David Guven

Eng 112B

Dr. Warner

Spring 2011

Unit of Study

 

Empathy Through Education: Unmasking Bias in Literature Dealing with Disability

Acceptance and �the other�, are major themes found throughout adult and young adult literature alike. The idea that humans are relational beings has been taught throughout the centuries, and in many ways has manifested itself through a series of both cultural and political movements. More often than not, these movements have been fueled by a desire for equality. For the purpose of narrowing my focus, take just the past 100 years in American history: in the 1920�s, this country saw the rise of women�s rights through the Suffrage movement; a little more than a few decades later during the 1960�s, there was the fight for racial equality with the Civil Rights movement; however, falling just in the shadow of the Civil Rights movement, in 1973, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was passed, and for the first time banned discrimination on the basis of disability, finally acknowledging disabled persons as a minority group.

For the purpose of this unit of study I will focus on literature, ranging from over half a century up to current times, that explores commonly held misconceptions and stereotypes, specifically of disabled people, and then expand it by bringing in current YA resources that will help to reinforce a positive image of disabled culture to the students. The fact remains, that while gender and racial equality have not been fully recognized by society, they have had major surges of progress. On the other hand, the fight for the rights of the disabled community has not (historically) seen nearly as much progress, but the paradigm is now beginning to shift.   

Addressing this current shift towards a greater social awareness of disabled people, I suggest using a canonical piece of literature, (preferably written before 1970), that has a character with some kind of disability, and enhancing it with a variety of both film and other selected YA literature, to contrast the perceptions of disabled characters in both classic and modern times. Both Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck are good selections, I particularly will focus on Of Mice and Men.  This study would work best in an eleventh or twelfth grade English (or American Literature course in the case of Steinbeck.), because the students will be going beyond the text for a deeper level of analysis, to contextualize how the disable characters in literature are reflective of the societies in which they are placed, as well as how the perceptions of disabled characters are effected by the time in which the literature was published.

In tandem with reading Of Mice and Men, there is an article by Gretchen Kolderup from the online blog librarified.net that summarizes a presentation given at the 2010 YA lit symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which can be shared in class with students. At the symposium, Dr. Heather Garrison, and Dr. Katherine Schneider gave a presentation, �Beyond Good Intentions and Chicken Soup: Young Adult Literature and Disability Diversity: How Far Have We Come?� which addresses some of the issues and concerns surrounding novels that involve disable characters, and challenges many of the perceptions and stereotypes commonly held about disabled characters in literature of yesterday and today. This article also includes materials from the conference, as well as additional material in order to assist with evaluating books that address disability in a positive fashion.

            In Of Mice and Men, Lennie has some kind of significant mental impairment (most likely mental retardation), and his best friend Gorge is constantly responsible for looking after him. Although he is compassionate towards Lennie, George is constantly complaining about how he is forced to look after Lennie, and how the task is quite burdensome. As the plot develops, both George and Lennie are faced with a series of mishaps and deaths that eventually lead to Lennie accidently killing a rancher�s wife. In fear of what an angry lynch mob will do to him, George conducts a mercy killing on Lennie, and convinces the mob he shot Lennie in self-defense.

            In many ways, Lennie is a model for a stereotypical disabled person, and reinforces many negative stereotypes that Dr. Heather Garrison, and Dr. Katherine Schneider addressed in their presentation. Lennie�s character is dramatically exaggerated, to the point where the authentic representation of a person with mental retardation can be challenged.  Lennie is often outcast, even by George who is the closest person to understanding him in the novel. By exploring the ways in which the novel Of Mice and Men both adheres to and contradicts the criteria set out in Dr Garrison�s guide for evaluating books that address disabilities, a greater understanding of what is authentic, and what is augmented about the disabled characters in the novel Of Mice and Men will be made clear. 

 

Launching the unit

In order to launch the unit, first discuss with the students, and define as a class, the current perceptions of disable persons in our daily lives. Have students share experiences where they may have encountered a person with a disability, and what their reactions to those experiences were. Also, encourage those (if any) that personally know a disable individual or family member to share their insights and experiences as well.

1. Before opening up to any kind of discussion, to help students gather their thoughts have them do a journal entry answering the following questions:

A.     What comes to mind when you hear the word disabled, and what feelings do you have about this subject?

B.     Do you, or have you ever known of a person with a disability on a personal level? What was that relationship like?

C.     Do you think the word retarded is a bad word?  Why or why not?

 

After discussing some of the journal responses do a brainstorming session on a large poster board, identifying common stereotypes or misconceptions about disabled people. Save this poster board for an activity later on. Read the article on the librarified.net site, and refer to the resources included (particularly the lecture slides) to further assist the students understanding of a positive portrayal of disabled people in literature. 

As the students are reading Of Mice and Men, make sure they have a copy of the handouts for Garrison�s Criteria handy (evaluating books addressing disability). Take notes on the different ways the disable characters reinforce or challenge common stereotypes held about disabled people today.

 

There is a film adaptation for Of Mice and Men from 1992 starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise as Lennie and George, produced by MGM and rated Pg-13; after finishing the novel, watch the film to help the students gain a visual frame of reference for the way Lennie is depicted. Answer one or more of the following questions in journals:

 a. Is the depiction of Lennie the same in the movie as it is in the book?

 b. Is the depiction of Lennie accurate (to what you know) in regard to his disability?

c. Are there any differences in the film? What is their significance?

 

Do an exercise showing images of various members or icons of different civil rights movements, (such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Caesar Chavez, Susan B. Anthony, Rosie the Riveter, etc) and help students identify them and their accomplishments. Then show a picture of Temple Grandin, and give a short biography explaining her significance and achievements. Bring in a copy of Temple Grandin�s book Thinking in Pictures, My Life With Autism to show to the class. Hopefully, the students will be able to identify the images of most of the other major figures; the inability to recognize Grandin as one of the most famous autistic people alive should highlight how fairly little public acknowledgment disabled persons typically receive. 

Watch the HBO film �Temple Grandin� and have students answer one the following questions in their journal:

 

A. What does the society Temple lives in say about her disability?

B. How does this film enhance or change the way you view autistic people or disability in general?

C. What are you over all reactions to the film?

 

 

Compare the way Lennie is portrayed in both the book and the film to the way Temple Grandin is depicted in the movie Temple Grandin. Have students refer back to how they responded to the Temple Grandin movie and compare them to their responses to Of Mice and Men (1992). Refer back to the brainstorm chart done together and identify any stereotypical depictions in either story, together as a class. Have a copy of both Of Mice and Men and Thinking in Pictures on hand that contain illustrations on the cover, and using the criteria provided from the librarified.net site, refer to the section on evaluation of illustrations and compare the two covers. What can be interpreted from the illustrations? Are they supportive of a positive image of the disabled characters? In what ways?

Extending the unit

Do a book pass activity, and have the students choose one of the novels from Dr. Garrison�s personal collection of children�s books dealing with disabilities to further the their positive understanding of dealing with disability in literature. Not all of these titles reinforce a positive portrayal of disabled people as outlined by Dr. Garrison herself, however, equipped with the tools of analysis, the students should be able to identify in what ways the novel achieves or fails at an accurate or positive representation of disability in the literature. Students will the have the option to do a book-talk presentation, which specifically includes a section of the ways in which the novel reinforced a positive image of disability; or, instead write a short analysis (2-3 pages) that analyzes the same aspects in the literature.

YA Lit selections

Here are a select few that may be particularly good choices.

The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time by Mark Haddon- a story about a teenager Chris, who suffers from symptoms closely related to autism, that sets out on a quest to investigate the mysterious murder of a neighborhood dog.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher- A story about a mixed race adopted teenager T.J, who forms a swim team in his small mid-western town against great opposition. Many of the members of �The Mermen� have some sort of disability.

Silent Boy by Lois Lowry- A story told as a recounting by Katy Thatcher, of a young boy with mental illness who communicates only with animals, that her father, the town doctor, was attempting to treat.

Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick- A story about two handicapped and troubled friends, Kevin and Max. Told through the perspective of Max, who learns to respect his own intelligence through the death of his friend Kevin.

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko- a story told through the perspective of Moose, a young boy who�s family has to move to San Francisco in order to get help for his younger sister who has autism.

 

Wrapping the unit up

In many of these novels dealing with disability, the power of voice is an important aspect of the literature to analyze. Many of the disabled characters are not granted a voice, or their voice is not a genuine representation of their actual desires or capabilities. As a final exercise show students a short documentary film entitled Creativity Explored, a film that takes a closer look inside an art studio for the mentally and developmentally disabled, located in San Francisco�s Mission district. After watching the film, have students randomly select a piece of paper from a hat that will have an emotion written on it. Students will then choose to draw/paint/color etc that emotion on a chosen medium, and display the art on the wall of the class room as a reminder for the students. Expressing emotions in a ways other than words is a powerful exercise to explore the idea of being voiceless.

 Students will have a gained a greater understanding of the disabled community, through exploring different resources representing one or more disabled persons in the literature they have focused on. Only through education can understanding be achieved, and through understanding, hopefully empathy as well.

 

Works Cited

Text

Choldenko, Gennifer.  Al Capone Does My Shirts. Putnam, 2004

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: Harper Collins, 2001. Print

Grandin, Temple. Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism. New York: Vintage, 2006

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time. New York: Vinatge, 2004. Print.

Lowry, Lois. The Silent Boy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Print

Philbrick, R.  Freak the Mighty. New York:  Scholastic Books, 1993. Print

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Bantam Books, 1963. Print

Websites

Choldenko, Gennifer. Alcaponedoesmyshirts.com. http://www.alcaponedoesmyshirts.com/books/bk_shirts_s1.html

 

Creativity Explored.com

Kolderup, Gretchen. Librarified.net. http://www.librarified.net/2010/11/08/beyond-good-intentions-and-chicken-soup-ya-lit-and-disability-diversity-how-far-have-we-come-at-yalsas-2010-ya-lit-symposium/

Lowry, Lois. Loislowry.com. http://www.loislowry.com/silentboy.html

Philbrick, Rodman. Rodmanphilbrick.com. http://www.rodmanphilbrick.com/teaching.html

Films

Creativity Explored documentary �Cross Your Eyes, Keep them Wide� (2010) directed by Ben Wu

Of Mice and Men (1992). Directed by Gary Sinise. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105046/

Temple Grandin (2010). Directed by Mick Jackson. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/