Fear of Missing OutMichaela Di Cesare Playwright

Toni Lynn Hakem Instructional Designer

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Cast and Crew

Sophie Gee: Director

Michaela Di Cesare: Playwright

Stephen Booth: Actor

Chloe Giddings: Actor

Chadia Kikondjo: Actor

Mackenzie Emmerick: Tour Manager

Jon Cleveland: Lighting consultant

Rob Denton: Sound Design

Sophie El Assad: Set and Costume Design

Table of Contents

Quebec Education Competencies 4

Fear of Missing Out Themes and Concepts 5Extension Activity: Teach the Class

Consent in Canada 6

Fear of Missing Out - The Title 7

Fear of Missing Out - A Review 8

Olive’s Relationships – An Analysis 9

External Pressures 10

Agency 11Extension: Finding Your Voice

Critical Thinking with Short Essays 12

Cross-Curricular Themes and Concepts: A Return 13

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Quebec Education Competencies

Some select Quebec Competencies found in this guide include:

English Language Arts

Uses language/talk to communicate and to learnReads and listens to written,spoken and media texts Produces texts for personal and social purposes

Cross-Curricular Competencies

Uses information

Exercises critical judgment

Uses creativity

Adopts effective work methods

Uses information and communications technologies

Cooperates with others

Arts Education - Dramatic Art Competencies

Creates dramatic works

Performs dramatic works

Appreciates dramatic works

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Fear of Missing Out Themes and Concepts

Below is a list of themes and concepts from Fear of Missing Out.Discuss the themes/concepts and their definitions with your class before attending Fear of Missing Out.

cultural identity ▪self-identity ▪compassion ▪consent ▪peer pressure ▪parental pressure ▪healthy relationships ▪diversity ▪work ethic ▪agency ▪

Some questions to help with the discussion:What is the meaning of the following word? (Do your research!) »Do you agree with that meaning or is it outdated? »Can you think of a current example? »A lot of these terms interrelate, can you provide an example of some that interrelate and how? »

When the discussion is complete, ask students to write what their understanding is of each concept/theme, as part of an in-class assignment. They should try to include an example (popular culture, real-life or fictional) with each concept/theme. Collect the assignments and store for later use.

Extension Activity: Teach the Class Write each of the following themes/concepts on separate pieces of paper and place them in a bag. In pairs or small groups, students will randomly pull a theme from the bag and will design their own activity (web-based, if possible) based on the theme/concept and how it is relevant to their lives in 2019. For example, if compas-sion is chosen, the group will teach the class about compassion (5-10minutes) and then have the class do an activity that helps to enhance their understanding of compassion.

cultural identity ▪self-identity ▪compassion ▪consent ▪peer pressure ▪parental pressure ▪healthy relationships ▪diversity ▪work ethic ▪agency ▪

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Consent in Canada

Consent is defined in Canada’s Criminal Code in s. 273.1(1), as: the voluntary agreement to engage in the sexual activity in question.

Taken from: https://www.leaf.ca/the-law-of-consent-in-sexual-assault/

As a class research and discuss consent:What is consent? Give examples. »What is not consent? Give examples. »What is Canada’s age of consent? »How does age play a role in consent? »Have you seen examples of it on social media? In popular/mainstream culture? »

Continue to research consent in Canada in order to create an advertisement, webpage, brochure, or any other type of informational media (multi-media is preferred) that can be given to teens and young adults about con-sent.

Some resources:http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/brochure-respect-sexual-consenthttps://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/clp/faq.htmlhttps://www.leaf.ca/the-law-of-consent-in-sexual-assault/http://www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca/en/no_means_no

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Fear of Missing Out - The Title

As a class discuss the play Fear of Missing Out, focusing on the title of the play and its meaning.

Some questions to help prompt discussion:Describe » Fear of Missing Out. What did you think it was about?What did you think of » Fear of Missing Out? Did you enjoy it? Why or why not?What is ‘fear of missing out’? How does it relate to the play? »What is the title of the play referring to? Explain. »

Ask students to write an analysis of the play in reference to its title. What does ‘fear of missing out’ refer to? Who is missing out and what are they missing? Elaborate.

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Fear of Missing Out - A Review

After seeing Fear of Missing Out, discuss it with your class.

Some questions to help prompt discussion:Did they enjoy the play? »What was the general feeling of the play? »Who was their favourite character? Why? »Did they have a favourite or least favourite scene? Why? »What types of reactions did you have to the play? Did it seem realistic? »Did any scenes or moments in the play stand out? Why or why not? »

With the initial impressions of the play explored, move the discussion a bit deeper.

Questions to ask:What was » Fear of Missing Out really about? Describe.What was the main concept or point of » Fear of Missing Out? Explain.Can you relate to the concept of » Fear of Missing Out? Can you relate to Olive and her life? Why or why not? »Can you relate to Tee-Star and what is currently going on in her life? Why or why not? »Can you relate to Vincent and his struggles in social situations? Why or why not? »Can you relate to Vincent and his struggle to articulate for himself and his needs? Why or why not? »Did » Fear of Missing Out seem like a believable real-life story to you? Why or why not?

When the discussion is complete ask your students to write a play review for their local newspaper. You can introduce this to students by having them research play reviews in newspapers. This should give them an idea of the style of writing and areas to focus on.

If you want your students to get creative, ask them to take on the role of Olive writing the review for her local newspaper.

Areas for them to focus on in their review:The acting ▪The production and directing of the play ▪The script and content of the play ▪The set décor and costumes ▪The meaning of the play ▪What they will take away from ▪ Fear of Missing Out?

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Olive’s Relationships – An Analysis

In Fear of Missing Out, there are two main friendships:Olive and Tee-Star ▪Olive and Vincent ▪

Olive and Tee-Star are typical teenage girls who share a genuine friendship. Is that common?

Olive and Vincent are friends and both about to enter CEGEP. Will the ways in which they relate to each other now change?

As a class, discuss these relationships.

Some questions to help prompt the discussion:Describe Tee-Star and Olive’s relationship when we first meet them. Why are they friends? What makes »them friends? What makes them frenemies?Describe Tee-Star and Olive’s complicated relationship. What was the fight about? Did it affect their »friendship? Explain. What is the dynamic like between them now? What makes their relationship work? »What and how has their relationship changed? Explain. »Is their relationship healthy? »What types of big decisions come with or are as a result of the change in their relationship? (Ex. their big »fight.)

Repeat the same questions for Olive and Vincent.

Once the discussion is complete, ask students to choose one pair and to write an analysis of their relationship. Their analysis should also include short character analyses as well.

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External Pressures

Two big themes in Fear of Missing Out are parental and peer pressure. Discuss these with your students

Some questions to help prompt discussion:What is peer pressure? Give an example. »What is parental pressure? Give an example. »Which do you find more stressful – parental or peer pressure? Why? »What are the main differences between parental and peer pressure? »Are the intents similar? How so? »

Divide your class in half with one group being the peer pressure group and the other being the parental pres-sure group. From there, each group should further divide into groups of 3-4.

Each small group will work on a skit based on the type of pressure they have been assigned. Each skit should focus on how to deal with pressure in a situation and how to deal with it (for example, at a party for peer pressure and family obligations for parental pressure).

After debrief with your class.

Some questions to help prompt discussion: Did you learn anything about how to deal with parental pressure? Please share. »Did you learn anything about how to deal with peer pressure? Please share. »How can you help a friend who is in a pressure-filled situation? »How important is it to be true to yourself? »

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Agency

In social science, agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Agency-%28sociology%29).

According to Martin Hewson, there are 3 types of agencies, individual, proxy, and collective.

Discuss these with your class:Individual agency: when a person acts on his/her own behalfProxy agency: when an individual acts on behalf of someone else (such as an employer). Collective agency: when people act together, such as a social movement

Some questions to help prompt discussion:Does every human being have individual agency? Why or why not? »Do you have individual agency? »Are there times when you do not have, or cannot use, your individual agency? Explain. »Have you ever had a person be your proxy in agency (ex. your parents when you were a baby, your »teacher). Explain.Have you ever taken on the role of proxy in agency for someone? Explain. »Can you think of an example of collective agency in society? »Have you ever been part of a group trying to obtain agency? »Why is collective agency important (or not) to society? »

Some resources for you and your students:https://www.thoughtco.com/agency-definition-3026036https://www.revolvy.com/page/Agency-%28sociology%29

To further enhance your students’ understanding of agency, discuss with your students examples of agency as seen in Fear of Missing Out. For example, Vincent expressed his individual agency by talking to his parents about reducing his therapies and programs for his autism. Olive used her voice through writing and through that advocated for her now deceased cousin (ie. proxy agency).

When the discussion is complete, ask each student to select one form of agency and to link it to Fear of Miss-ing Out. They should include their understanding of agency and also an explanation of the type of agency they’re focusing on before linking it to Fear of Missing Out. Students should also explore how the characters evolved through finding their voice. How did that help him? How do agency and self-identity interrelate?

Extension: Finding Your Voice Ask students to write a reflective piece about an experience or piece of art (movie, music, book etc. . .) that helped them to find their voice.

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Critical Thinking with Short Essays

Short Essay #1Olive: Why is it my responsibility to make them happy? (In reaction to the behaviour of Matthew Dempolous and his male friends at the bus stop.)

After reflecting about Olive’s opinion, write about how her question makes you feel. Is it a woman’s respon-sibility to ‘make them happy’? How does that make you feel? What does that say about how society views women? (Reflection piece)

Short Essay #2Vincent: No is an invitation to try harder.(Quoting his father)

Do you agree or disagree with this? How can you turn an obstacle into an opportunity? Have you ever done so? Please share.

Short Essay #3Olive: Tired of avoiding, what if we were empowered to speak up instead?

What could you change if you spoke up? What would you change? What makes you feel empowered? Why do you feel disempowered?

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Cross-Curricular Themes and Concepts: A Return

Now that students have seen Fear of Missing Out and also worked with its concepts and themes, it’s now time to revisit their pre-play in-class assignment.

Before returning them to students, have them redo the activity.

A refresher: Write what your understanding is of each concept/theme. Include an example (popular culture, real-life or fictional) with each concept/theme. The concept/themes:

cultural identity ▪self-identity ▪compassion ▪consent ▪peer pressure ▪parental pressure ▪healthy relationships ▪diversity ▪work ethic ▪agency ▪

The twist: students will also share what they now know or have learnt about each concept/theme from Fear of Missing Out.

When they’re done, return their original assignment and let them compare and see how much more they’ve learnt.

If time permits, they can write about their growth and how this type of personal assessment has or hasn’t been of interest to them.