Considering "Fences": Who Can Step into Whose Shoes?

Autor/in	Ashley, Adele Bruni
Titel	Considering "Fences": Who Can Step into Whose Shoes?
Quelle	In: English Journal, 110 (2021) 3, S.20-26 (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-8274
Schlagwörter	Drama; Teaching Methods; Language Arts; Graduate Students; Racial Bias; Consciousness Raising; African American Literature + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schauspiel; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Sprachkultur; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Racial discrimination; Rassismus; Bewusstseinsbildung
Abstract	When teaching a Drama and Theater class the author's students chose August Wilson's "Fences" to focus on the teaching of "dramatic" texts. As the author reread Wilson's play, she noticed that within the first pages is the n-word, used in conversation between two African American men, two friends, and it became an immediate reminder: Wilson meant for this word to be spoken only by African American actors. Wilson meant for all of these words--the entirety of the script--to be spoken only by African American actors. Yet the author had blithely asked a predominantly White and Asian American middle school students to speak as the characters. In a drive to bring a love of drama into the English classroom, the author had overlooked the complexities of what she was asking students to do, and had never once asked: Is this OK? In the English classroom, students tend to "climb into" other characters through the reading, "walking around" through shared discussions and individual and collective writing. Sometimes, students go still further: by stepping into other characters and other worlds through drama. But can anyone "climb into" any character? The question the article asks is this: What does it mean for students to move outside their ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, and ability as they explore characters through drama? Is this truly a way of promoting empathy? Or is this appropriation? (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Council of Teachers of English. 1111 West Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. Tel: 877-369-6283; Tel: 217-328-3870; Web site: http://www.ncte.org/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01