For women, playing "house" was the standard when we were young girls: the roles consist of a mother and her children, and perhaps a father if there was a boy available. Sometimes, if there were only two girls, we would pretend to be sisters. We'd take our dolls, give them names, and treat them as if they were our own. Though we weren't even able to write at the time, we were able to assume our character with ease because we were surrounded by our family everyday. It was our "collective intelligence," to say the least. We (my girl friends and I) were able to see things from different perspectives and feel what it's like to have all of the "power" a mother possesses.
Girls learned how to make sense of the world around them by role playing; It made the "roles" of each member of the family more tangible and easier to define. That is why role-playing or "projective identity" is so beneficial for students (Jenkins, 28). "Projective identity allows the player to strongly identify with the character and thus have an immersive experience within the game, and at the same time to use the character as a mirror to reflect on his or her own values and choices" (Jenkins, 28). It's stepping out of reality, stepping out of "you" even, for just a few moments. "It's almost like whoever you dress up as, you become that person for a day" (Jenkins, 30). Reality is filled with moments of joy, as well as moments of sadness and anger; it can be harsh and overwhelming. Students, adolescents in particular, are going through one of the most difficult times in their lives; they're discovering who they are and who they want to be. By trying on different characters, they get to be someone else for awhile. This shows students how they relate to the character and maybe even clarifies how they (the students) relate to the outside world. If that "character" possesses qualities that appeal to the student, it's highly possible the students will obtain that quality for themselves one day; the same goes for negative qualities, but hopefully they'll reject those.
While reading Shakespeare, my cooperating teacher has different students assume roles for each act. She has a "stage" within her room where the students assume position and deliver their lines. Even if the students decide that day that they are going to assume a character, they really get into it. Because there are not a lot of directions for the actors within the script, the students analyze what they are reading and try to show the "audience" what expression or
action that character might take.
Although I think it would be hard to prevent chaos in this type of activity, I definitely plan on utilizing it in my classroom. Besides, who doesn't want to escape reality for a little bit? Everyone always has room to grow and become a better person; maybe that's why the March sisters in "Little Women" and actors and actresses in Hollywood find role-playing so appealing. It's what you learn and gain from taking on that character that makes it all worth while.
Resource Link: This is a site where one can play "Role Playing Games for Free." The games mainly take place in fantasy worlds, but there are also a few sports games as well.
http://play-free-online-games.com/games/games_rpg.html
Girls learned how to make sense of the world around them by role playing; It made the "roles" of each member of the family more tangible and easier to define. That is why role-playing or "projective identity" is so beneficial for students (Jenkins, 28). "Projective identity allows the player to strongly identify with the character and thus have an immersive experience within the game, and at the same time to use the character as a mirror to reflect on his or her own values and choices" (Jenkins, 28). It's stepping out of reality, stepping out of "you" even, for just a few moments. "It's almost like whoever you dress up as, you become that person for a day" (Jenkins, 30). Reality is filled with moments of joy, as well as moments of sadness and anger; it can be harsh and overwhelming. Students, adolescents in particular, are going through one of the most difficult times in their lives; they're discovering who they are and who they want to be. By trying on different characters, they get to be someone else for awhile. This shows students how they relate to the character and maybe even clarifies how they (the students) relate to the outside world. If that "character" possesses qualities that appeal to the student, it's highly possible the students will obtain that quality for themselves one day; the same goes for negative qualities, but hopefully they'll reject those.
While reading Shakespeare, my cooperating teacher has different students assume roles for each act. She has a "stage" within her room where the students assume position and deliver their lines. Even if the students decide that day that they are going to assume a character, they really get into it. Because there are not a lot of directions for the actors within the script, the students analyze what they are reading and try to show the "audience" what expression or
action that character might take.Although I think it would be hard to prevent chaos in this type of activity, I definitely plan on utilizing it in my classroom. Besides, who doesn't want to escape reality for a little bit? Everyone always has room to grow and become a better person; maybe that's why the March sisters in "Little Women" and actors and actresses in Hollywood find role-playing so appealing. It's what you learn and gain from taking on that character that makes it all worth while.
Resource Link: This is a site where one can play "Role Playing Games for Free." The games mainly take place in fantasy worlds, but there are also a few sports games as well.
http://play-free-online-games.com/games/games_rpg.html
I really liked your post Jamie, your words got me thinking of an idea that we keep coming back to in Jessie's class; literature (and in this case role-playing) as both a mirror and a lens. A mirror to have the values in the character that you perceive as reflected back to you, affirming the projected identity you chose. And a lens to then view you reality through these projected values.
ReplyDeleteAlright, now here is where the super nerd in me comes out. In this section of his paper, Jenkins talked a lot about projective identities with online RPG's (role-playing games) such as World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and many, many more (feel free to contribute to this list Knutson). Anyways, I completely agree with you that there is a large benefit to students using many literature characters as windows and mirrors, perhaps it's just my bias as an English geek. But what about the fictional elves, dwarf, knights, and mages in these games? I guess what I'm trying to say is that I perceive a very high level of literary merit (or just merit in general) with literature characters, but I feel as though the argument falls apart when considering the shallow characters of these popular online environments. Or am I way off? Are these characters shallow or deep? What kind of merit does this time of medium posses, and what kind of mirror and lenses does it afford?
Very cool post Jamie...
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of the role-playing world is very interesting. I rarely have time, but will occasionally play RPG's such as City of Heroes or WOW and I have often thought of how that can be used in literature. I think it would be interesting to have the students read something like Lord of the Rings and then have them play a specific character in the game. You may get some amazing parallels to the text. --- again, great post!
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteJust a note to say the blog looks great. I appreciate the voice in each of your posts. It has been my pleasure to get to know you better through your posts. Love the pictures too!
Jessie