1999 Curriculum Abstracts

"Theorizing U.S. National Identity through Multicultural Texts,"

Character Development Using Multicultural Texts - Katherine G. Messina, Lathrop Intermediate

One question an actor faces is: how do I bring a character to life? To accomplish this task, the actor must look at the conditions under which the character has existed and the historical events creating the genre of the time and place in which the character is living. Using research to inquire about a character's schema and create an accurate portrayal of the character is one strategy that is useful. New insights into a character may also be revealed through multicultural texts, such as The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez. These texts address the race, gender, sex and class, which are important considerations for developing a sense of who the characters are and why they could or could not exercise power over others. Both of these authors provide many rich characters, such as Mami, Papi, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia, in How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, and Moon Orchid, and Brave Orchid, in Woman Warrior. When teaching Drama to students whose first language is not English, using stories about other cultures such as these peeks interest, because these stories deal with situations that students may be familiar with.

The use of drama in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables students to explore the linguistic, as well as the conceptual aspects of the written text, and character development. Second language acquisition becomes internalized as a direct result of placing the learners in situations that seem real. Using the above text to explore characters that confront authority, struggle with feelings about the heritage of their birth and the culture in which they are living, and use written dialogue to form the essence of each person involved in the story. The internal and external emotions, attitudes, feelings, opinions, and relationships of the characters are exposed to the reader. Students become engaged in free flowing extemporaneous conversations as they interact with one another to create the character to be presented to their peers. The students compare and contrast cultural behaviors and attitudes, analyze and explore the linguistic and conceptual differences between the written and spoken words, and interact cooperatively to orchestrate the dramatizations.

"Theorizing U.S. National Identity through Multicultural Texts,"

	Character Development Using Multicultural Texts - Katherine G. Messina, Lathrop Intermediate

	One question an actor faces is: how do I bring a character to life? To accomplish this task, the actor must look at the conditions under which the character has existed and the historical events creating the genre of the time and place in which the character is living. Using research to inquire about a character's schema and create an accurate portrayal of the character is one strategy that is useful. New insights into a character may also be revealed through multicultural texts, such as The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez. These texts address the race, gender, sex and class, which are important considerations for developing a sense of who the characters are and why they could or could not exercise power over others. Both of these authors provide many rich characters, such as Mami, Papi, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia, in How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, and Moon Orchid, and Brave Orchid, in Woman Warrior. When teaching Drama to students whose first language is not English, using stories about other cultures such as these peeks interest, because these stories deal with situations that students may be familiar with. The use of drama in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables students to explore the linguistic, as well as the conceptual aspects of the written text, and character development. Second language acquisition becomes internalized as a direct result of placing the learners in situations that seem real. Using the above text to explore characters that confront authority, struggle with feelings about the heritage of their birth and the culture in which they are living, and use written dialogue to form the essence of each person involved in the story. The internal and external emotions, attitudes, feelings, opinions, and relationships of the characters are exposed to the reader. Students become engaged in free flowing extemporaneous conversations as they interact with one another to create the character to be presented to their peers. The students compare and contrast cultural behaviors and attitudes, analyze and explore the linguistic and conceptual differences between the written and spoken words, and interact cooperatively to orchestrate the dramatizations.