Autor: prof. Bogdan Georgiana
Sursă imagine: https://positivelypresent.com/2018/12/mixed-feelings.html
The following two activities focus on a better understanding of how humans feel and the fact that a person can have more than one feeling at the same time and they can also use positive self-talk to direct their thoughts and behaviour. The teacher will start the activity by telling students it is normal for a person to experience mixed emotions, at the same time giving the following example: you go shopping with your friends and you buy a lot of new things. You are very happy but, at the same time, you are sad because your sister is not with you to enjoy those moments. The self-talk may be negative or positive, but it is very important to be able to transform the negative thoughts into positive ones. Regarding the above-mentioned example, a person may think: ” I am a bad sister. I left my sibling at home and I went to have fun with my friends. ” But then, after self-talk, he/she may reconsider and come with a positive thought, such as ” I am going to take her shopping tomorrow and we are going to spend some quality time together. ” Students who want to share their experience are asked to talk about situations in which they had mixed feeling. After exploring this on the personal level, the teacher asks the groups to work the situations taken from Shakespeare’s play, ” King Lear”.
Considering Cordelia in the above-mentioned play, the group of students will be able to identify mixed feelings when it come to her sisters’ situation: should she continue to behave nicely towards her sisters, whom she loves or should she punish them for what they did to their father? Cordelia feels concerned about her siblings but she is also terrified of the idea that her father has to suffer because of their ingratitude. Groups are then asked to think of Cordelia’s self-talk starting from a negative thought and then transforming it into a positive one: it starts from ” I will not be able to save my father and he will die” and it is transformed in ” There must be another way… I know he will be all right. ” Another example is that of Edmund when, disguised as Poor Tom, he meets his blind father Gloucester on the cliffs of Dover. He may feel both content with the occasion of seeing his father again, but also afraid of the consequences of telling his father who he really is. When his father wants to commit suicide, Edgar makes the blind man believe that he is on the edge of a cliff and he has fallen into the void but has been saved. The students think that the first negative thought may be that his delusion will not work and that his father will suffer terrible consequences, while the positive thought may be that his scheme will work and he will save the father he loves. Students are encouraged to express their opinions on the given situations and say what they think may happen or what the character may think.
Considering Edmund in ” King Lear”, the groups are given the task to consider Edmund’s mixed emotions regarding his situations as an illegitimate son, who wants to inherit his father’s title and fortune. They say he may experience sadness because he feels that he is disappointing his father and he may feel constraint when forced to behave like a son, but does not have the right to inherit, as a legitimate son would have. When thinking about the self-talk Edmund may have, students give the negative thought that his father, the Earl of Gloucester, will never forgive him for betraying his brother; while the positive thought is that his father will eventually forgive him and he will understand his decision. Gloucester’s mixed feelings are also analysed by the groups and they come to the conclusion that he cannot abandon his sons whom he loves with equal feelings. Gloucester’s first negative thought may be that Edgar will never come back home and he will lose his legitimate son who will be considered a traitor; while the students identify the positive thought of Gloucester coming back to his senses and accepting his responsibility as a father, accepting both his sons for who they are.
At the end of these activities, students will have understood how important it is to be aware of all emotions they felt and, if they are in trouble, they could talk about them with someone who would listen to them and who could also offer advice. At the same time, students will have come to the conclusion that if a person thinks positively, they are likely to succeed and they will have also accepted the fact that positive thoughts make them feel good.
