�Today�s teenagers are not the first in history with difficult decisions to make, but certainly few of us will argue against the idea that they have a special set of problems unique to their age and to today�s world

Angelica de Koning

English 112B

Mary Warner

November 30, 2005

Unit Plan

Studying realism is very valuable for Young Adults. The feelings associated with young-adulthood may cause some teens to feel alone and helpless. Studying realism does not protect readers from the problems of life, but instead, presents �life as it is�. �The idea is that young people have a better chance of being happy if they have realistic expectations and if they know the good and the bad about the society in which they live.� (Donelson 78) Some of the problems presented in realist literature includes: Fears; Dating and Sex; Alcohol and Drugs; Money; Academics; Independence, and Mental Illness. (88-89) Young adults will experience any or all of these problems, directly or indirectly throughout their teen years.

Realism in literature can be used effectively to help counter the overwhelming amount of television shows that glorify the lives of wealthy people. In fact, such literature can actually make people feel better about their own reality. Channels, such as MTV air shows about rich teenagers who live a life very different from many young Americans. Novels and plays can make students feel that their lives are not so bad, and in fact could even be worse. In this way, students can learn to feel positive about their own lives. Another type of media, television talk shows, do represent people with problems, but suggest that those problems are fixed quickly and easily. �For example, on television talk shows, suffering individuals are shuffled through their paces in life in less than an hour and then sent on their respective ways.� (Donelson 85) Such quick recovery may disappoint people who take months, or even years to solve similar problems. Realism teaches students important life lessons.

Reading realism in the classroom provides students with a picture of the world that is not far removed from their own. Realism texts can create identification with the reader. As students read, they are able to understand that they are not alone and that their life is somewhat typical. In addition, such texts can provide powerful models for students. They can learn from certain characters who deal well with conflict. Additionally, through character analysis, students can decide how characters could better cope with his or her situation.

Therefore, I propose a curriculum based on the genre of social realism, which focuses on domestic relationships. It will incorporate traditional literature as well as more contemporary Young Adult works. Such a combination of literature will offer students an opportunity to find theme connections between canonical literature and the literature of their own time. Songs, short stories and poetry will also be incorporated into the unit.

This unit would tie well into the eleventh grade curriculum which deals with American Literature, since the play A Streetcar Named Desire is the centerpiece of the unit. Tennessee William�s play A Streetcar Named Desire is set in New Orleans in the late 1940s. Blanche Dubois leaves her dismantled life in Mississippi to start over in New Orleans. She arrives at her sister�s home, but quickly falls into conflict with her macho brother-in-law, Stanley. Their lives get tangled up as Blanche falls deeper into despair. Blanche misuses alcohol to deal with her overwhelming problems. She is forced to deal with poverty, rape, abuse of her sister and oppression.

This play presents many pertinent issues for young adults who are beginning to experiment with opposite sex relationships. The students can read this play to help them cope with the pressures that they face in their everyday life. Students should analyze the factors that contributed to the problems facing the characters. Through character analysis, students will be better able to make good decisions when put in similar situations.

The themes presented in the play are pertinent to today�s society as well. The play communicates messages about male dominance over women, death, abuse, and sexual conflicts. These themes will be paralleled with similar themes in the Young Adult Literature to be read later.

Launching the Unit:

In order to make connections between the play and their own lives, students will analyze additional texts. Completing many small assignments will help students contextualize the material. Pre-reading and post-reading activities will also assist students in their comprehension of the material.

Before reading a long piece of literature, students need to have some introduction tasks. Pre-reading activities can help students to be better prepared to read the assigned text.

1. Read the following poem aloud to the class. Provide introductory information about the author. Ask the students what they know about the author. Discuss tone, themes, symbols and meanings of the poem.

Poetry that presents an idyllic view of love has aesthetic value. Students should read these poems and understand why they are classics. Additionally, students will discuss how these poems may provide a �less than realistic� view of love and relationships.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. (3)

(Text taken from: Hunter, Paul, J. The Norton Introduction To Poetry. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.

2. Play the song �Behind the Wall� by Tracy Chapman. Have students listen to the lyrics and write down the plot, characters and setting of the song. Later, provide the students with the lyrics. Have students discuss the relationships of the people involved. How does this song depict reality?

Tracy Chapman Debut Album http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/debutalbum_lyrics.htm#behind

�BEHIND THE WALL�

Last night I heard the screaming

Loud voices behind the wall

Another sleepless for me

It won�t do no good to call

The police Always come late

If they come at all

And when they arrive

They say they can�t interfere

With domestic affairs

Between a man and his wife

And as they walk out the door

The years well up in her eyes

Last night I heard the screaming

The a silence that chilled my soul

I prayed that I was dreaming

When I saw the ambulance in the road

And the policeman said

�I�m here to keep the peace

Will the crowd disperse

I think we all could use some sleep�

3. Compare and contrast how relationships are portrayed in the poems versus the song. How do they relate to real life?

The poems represent an idyllic concept of love, which is far different from most people�s lives. The students should be able to recognize how Chapman�s song provides a more sober comment on relationships. Her song prepares students for the concepts that will arise in A Streetcar Named Desire.

4. Have students brainstorm the concept of social realism. Ask the students the following questions:

a) What is �social realism�? Break down the two words. What does each word mean separately and then together?

b) Ask the students how Chapman�s song is a form of social realism.

c) Ask students what issues face teenagers today? What are teenager�s problems? Brainstorm issues on the blackboard. Ask them where they have seen these issues in literature.

d) Present the play A Streetcar Named Desire. Have students fill out an anticipation guide before reading the text. This guide should question students� views on the important themes in the play.

Throughout the unit, challenge students to find songs or poems that present different messages about love and male/female relationships. Near the end of the unit, after students have collected poems, songs or short-stories about relationships, divide them into small groups. They should analyze one text and do a short presentation for the class, discussing how the text deals with the issues of the unit.

5. The reading of the play will be done in class, so students can benefit from it fully. Additionally, provide the class with a story map to keep track of all the pertinent details of the play. As students read through the text, have them fill out a literature log. In this log, they can keep track of the characters, actions and major themes. Students are encouraged to include their reactions to the characters and make connections between the text and their own experiences.

Within their literature log, students can make lists of 10: 1) Write a list of ten problems that teens have with the opposite sex. 2) Write a list of ten things that adults don�t know about teen dating. 3) Write a list of ten things that could cause a relationship breakdown. These lists can be done on a weekly basis, list 1 may be done the first week; list 2 the second week, and so on.

Students will form small groups to meet with on a weekly basis where they can discuss the themes in the play. Each student within the group will be an expert of a certain aspect of the text. For example, one student will look for new vocabulary; another student may keep track of alcohol abuse or domestic abuse incidences.

6. The students will write small assignments, such as personal poetry or letter writing to the characters. Students can do more creative writing such as writing an autobiography for one of the characters, or writing an opinion paper on an event from the play. These assignments will help students understand their own reactions to the characters. Students will be considered to imagine that they are one of the characters or a family member or friend to one of the characters. One assignment that each student will complete is a Role, Audience, Format and Topic (R.A.F.T.) writing task. In order to complete this activity, the students will each read a portion from the text that deals with abuse. Next, they will write an advice letter to a character in the play. In this letter, they will state why they are writing the letter and why the person needs help. They must also explain how the character might go about getting help. Tone is especially important during the writing of this assignment.

Extending the Unit:

1. Students can read any of the following Young Adult texts individually. �Today�s teenagers are not the first in history with difficult decisions to make, but certainly few of us will argue against the idea that they have a special set of problems unique to their age and to today�s world.� (Donelson 89) The goal of using Young Adult Literature to supplement A Streetcar Named Desire is to allow students to read about similar experiences that happen to people their own age. Such literature is more contemporary and likely easier to read than traditional literature. The protagonists and issues are relatable to the teens in high school classes. Such novels and short stories provide an opportunity for young adults to feel power over their own lives. The protagonists are making decisions in a similar fashion that teens do. Many books will be kept in an in class library, which is available at any time. A portion of a class will be dedicated to allowing the students explore some options for further reading. A list will be produced with brief headings, outlining major themes. Students who are having trouble picking a book may find the list helpful. Students will be asked to do a follow up writing task to compare a Young Adult novel with the A Streetcar Named Desire.

Young Adult Literature Selections:

A Dance for Three by Louise Plummer: "Milo wasn't the first boy to kiss me but he was the first one to bite me." He's also the first boy to slug her when she tells him she's going to have his baby. Hannah Ziebarth, 15, had felt loved by rich, good-looking Milo and his cool, elegant family, and as she leans on the dumpster in the alley bleeding on her dowdy Burger Bar uniform, she is in shocked denial. The pregnancy is only one of Hannah's troubles. Her beloved father has died suddenly from a freak accident, and her mother has retreated into agoraphobia; Hannah must care for her feeble and self-absorbed Mama just when she needs mothering herself. When she hides in Milo's car and overhears him having sex with his old girlfriend, her world finally collapses. A psychotic break lands her in a mental hospital for juveniles, and she begins the long step-by-step process of putting the pieces of her life back together with the help of a compassionate young therapist. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440227143/103-4371414-8045400?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance)

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn: It was only a slap. Well, maybe more than one. And maybe Nick used his fist at the end when the anger got out of control. But his girlfriend Caitlin deserved it--hadn't she defied him by singing in the school talent show when he had forbidden her to display herself like that? Even though he'd told her that everybody would laugh at her because she couldn't sing and was a fat slob? Both were lies. Because Caitlin was so beautiful, the only person who understood him. Out of his desperate need for her came all the mean words and the hitting. But now Caitlin's family has procured a restraining order to keep Nick away, and the judge has sentenced him to Mario Ortega's Family Violence class, to sit around every week with six other angry guys who hit their girlfriends. And to write a journal explaining how he got into this mess.

(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064472574/103-4371414-8045400?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance)

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen: Strange, sleepy Rogerson, with his long brown dreads and brilliant green eyes, had seemed to Caitlin to be an open door. With him she could be anybody, not just the second-rate shadow of her older sister, Cass. But now she is drowning in the vacuum Cass left behind when she turned her back on her family's expectations by running off with a boyfriend. Caitlin wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson's sudden fists, lost in her search for herself. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670891223/103-4371414-8045400?v=glance&n=283155)

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute... (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014131088X/103-4371414-8045400?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance)

Tenderness by Robert Cormier: A psychological thriller told from the points of view of a teenage serial killer and the runaway girl who falls in love with him. (http://mill1.sjlibrary.org/search/ttenderness/ttenderness/1%2C5%2C7%2CB/frameset&FF=ttenderness&3%2C%2C3/indexsort=-)

Other Resources:

�Note From A Loving Wife� by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie. This poem deals with the struggles of marriage. The speaker of the poem is writing to her husband after a dispute between the two. Tallie explains the effect of poetry writing and how she thinks it is important in relationships. She writes, ��poetry, writing in general is always a part of my healing process; I think forgiveness and healing go hand in hand.� (130)

�Popular Mechanics� by Raymond Carver. This short story presents a couple who is going through a separation. They have a child. This child is caught in the middle. They argue over who can keep the child and the confrontation turns physical.

�Say You Love Me� by Molly Peacock. The speaker of this poem is a daughter that is writing to her abusive father. She is caught in the middle of the domestic problems of her parents. The author discusses how the techniques of her poetry parallel the issues she writes about. She writes, ��structure of line, sound, and vocabulary, combined with the story-teller�s art of delaying the experience to replicate the terrible tensions of real time passing, let me make art of what happens to me�� (122)

Concluding Activities:

As the unit closes, students should be able to understand how the literature is relevant to their own lives. It is especially important for students to grasp how the readings reflect reality. The issues presented in the play are applicable to many people�s every day lives. Students should recognize the factors that contribute to the downfall of relationships in the text.

1. When the students have finished reading the play, they can fill in a reaction guide. The reaction guide will be the same questions as the anticipation guide. They can compare their feelings before and after the reading to see how they have changed.

2. Students could also write poetry to express their personal experiences in relationships.

3. Students will be asked to write an essay to conclude the unit. The students will choose from one of the following questions:

a.) How is alcohol misused to deal with social problems?

b.) Explain how women are oppressed in the play.

c.) Compare and contrast Stanley and Mitch or Blanche and Stella

d.) Analyze how Blanche deals with her past. How does she cope? Is she effective?

e.) Explain why death is an important theme in the play.

4. Students will have kept a portfolio of their work throughout the unit. At the end of the reading, they will have a comprehensive test. Students will be able to use their literature log and story map during the writing of the test.

For extra credit:

1. Students could try is to produce a short skit expressing a common teen experience and how it is resolved. Students could see a local production of the play to help them get a sense for drama.

2. Interested students could interview a member of the community who works with abused women.