An Exercise in Jealousy
Five senses, one huge emotion
Pic: BC/The Writing Workshop
MATERIALS REQUIRED
An (initially) insufficient number of Tim Tams (other desirable foodstuffs may be substituted).
SET THE SCENE
Imagine you miss out on a Tim Tam, but each of your friends receives one. How are you feeling? Jealous?
Jealousy stinks.
This reaction uses one of our senses, but it could hold much more detail if we brought in all of our senses.
Jealousy also looks and feels and tastes and sounds. But how? How do we experience jealousy? What are our experiences of jealousy?
INVITE STUDENTS TO COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES:
Jealousy looks like…
Jealousy tastes like…
Jealousy smells like…
Jealousy feels like…
Jealousy sounds like…
FURTHER APPLICATIONS OF EXERCISE
Build a composite class poem, focusing on a single sense: the sound of jealousy, for example.
Apply to other emotions, or to something more concrete (for example, school holidays or rain).
Build a character from this emotion: who is sensing the world in this way? What is the cause of the character’s jealousy? This can be used for an extended writing task.
BENEFITS
Compression – this exercise can be completed in a few minutes
Expansion – this exercise can be expanded in various directions
Energy-lifting – students enjoy this
Can be used to work on comparisons/metaphor, editing, cultivating oddity (avoiding vague or overused depictions of emotion)
Can incorporate a speaking activity
Infinite versions – can be done with any other word or concept.
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