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I try to bring the journey (and transformation) home by having students write about a personal journey or Rite of Passage they have experienced. You’d be surprised (well, maybe not) how many students cannot find points of passage in their own lifes. This is a terrible reflection on our culture, that it fails to provide clear points of passage for its children. When a student has difficulty, I usually ask questions such as:
- “What was a (or the most difficult) experience you’ve encountered?”
- “What activity (sport, dance, etc.) have you mastered, and what were the challenges you faced?”
- “Have you ever moved to a new city? What was it like leaving your old friends and coming to a place you didn’t know?”
- “Has there been a time when you’ve gotten youself into trouble and worked your way through it?”
You can probably think of better questions. The idea is to get students thinking about significant points of change or growth in their lives. Once they have identified an event or period of time, I will ask a few more questions to get them to elaborate, to draw the experience to awareness.
Your goal is to have them draw as many specific details and feelings to awareness so that they can objectify them and, in writing, give a meaning to their journey. I believe strongly that for students to benefit from studying literatureand film through the journey model, they need to have struggled with exploring a journey they have taken. Being aware of their own journey, and how it affected their lives, gives them a solid foundation for realting to the journeys they will encounter in fiction.
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I try to bring the journey (and transformation) home by having students write about a personal journey or Rite of Passage they have experienced. You’d be surprised (well, maybe not) how many students cannot find points of passage in their own lifes. This is a terrible reflection on our culture, that it fails to provide clear points of passage for its children. When a student has difficulty, I usually ask questions such as:
You can probably think of better questions. The idea is to get students thinking about significant points of change or growth in their lives. Once they have identified an event or period of time, I will ask a few more questions to get them to elaborate, to draw the experience to awareness.
Your goal is to have them draw as many specific details and feelings to awareness so that they can objectify them and, in writing, give a meaning to their journey. I believe strongly that for students to benefit from studying literatureand film through the journey model, they need to have struggled with exploring a journey they have taken. Being aware of their own journey, and how it affected their lives, gives them a solid foundation for realting to the journeys they will encounter in fiction.