Mental Health issues for Teens

LISTEN, I READ
BOOK: THE CRAZY MAN
AUTHOR: PAMELA PORTER

The creation of a five page book analysis

And a brief documentary of the student's discussing the issues that arrive from the book.

Update (May 25, 2012)

My class Skped the author, Pamela Porter, on May 17th. We found out that the inspiration for the book came from Pamela's experience in a small town in Saskatchewan. In this town, there was a Mental Institution where all kinds of people were housed who were not necessarily Psychiatric patients, although some were. What horrified my students was that some of the patients interned there were little children. We also learned about how Pamela creates her characters. She waits for them to “show up” and gets to know them over time, using her imagination.

Our class discussions revolved around the question "Who is Crazy?". We connected "The Crazy Man" to the novel, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time", about an autistic boy who searches for a dog's killer. We watched the movie "The Elephant Man" about a deformed man who is treated as a Circus Freak and is abused by all who meet him, until he meets a kind Doctor. We connected all these texts to the theme of DIGNITY that has been the focus this school year.