1. Mindy Wong and Yap Chern Kai
(IJC English Literature Unit)
Teaching Disgrace Using Second
Life
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Contents
• Rationale for using role-play and
Second Life
• Lesson objectives
• Implementation Process
• Lesson based on a scenario
• Good Practices
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Rationale for using role-play
To help students appreciate the unfamiliar
physical and social contexts of South Africa
To foster knowledge application and
experiential learning
To ensure a safe environment for the
presentation of alternative viewpoints
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Rationale for Using Second Life
Wider engagement
Longer response time
Greater suspension
of disbelief
Caters to student
interest
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Learning Outcomes
Skills application
Develop the “ability to understand and comment
on the ways in which the historical and cultural
backgrounds of the text and author inform the
meaning of the text” (SEAB, 2009, p.5)
Practise vocabulary, quotations and structures
(taught in regular tutorials) in immersive roleplay
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Learning Outcomes
Habits of Mind #16: Encourages students
to listen with understanding and empathy
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Drafting of scenarios and role cards
Creation of set and avatar
Eg. Depiction of Ettinger, the German farmer who
believes in using guns as defence against blacks
Implementation Process
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Avatar: Petrus
Loose khaki shirt (sleeves rolled up) and pants. Tall, lean and muscular. With pipe.
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Implementation Process
Finalisation of pre- and post-activities
Secondlife usage instructions
DO NOT
fly or sit
chat in real life
alter the appearances
multitask
Student grouping
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The Lessons
Two 1hr lessons based on imaginary
scenes
4 characters per scenario
Onscreen role card for each assigned
avatar
Hardcopy quotation list as reference
Preparatory worksheet
18. “This is his temperament. His temperament is not going to change,
he is too old for that. His temperament is fixed, set. The skull,
followed by the temperament: the two hardest parts of the body.”
“He has always been a man of the city, at home amid a flux of bodies
where Eros stalks and glances flash like arrows.”
“But he has forgotten how to woo. The voice he hears belongs to a
cajoling parent, not a lover.”
“David Lurie, disciple of nature poet William Wordsworth and until
recently professor at the Cape Technical University.”
“I was what used to be called a scholar. I wrote books about dead
people. That was where my heart was. I taught only to make a living.”
Character: David Lurie
19. Lucy to David: “Wake up David. This is the country. This is
Africa.”
David to Lucy: “’Lucy, Lucy, I plead with you! You want to make
up for the wrongs of the past, but this is not the way to do it. If
you fail to stand up for yourself at this moment, you will never be
able to hold your head up again. You may as well pack your bags
and leave.”
“It was history speaking through them, ‘ he offers at last. ‘A
history of wrong. Think of it that way, if it helps. It may have
seemed personal, but it wasn’t. It came down from the
ancestors.”
“Booty; war reparations; another incident in the great campaign
of redistribution.”
Theme: Apartheid
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Conversation Focus
Role-players will focus on the following
discussion areas:
Impact of the end of Apartheid on their lives
Views on the prospects of national
reconciliation and reasons for or personal
experiences which shape these views
Thoughts on the legacy of colonialism,
namely, aspects of the West
(political/economic/social/academic/technol
ogy) which are relevant to South Africa in the
‘90s?
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Lesson Pre-activity
From the perspective of the assigned
character, each student will consider
the above areas in different time
periods of the character’s life.
Guiding questions are provided.
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Lesson Pre-activity: Excerpt
PAST: THE SOUTH AFRICA OF YOUR
YOUTH (1950s-1980s)
Write a short response to these questions:
- What was the relationship between the
blacks and the whites like?
- Describe your personal experiences with
the other races?
- What did the future (ideals and
aspirations) mean for you back then?
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Role-play mission
PRESENT AND FUTURE: POST-
APARTHEID (1990s onwards)
Each student is to chat with at least
two characters to gather their views on
the three focus areas.
Student can refer to the saved chat log
for the information after the role-play.
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Lesson Post-activity
Reflection: Similarities and
differences between the viewpoints
of characters
Teacher-led discussion based on
excerpts of the chat log to link
conversations to context and text.
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Observations of the chat log:
Reflects knowledge related to characterization
that students have sub-consciously
assimilated
Prompts new ways of looking at the
relationship between the characters and the
context of the novel
Useful resource for generating alternative
PERSONAL and CRITICAL responses
Teacher facilitation is critical to helping
students obtain insights and package ideas in
a felicitous manner
Lesson Post-activity
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Measuring Effectiveness
A-level style essay question based
on the theme of South African
reconciliation
Students could provide nuanced
responses based on the perspectives
of different characters.
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Good Practices - Classroom
management
Group/pair stronger students with the
weaker ones
Setup time to log in, learn to manipulate
avatars and set up chat log storage
Pre-roleplay discussion time
Constant explicit reminders not to fly or
play with other functions
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Good Practices - Lesson design
and planning
Extrapolated scenarios
“Immersive” pre-activity
Prior knowledge of roles
30-40 min role-playing time
Deliverable role-play mission
Prompts/comments during the actual role-
play
Focused discussion based on specific
segments of the chat log
