Hand out pieces of paper saying nothing except “don’t show it to anyone. Each paper will have a stereo-type character on it. After everyone has arrived ask students to close their eyes and imagine the following: Your character walks into a party, how do they walk? What do they do first? Do they find the host? Flirt with a pretty girl or guy? Do they have to be the center of attention, or do they go to a corner or find a secluded group of friends? What does their voice sound like? Your character sees the party food. What would they eat? How do they eat? Are they messy, are they proper? Are they picky? Have the students open their eyes, still thinking about their character. Say, “Alright, now we’re really going to go to a party.”
STEP 1:
Learning Activity
Play “Party Game”. Have one student play the host and four other students play their characters coming to the party. Once the host knows who a character is, they can say “Thanks for coming, cowboy, you can go home now.” Show an example. Once the host knows all four they will sit down and a new host will come up and four new characters. Have a brief comment section in between each game and get feedback: what stood out to you? What really stuck?
STEP 2:
Discussion
Ask students to return to seats and reflect on what they saw/experienced. Ask: What were some character traits you saw in our game? What characters really caught your attention. How did you develop your own character traits? How did reacting with others challenge you to stay in character? Why is it important to prepare character traits like these before a performance? Does it make you think about how you act at parties? What characteristics do people notice about you? Did any of you think about where your character was before they came to the party? How many times has what happened just before a party influenced how you felt/behaved at the party? (ie fight with parents, hanging out with a cute guy).
STEP 3:
Instruction
Go to character profiling power point. Power point will discuss the definition of character profiling and how to go about creating a character profile. At the end of the power point have class read monologue from “Proof”, and create a character profile for the text we’re using in class. (Text will change from year-year).
STEP4:
Discussion
Have students pull out their texts given to them from the previous class period. Students will pair off and discuss with their partners ideas for their character profiling for 5 minutes.
ASSESSMENT
Students will fill out their character profiling worksheets in the last 10-15 minutes.
CLOSURE
Read the following quote for the class: “All people – African, European, American – worry about being different. But I’ve learned that the traits we’d rush to get rid of are the very ones that others desire. People always covet what they don’t have, that’s why we should look at ourselves every now and then and say ‘I’m proud of myself, I like the way I’m made.’”– Freida Pinto
Then say something like: You’ve been creating a profile for this imaginary character that has flaws and weird physical features, a different way to talk, walk and look. But this can apply to us as well. We’re all human, we all have flaws and quirks just like these characters do. We shouldn’t be ashamed of who we are. Each of you are amazing, be proud of your character profiles.
Character Papers (List of characters)
Have each stereo-type listed written on an index card.
