Drama: One Issue, Many Perspectives

The way one person sees an issue, based on their needs, experiences and feelings (a point of view).

Any three, for example: Mr. Tremblay wants to keep the garden; Dr. Haddad wants parking close to the clinic; Jada wants to keep the pumpkins and help the clinic; Mrs. Lin wants customers to be able to park (but likes the garden herbs); Councillor Beaulieu wants a fair decision.

"Should the town pave the community garden to make a parking lot for the clinic?" (Any clear question about the garden and parking is correct.)

Any two: community, fairness, health, compromise, belonging, caring for nature.

Non-fiction, because it gives true information from a real person.

One person sits in the hot seat in role and answers questions from the group as the character.

A preference: which part you liked best, with a reason.

False. Real issues often have many perspectives.

A stakeholder.

Fiction.

Any one: a letter, a diary or journal entry, a speech, a note, a text message or a news report written as the character.

Any answer with a choice and a reason, for example: "I preferred the town hall because everyone got to speak."

Because real people on all sides usually have reasons. Showing them makes the drama truthful, helps the audience understand different people, and leads to better solutions than "good guys vs. bad guys."

She is pulled both ways (parking helps her business; the garden gives her herbs), so the audience wonders what she will choose. Her inner conflict adds tension, and both sides will try to win her over.

Example: a snowplough driver who worries a new parking lot means more plowing, or a beekeeper whose bees visit the garden flowers, or a teen who wants a job at the clinic. Look for a person who is affected and a clear reason.

Example: "I felt frustrated because Dr. Haddad and Mr. Tremblay both had good points. It connects to my street, where people argue about parking in winter. I preferred the hot seating because I learned the doctor likes the garden too." Look for all four parts.

Example: Issue: "Should the pool close for the whole summer?" Perspectives: a lifeguard who will lose a summer job; a family with no air conditioning who uses the pool on hot days; the town engineer who says the pool is unsafe without repairs. Look for three different, reasonable views.

Example: keep most of the garden but turn the strip nearest the street into four accessible parking spaces for clinic patients; other drivers use the library lot. This helps Dr. Haddad's patients, keeps Mr. Tremblay's and the class's beds, and Mrs. Lin keeps her herbs. Mrs. Lin's other customers might still be unhappy because there is still little general parking. Look for a plan that names stakeholders and an honest weakness.

Yes. A preference is a personal choice. Both are valid if each student gives reasons from the drama (for example, one was moved by Mr. Tremblay's memories; the other by Dr. Haddad's story about the icy sidewalk). Our own experiences shape what affects us most.

Example: Dr. Haddad can say, "Accessible parking spaces are usually close to the entrance so that people with disabilities don't have to travel far." A real fact makes her argument stronger and harder to dismiss than just saying "my patients want it." Mr. Tremblay could answer with the true fact that garden flowers feed pollinators like bees.