An R2D2 action figure stands on the edge of a page where there is a pencil drawing of a turnip and an R2D2. There is a blue pencil on the right corner of the page.
Activities from the Hybrid Seminar, Class Discussions, Low Stakes Writing

Cadavre Exquis

Activity aim: To review reading material; to get students to review / synthesize / draw connections between multiple texts; to review reading in preparation for a discussion

Materials needed: Each students needs a pen and paper.

Time: 20-30 minutes (or more), depending on the group size

Activity Description
Cadavre Exquis is a review activity based on a Surrealist painting technique and a parlor game called Consequences. It shares some basic features with inkshedding (link to the activity here), but it’s a bit more focused on the text (rather than on students’ reactions to it). In it, students draw (often unexpected) links between multiple texts. It also allows students to review material from a previous class or from the previous night’s homework in preparation for the day’s major activity / discussion / lecture, but it can also BE the major activity.

Here’s the procedure:
1. First, set up the classroom. Depending on whether this will be a whole class activity or a smaller group activity, students should sit in one large circle or several smaller pods.

2. Put students into groups of 5-7. It’s also possible to conduct cadavre exquis with an entire class, but it will take a longer time.

3. Ask students to identify a passage from last night’s reading that was either confusing or compelling in some way. The student should write their name and the passage at the top of the page (but only the passage itself) and then put their paper up in the air.

4. When two students have finished writing (and raise their paper in the air), they should trade.

5.  Once students have the new passage, they can either find another passage that they think relates in some way to the first one and write that, or they could draw an illustration of the passage, or they could write a reaction to the passage. They should then fold the piece of paper so that ONLY their interpretation, drawing, or related passage is visible.

6. When the student is finished, they should raise their paper in the air and trade with the next person to finish. The next student will repeat the process until the teacher is ready to move on.

7. Once the exercise has ended, each student should unfold the piece of paper so that they can see the whole thing. They should then take about 10 minutes (or so) freewriting about the connections that the class has made. What unexpected connections were made? How would the student connect what the rest of the class has done with their own interpretations or impressions from the reading? These freewrites (or pieces of them) can be shared in groups or with the whole class as jumping-off places for discussion.

This activity is adapted from a class activity that Mark McBeth conducted in the course Queer Lines of Communication at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

Image credit: Steve Loya, Flickr Creative Commons