Class 8 - Being or Becoming the Stranger

Welcome

Last time, I asked you to read the second chapter of Toni Morrison’s book, The Origin of Others*, and to post two questions to Canvas.

Response and breakout groups

We’re going to start by responding to these questions on Canvas for ten minutes. Then I’m going to put you into breakout groups to talk through the questions that the text raises.

Getting the argument straight

We’ll come back together to see if we can agree on a clear summary of Morrison’s argument.

Writing Otherness

For the rest of the session, we’ll be putting into action a strategy that Morrison herself uses to explore themes of otherness: and that strategy is storytelling.

In other words, we’ll be not just thinking about these issues, but feeling our way into them by telling, writing and sharing stories.

In this chapter Morrison tells stories of her own, and also talks about other storytellers, among them Flannery O’Connor, slave narratives and many others. So what stories do you have to share? These may be fiction or nonfiction — or a mix of both… It’s up to you.

Planning

I’ll get you thinking about this before the break. This is going to be an extended writing exercise. Our starting point is a quote from Morrison’s essay as a writing prompt:

And isn’t that the kind of thing that we fear strangers will do? Disturb. Betray. Prove they are not like us? That is why it is so hard to know what to do with them. (pp. 34-5)

What I want you to do is to think about this quote for a few minutes. And think about a story you could tell in which two strangers meet. This can be:

1. A true (nonfiction) story from your own experience.
2. An entirely fictional story.

Think about the way that we sometimes fear strangers, or don’t know what to do with them. Think about what we fear: disturbance, betrayal, or more. Think about the different kinds of “othering” that take place when strangers meet. Now make a few notes on who you want your two main characters to be, and where the story is going to take place. Think about the following.

1. Who your main two characters are going to be
2. Where the story takes place
3. Any other important information
4. What happens, or what changes?

Break!

Let’s have a tea break to rest our brains.

Extended writing exercise

Now we’re going to have 25 minutes writing time. Take you time, and enjoy the process of exploring this rich human encounter through telling stories.

Afterwards, we’ll have a chance to share our writing in groups! Then, if there’s time, we can discuss at the end. One question that is raised indirectly by Morrison’s text (although not directly) is this: how can storytelling either deepen or address the ethical problems around our encounters with the Other?

Homework

Now that you’ve had a chance to narrate encounters with otherness, for your homework this week, I want you to read chapter 5 of Toni Morrison, which is called “Narrating the Other”.

For your homework, post two ideas from the reading that you think are particularly insightful, making specific reference to the original text.