literature - Short

• eng
• Middelbare school
• vmbo k
• Leerjaar 4

Literature class

Theme: perceptions

You'll see two pictures of the same man

But is it the same man the magazine want us to see?

 What are the differences between the two pictures? Note down the details (his clothes, his posture, his face…)

 Which aspect of himself does the man want us to see?

 Is it the same man, really?

 Why do you think the two pictures are so different? (think about where they are published, who reads those magazines etc)

How many of the following words do you know:

Linguist                                  dean                                         extinct
Illuminate                              to attend                                occasional
Lectern                                   wear on (time)                     to strike
Carpeted                                to impose                             put your mind 
Dais                                           shrill                                        to something
Profound                                inevitable
Astonishing                           to lapse 

Reading: short story "Short"

Let's take a look at those words in context

Linguist                                  dean                                         extinct
Illuminate                              to attend                                occasional
Lectern                                   wear on (time)                     to strike
Carpeted                                to impose                             put your mind 
Dais                                           shrill                                        to something
Profound                                inevitable
Astonishing                           to lapse 

Thought experiment

1) Imagine meeting their idol, hero, favourite singer/actress/football player etc.: how do they imagine that person is in real life?

2) Can they imagine that person speaking differently? In their pyjamas? Gardening? Cleaning the floor? Why, why not?

3) How does that change their perception (if it does)?

Write a story in which your idol doing something totally different from what you know them for

Share

Discuss:

• How do we judge people: consciously? Unconsciously?

How many times do we make a snap/quick judgement that we later revise when we know the person? (could be from good to bad or conversely)

• How do we come to admire, and sometimes to worship, people we don’t know? (e.g. on Instagram, on youtube etc) And why?

• How do accents, pronunciation, grammatical mistakes etc. that people make influence our idea of them?

• How much does the way someone speak say about them as social beings?