Outsiders

Activities
(NN+ sample page)

The following activities could be used alongside the programme to help students to respond to a range of literary texts. The aim is to promote a critical awareness of language, effect and theme.

This selection of suggested tasks has been designed to cover a wide ability range, while many can easily be adapted for individual, pair, group or whole-class work. Broadly speaking they cover the following areas:

• oral work
• tasks which require pupils to make a more detailed reading of suggested texts
• creative/functional writing tasks which will meet the criteria for GCSE coursework
• literary type assignments which will meet the criteria for Literature coursework
• tasks which address the requirements for study of pre-twentieth-century literature
• suggestions for further reading and research

[1] Oral activity: ‘Odd One Out’
In groups of three or four, chat and discuss anything that interests you, e.g. the weekend, music, TV, etc. Take it in turns to be the odd one out – the others should not converse with the odd one out no matter how much they try to be part of the conversation. You could also exclude them through body language.

After everyone in the group has experienced this treatment discuss what it felt like to be ignored and excluded – share your thoughts and experiences. The ideas generated could be used as a basis for a creative writing task, e.g. haiku, short story.

You may find the following websites useful:

For information on Haiku try
http://library.advanced.org/3721/poems/forms/haiku.html

If you’re struggling for inspiration try the ‘instant muse poetry generator and story starter’ at
http://www.webcom.com/wordings/artofwrite/inspiration.html

[2] Programme review

• Identify all the outsiders who were presented.
• List words and phrases to describe how you imagine each one felt.
• Choose one of the characters presented and look into their story in some more detail.

Remember, you may also find some interesting information on CD-ROM and the Internet.

[3] Class display
Collect together a variety of poems, novel extracts, song lyrics and images that explore the theme of isolation and loneliness, and create a class wall display/collage.

[4] Drama
Working in groups prepare a series of tableaux entitled ‘Isolation’. Your teacher could photograph them and add them to the wall display (ref. activity 3).

[5] Further work
Think about films, soaps or novels with which you are familiar: in each one identify the outsiders:

• Why are they outsiders?
• Are they marginalised/misunderstood/alienated?
• How is their isolation portrayed?

You could write a diary entry/monologue/social worker’s report on a literary or media character of your choice.

[6] Hardy assignment
Read The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy:

• Write Rhoda’s diary entry at various stages throughout the story.

• Complete a Literature Assignment discussing how Hardy explores the theme of isolation in this text. Consider aspects of characterisation, language, imagery, dialogue, structure, etc.

[7] Steinbeck assignment
Complete a literature assignment discussing how Steinbeck explores the theme of isolation in Of Mice and Men.

[8] Hardy and Steinbeck compared
Activities 6 & 7 could be combined in a comparative task: ‘Compare and contrast how Hardy and Steinbeck explore the theme of isolation in The Withered Arm and Of Mice and Men.’

[9] Extended literary treatments
A more sophisticated literary task that would allow for pupils’ individual interests and wider reading could be simply entitled ‘The Outsider in Literature’.

[10] Research on writers
Find out about a writer who was an outsider in their own life, or whose work made them into an outsider. Write up your research.

[11] Monsters
Explore the different ways in which writers suggest that we make monsters. You could look, for example, at Frankenstein's creature, and the ‘replicants' in Philip K Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Or you could compare a 'real' monster with a character such as Boo Radley.

[12] Categories of outsiders
Compare different kinds of outsiders. You could, for example, compare rebels with victims, considering the difference between the women in The Withered Arm and Turned. Or you might consider the way in which rebels often end up as victims, as in Romeo and Juliet.

[13] Film activity: Rebel without a Cause 1
Review the Rebel Without a Cause sequence [06.33–07.19] where Jim has a confrontation with his parents about going to the police. How successfully does this sequence convey the underlying alienation which the family is experiencing? Consider the dialogue, camera angles, music, and positioning of the characters. How do they contribute to the atmosphere of this scene? Is this scene realistic – or melodramatic? Will a modern audience respond to this clip in the same way as a 1950s audience?

[14] Film activity: Rebel without a Cause 2
Review the Rebel Without a Cause footage and select a single still image which you feel captures Jim’s isolation. Compare your selection with those of your classmates and be prepared to discuss and justify your choice.

[15] Film activity: To Kill a Mockingbird
Look at the mob scene from To Kill a Mockingbird [16.12–17.08]. Consider how the director builds up tension in this scene. Think about dialogue, pace, lighting, sound and body language. Do you think that the fact that this film has been shot in black and white adds to the atmosphere of this scene? It might be a good idea to read this extract from the novel before you begin to analyse the media representation.

[16] Film activity: The Outsiders
Look at the film footage from The Outsiders [20.00–22.09] with the volume turned down. How do the fight and sunset scenes differ in terms of lighting, action, camera angles and pace? Look at the sequence again withthe volume restored, and consider how these differences reflect the dialogue.

[17] Internet enquiry
On the Vanderbilt ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ site, access the Blake Massey article on the parallels between the lives of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Read the article carefully and summarise these similarities in a table or web diagram.