Activity Two: Telephone Conversations
Telephone conversations test the learners' ability to react quickly and, though the learners are free to say whatever they like, they have to bear in mind whatever is said by the other speaker and continue the conversation accordingly. This technique helps in enhancing the speaking-listening skills of the learners.
Aims of the Activity
• Being able to sustain a meaningful telephone conversation
• Interpretation of character
Procedure
The class is divided into groups of two learners. The learners sit with their backs to each other so that they can only hear their telephone conversation partner. The learners in each group are to imagine that they are two different characters. A particular situation from the story/text is taken for which every pair has to build up a telephone conversation. You could ask them to discuss another character or some specific event from the text. You could also go beyond the text and give them a conflicting situation and ask them to resolve it as the "characters" they are role playing.
Follow up
The conversations can be later written down in the note books. Each learner writes down the entire conversation that she has had with her partner. These can be exchanged and read by different pairs.
Activity Three: Soliloquy / Thought Tracking
This drama technique can be exploited for interpretation of the literary text and, especially, for understanding a fictitious character. In this particular technique, the learner gets into the skin of the character and thinks from his/her point of view. He totally empathizes with the character. It is suggested that literary texts having an omniscient narrator would be more suitable in comparison to pieces of writings/essays giving accounts of personal experiences.
Aims of the Activity
• Reading comprehension, especially interpretation of text and character.
• Writing diary entries, i.e., being able to express personal feelings and thoughts.
Procedure
The class is divided into groups of five or six students. In groups, learners are to select an important point of time in the main character's life in their text. It could be a time of success, failure, disappointment, loss, rejection, elation, isolation or struggle, a time when the character has a monologue with himself.
After having selected a crucial point of time, the individual members of the groups are to articulate aloud the thoughts of the character to each other. After having heard each others' interpretations, the group has to work on a final one which will be presented in front of the class by a student as if he were actually the character going through that moment.
Follow up
After the representatives of all the groups have 'performed', the class discusses which were the better selections and performances. This could be consolidated by writing the soliloquies in the form of diary entries in their notebooks later on.
Variations
The teacher could give a specific point of time in the life of the character to all the groups. All the groups could be either given the same occasion or different occasions.