Mystery Quotations involves students identifying the theoretical position of the maker of an unfamiliar quote. Students apply what they have learned about different theories and standpoints to identify when they are being used or expressed in an unfamiliar context.
Instructions
- Present students with a selection of quotes from people who hold various theoretical positions that the class has been studying.
- Give students time to think about what they think the theoretical position of the quotee is and why.
- Have some students share their answers.
- Share the correct answer (and why it is the correct answer) with the class.
Resources
- A set of unfamiliar quotes that express elements of various relevant theoretical positions.
Variations
- Make it an individual or group activity: Students could work by themselves, with a partner, in a small group, or together as the whole class.
- Make it a (competitive) quiz: In small groups, have students write down their answers in a set time frame. Share the answers and get students to grade their own, or another group’s answers.
- Make the responses anonymous: Use technology such as PollEverywhere to enable students to share their responses without identifying themselves.
- Make it more complex: Choose quotes where the theoretical position of the quotee is ambiguous and up for debate, rather than an established fact. If applicable, rather than sharing the “correct” answer at the end, describe the views of different experts in the field on the position of the quotee.
- Make it something other than a quote and/or theoretical position: For some disciplines, the activity could be run using mystery images, snippets of music, equations and more, where students attempt to identify things such as genres, styles, techniques, or formulas.