Objectives

After completing this lesson, students will be able to:

• Describe the challenge during adolescence to gain peer acceptance while developing one's sense of self.
• Recognize the influence that peers and the media have on personal choices during the teen years.
• Identify physical and emotional changes that occur during adolescence and describe their impact on relationships within the family.

Introducing the Lesson

Locate and bring to class yearbooks or class portraits dating back two or more decades. Open and display these on the board rail or in some other prominent location, and invite students to examine this makeshift photo gallery.

Ask students to return to their seats and discuss differences between the teens in these pictures and themselves. Note on the board comments about hair length and style, clothing, jewelry, and other body and facial adornments.

Point out that the young people in these pictures are as similar to one another in their appearance as they are different from students of today. Ask: In what ways does a person's physical appearance reveal a deep-down desire to be accepted by others? In what way do these surface traits reflect a desire to be different—to discover one's unique self-identity?

Teaching Strategies

Explain that students are about to read three poems that address these and related questions. Pass out copies of the poems, and instruct students to read them individually or in pairs, or have individuals read them aloud. Challenge students, as they read, to identify what each speaker is like both on and beneath the surface.

After students have completed the reading, you may either use the following as class discussion questions or assign them as individual or group work.

Follow Up

1. Analyzing. In literature, irony is a contradiction between what a character says and what the reader knows is actually true. What is ironic about the capitalized words in "Nonconformist"? What do these words reveal about the speaker's self-identity?
2. Evaluating. Related to self-esteem, self-image is how a person sees and feels about himself or herself. Would you say that the speaker in "Sunglasses" has a positive self-image? Why or why not?
3. Making Inferences. What do you think the speaker in "Sunglasses" means when he says "no one seems to understand me when I'm talking anyway"?
4. Summarizing. In "Mom Says," how has the relationship between the speaker and her mother changed from the time when the speaker was a young child?
5. Comparing and Contrasting. Which do you think has a greater impact on the way teens of your generation look and act: the media or one's peers? Explain your reaction.
6. Analyzing. Rate the communication skills of the speaker in "Mom Says" using a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is "Very strong" and 1 is "Very weak." Explain your rating.

Integrating Literature and Health

Sometimes what people say and what they really feel are different. In such cases, the surface message—the person's words—have a subtext, or hidden message. Select one of the poems, and discuss what words and phrases could be changed to reflect the point of view of a person with a very positive self-image and emotional outlook.

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