your assignment is to finish reading the play for our first class, next week and to have completed four responses to the Post-Reading Discussion Questions.
LESSON SEVEN: POST-READING DISCUSSIONS
DAY #1 Objectives: By the end of class, you will be able to... deconstruct The Zoo Story using theoretical lenses to ground our discussions.
Let's Get Started!
Together in class, we'll deconstruct The Zoo Story using theoretical lenses to ground our discussions. Please quietly review the various theoretical lenses through this Theory link and the Storify above. Don't forget Existentialism, too!
Now you'll work collaboratively to create a website that will become a study guide for other students and readers who want to understand Albee's The Zoo Story more.
Who will be Webmasters? You'll get extra credit. You'll need to get editing permissions to access the website, so see Dr. Carolyn once at least four (4) Web Masters have been identified.
Homework: None--- Happy Thanksgiving!
DAY #2 Objectives: By the end of class, you will be able to.... design a webpage that analyzes The Zoo Story from one theoretical lens.
Let's Get Started!
In our second in-class day of composing, we need to gather our research and design our webpages in visually appealing as well as informative ways. In order to get started, let's explore what good web design looks like. Click through and take down (at least) your Top Five (5) observational notes on what's absolutely important in web design: The 8 Elements of Modern Web Design, The Best Designs, and --- ta dah! --- The Webbys 2015. Then we'll share.
You have the rest of class to create your webpages that capture Albee's The Zoo Story and your targeted theoretical lens. Be ready to share tomorrow in class. Be sure to tag your page with your pseudonym, so we'll know who contributed.
Homework: Complete your small group's web page on The Zoo Story.
LESSON EIGHT: ONLINE PERSONA ADVERTISEMENT ANALYSIS
Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to.... apply a theoretical lens to a contemporary advertisement by assuming an online persona.
Let's Get Started! Sharing session for "The Zoo Story Analyzed" website creations.
Review of Theory Questions. Then we'll introduce the Online Persona Advertisement Analysis: Assignment.
Here's the Rubric. Check the rubric frequently to make sure you are meeting all the performance expectations.
Homework: Compose an advertisement analysis, using the criteria on the assignment sheet above. Be ready to share at the beginning of our next class.
Online Persona Advertisement Analysis: Dr. Carolyn's Model
Online Persona Advertisement Analysis: Dr. Carolyn's Model
Hello! My name is Cora Patrick, and as a resident of Columbia, I must say I was taken aback by this advertisement for my nation; I discovered it during a recent professional trip I took to the United States. Columbia's lush equatorial geography, as mediated by arid and parched deserts, offers an apt metaphor for the diversity of peoples, politics, and plurality of opinions that comprises my country.
The advertisement, however, reinforces narrow interpretations of Columbia and marginalizes its potential to international visitors as limited to danger and terrorism, ceremonies and costumes; its message is more reflective of a revisionist history than of the nuances of contemporary social life. Please know that my partner wears Prada, I drive a Tesla, and neither of us belongs to a drug cartel. Might I remind you that Columbia was named after Columbus, and, like you in the United States, our nation's narratives are intertwined with colonialism, suspicion, and fierce individuality? Those legacies, sadly, and all too frequently, translate into fear of Others. Come visit my Columbia because you yearn to see us for who we are, not who we are positioned to be by corporate media moguls.
Online Personas Critique Template
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