“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” This is how
The Stranger begins. With two short sentences Albert Camus introduces his strange and alienated character, Meursault, to his Viewpoint readers in
Mr. Guy Vandenbroucke’s AP French class. In order to deepen their understanding of this important and challenging novel, the students did not just read the book; they assumed the roles of its characters.
The first part of the novel follows Mersault as he searches aimlessly and watches his own life evolve as if he was a mere spectator—until that fateful day when he kills a young Arab on beach outside Algiers. The second part of the book presents the trial of Meursault for this senseless killing. The students recreated this trial in their classroom.
“Each student was assigned to play the role of different characters from the novel with some of them being called as witnesses and other playing the prosecutor or the attorney,” explains Vandenbroucke. “The value of dramatization as a teaching tool—particularly in foreign language classes—has been often demonstrated. By impersonating Camus’s characters and by experiencing a culturally charged experience such as a trial, students hopefully gain a deeper understanding of both the novel and of French culture.”
As an added enrichment to the lesson on
The Stranger, Vandenbroucke invited Viewpoint parent,
Mr. Frank Angel, a lawyer conversant in the criminal justice systems of both the United States and France, to the class. "Mr. Angel addressed the students in French and explained the fundamental similarities and differences between the two countries.”
Click here to view a video clip.
