Read A A Milne’s poem The Dormouse and the Doctor (from When We Were Very Young) with pupils. Why does the Doctor come in the first place?
Pupils could talk andor write about a time when they were ill, and how the grown-ups behaved.
Invite pupils to invent a new phobia - for example, fear of train travel - then name it (locophobia?) and describe the symptoms. How would they suggest it could be treated?
Students could read the story My Oedipus Complex by Frank O’Connor (from My Oedipus Complex and other stories) and write a character sketch of Larry.
Which family member do they feel most sympathy with, and why?
Students could consider the ways in which Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is dreamlike. How often do the characters fall asleep? What happens when they do? Read Act V Scene (i) lines 214-223, and Puck’s final speech.
Centuries before Freud, Shakespeare drew a brilliantly convincing picture of an only son who is disgusted by his mother’s remarriage in Act III Scene (iv) of Hamlet.
Students should discuss what part the appearance of the Ghost plays in the scene. If they were directing, would they put a physical presence on stage? Why, or why not?
