Oh Humanity! A Thematic Unit on Alienation through Labor

7/23/2019 Oh Humanity! A Thematic Unit on Alienation through Labor

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Oh Humanity! A thematic Unit on Alienation through Labor

By Ral Figueroa Rivera

Introduction

The theme of this unit is the process of alienation of human subects primarily focuse"

on the role of labor in the sai" process# From a $ar%ist perspective alienation &is the process

'hereby people become foreign to the 'orl" they are living in( )Alienation*# + better "escribe

my interpretation of the concept of Alienation as the process through 'hich an in"ivi"ual loses

his or her agency to the assume" obligations of a social role# By agency + mean the po'er to

critically interpret a cultural )con*te%t an" to act base" on that interpretation ),ealon an"

-irou%*# +n simple 'or"s alienation is the opposite of consciousness it is a po'erful form

"ehumani.ation# Accor"ing to Freire

/0"ehumani.ation1 occurs 'ithin history2 but it is not an historical vocation/although

a concrete historical fact is not a given "estiny but the result of an unust or"er that

engen"ers violence in the oppressors 'hich in turn "ehumani.es the oppresse"# )33*,ot only "oes Freire claim that it not a static con"ition but that it is the &great humanistic tas4

an" historical tas4 of the oppresse" to liberate themselves an" their oppressors as 'ell( )33*# $y

intention by teaching this unit is to help stu"ents engage themselves in the sai" tas4#

$y aim is to help my stu"ents gain consciousness of their reality of oppression#

Accor"ing to Freire &They 'ill not gain this liberation by chance but through the pra%is of their

5uest for it through their recognition of the necessity to fight for it# An" this fight / 'ill

actually constitute an act of love/( )36*# + 'ill try to help facilitate tools for my stu"ents to

reali.e that they can transform their 'orl"s + echo ,elson7s statement about his teaching

&resistance teaching in a conservative "epartment un"er a reactionary government( )8uote" in

9ho'alter :;*# Ho'ever + inten" to "o it from a stu"ent centere" perspective#

Audience

+n a general sense the target group of this unit is a"ult learners# The class plans of in this

te%t are thought for a &Rea"ing an"


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Figueroa :

Ho'ever it coul" be a"apte" for many other conte%ts such 'or4shops for union 'or4ers or in

=hilosophy >or4ers Literature American Literature or pretty much in any 9ocial 9ciences

courses#

Texts

The unit is compose" of t'o maor themes2 the first one &Alienation Aspiration an"

Family( is base" on Harry an" 9an"ra ell he came home from college ust the other "ay

9o much li4e a man + ust ha" to sayC9on +Dm prou" of you can you sit for a 'hileEC

He shoo4 his hea" an" sai" 'ith a smile

C>hat +D" really li4e a" is to borro' the car 4eys9ee you later can + have them pleaseEC)


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Figueroa

+ hung up the phone it occurre" to me @ HeD" gro'n up ust li4e me @ $y boy 'as ust li4e me(

)336*#+ chose &allerstein claims

&"ucation starts from the e%periences of people an" either reinforces or challenges the e%isting

social forces that 4eep them passive( )*# + e%pect stu"ents to reflect on their lives an" in their

familiar relationships# This song not only ma4es you reflect on your relationship 'ith your

parents + 'oul" also use it to lea" to a "iscussion of aspirations since the te%t coul" also be seen

as critical of the &American ream#(

The secon" te%t 'ithin this theme is the ?I;6 movie a"aptation of Arthur $iller7s play

Death of a Salesman. The playhas many similarities 'ith the &


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Figueroa 3

the three te%ts covere" so far are compare" an" contraste" to compare alternative i"entities or

subectivities#Ho'ever the main te%t of this unit isBartleby the Scrivener. 9hult. argues that perhaps

Bartleby is &one of the most tragic characters of American literature( )6;3*# +n the te%t Bartleby

'or4s as a 9cibe a copier of "ocuments in a >all 9treet la'yer7s office# 9hult. claims that &it

is evi"ent from Bartleby7s behavior that he comes to reect the mun"ane nature of his 'or4(

)6;K*# Bartleby reecte" to fulfil the "uties of his assume" role in the office through passive

resistance2 to any or"er or suggestion to mo"ify his behavior he replies &+ 'oul" prefer not to#(

This te%t is full of symbolism an" it 'ill be interesting to see the interpretations of stu"ents 'ho

have been e%pose" to a conte%t of "iscussion about alienation# ue to its rich spectrum of

possible interpretations + consi"er this the i"eal te%t to close the unit#

Lesson Plans

The conte%t of this unit plan is an ngl :G: Rea"ing an" allenstein claims &the use of first language "eepens stu"ents7 critical analysis an"

may facilitate more sophisticate" use of the nglish language( )K*# Ho'ever it is a 'riting

course as 'ell as an 9L an" a literature course so the unit 'ill re5uire a fair amount of 'riting

from stu"ents# This unit follo's Bo'en7s claim that

elivering content in a"vance motivating learning 'ith multiple channels of

communication an" constructing assignments that force stu"ents to prepare for class 'ill

change both your e%pectations an" those of your stu"ents for 'hat happens in class# ):?*

Therefore all materials 'ill be provi"e" as they are all easy to fin" for free on the internet

stu"ents shoul" have no problem getting the materials# Also "ifferent channels of


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Figueroa 6

communication 'ill be available such as online ournal group "iscussions onetoone

"iscussions 'ith peers 'riting tutors an" 'ith the teacher an" formal 'ritten assignments#

iscussions of te%ts 'ill be stu"ent centere"2 therefore class "iscussion 'ill "epen" on their

rea"ing#

uring the units first lesson stu"ents 'ill listen to


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Figueroa K

themselves in ?G years# 9tu"ents 'ill also be as4e" to rea" the first chapter ofBartleby the

Scrivener an" another group of ;?G stu"ents 'ill be as4e" to be prepare" lea" the "iscussion in

an inner@outer circle "ynamic after the ne%t session# 9tu"ents in charge of lea"ing the "iscussion

'ill be as4e" to relate the te%t to themes 'hich may ha" been generate" from class "iscussion up

until this point#The fourth class 'ill start 'ith a rea"ing comprehension 5ui. in the same fashion as the

first# Follo'ing the 5ui. the teacher 'ill give a short lecture on the life of Herman $elville#

Then 9tu"ents 'ill "iscuss the first chapter ofBartleby, using the inner @ outer circle "ynamic#

uring this session the group 'ill focus on i"entifying the la'yer7s )narrator* problems

regar"ing Bartleby2 furthermore stu"ents 'ill be as4e" to 'rite a ournal entry about the reasons

'hy they thin4 these problems arise# This metho" is an a"aptation to >erener7s &But 'hy(

metho" use" to attempt to uncover &root causes( of a problem situation )5uote" in Bo'en 3G*#The fifth class 'ill start 'ith a ?6 minute lecture about 'riting about imagery an"

symbolism# The lecture 'ill lea" into a 'riting roulette e%ercise in 'hich stu"ents "ivi"e" in

groups of four 'ill spen" the rest of class time i"entifying an" interpreting symbols inBartleby#

ach stu"ent 'ill be assigne" a symbol an" they 'ill have to 'rite as much as they can about it

for four minutes then they give their papers to another stu"ent in their group that stu"ent 'rites

for t'o minutes an" they repeat the process until each of their papers goes through a full circle

in their groups# This 'ill generate negotiate" interpretations of some of the symbols in the te%t

'hich they 'ill then share 'ith the 'hole class#

On the si%th class stu"ents 'ill listen to &>or4ing


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Figueroa M

On the seventh class stu"ents 'ill start 'ith an author7s chair presenting their heroes to

the rest of the class# They 'ill also "iscuss the secon" chapter ofBartleby through the inner @

outer circle metho"# They shoul" inclu"e in their "iscussion if Bartleby coul" be consi"ere" a

&'or4ing class hero#(

On the eighth class a brief lecture on social movements 'ill be presente" by the teacher#


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Figueroa ;

Besi"es 'hat is alrea"y incorporate" in the unit "epen"ing on conte%t varie" activities such as

research proects case stu"ies an" intervie's may also be incorporate" in the unit#Ultimately my main intention for this unit is to facilitate the shaping of a conte%t 'ith

'hich stu"ents can relate their e%periences regar"ing resistance to the social roles 'hich oppress

them# To scaffol" the process of e%ploring their o'n e%perience an" 4no'le"ge so they can

"evise alternatives to liberate themselves from the oppression instille" in them by the naturali.e"

assumptions of social roles# +n other 'or"s to help them ac4no'le"ge that they can also &prefer

not to( be alienate" by the system#

>or4s eb# ?G ec# :G?3#

Nhttp@@'''#mar%ists#org@glossary@terms@a@l#htmPalienationQ#

Bo'en Jos A# &The ,a4e" arner $usic -ermany ?IM3# Sinyl

recor"ing#Death of a Salesman.ir# Sol4er 9chln"orff# By Arthur $iller# =erf# ustin Hoffman ate

Rei" 9tephen Lang all 9treet $elville7s Bartleby the 9crivener#($adical

Teacher %& ):G?:* 6366# =rint#

Lennon John# >or4ing


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Figueroa I

$elvilleerman. Bartleby the Scrivener. A ,orton hite guys 'ho prefer not to From =assive Resistance )YBartleby7* to terrorist

Acts )YFight

Oh Humanity! A Thematic Unit on Alienation through Labor

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