Teaching Giovanni's Room

Instructions for You

Objective: No doubt, Giovanni's got it pretty rough. As if it's not bad enough to be facing execution, he also has to put up with the city's newspapers airing all his dirty laundry.

Worse still, the newspapers aren't even giving a full account of the case. There's no mention of Giovanni's personal situation and how it played a part in his downfall. David isn't particularly happy about this, but he can't really act like he cares now, after he sold his ex down the river and everything.

In this activity, your students will take over journalistic duties at a Parisian newspaper. They'll have to decide how to write the story in a way that's factual, truthful, and based fully on reality.

Materials Needed: David Puttnam's TED Talk "Does the Media Have a 'Duty of Care'?" and a copy of the text and/or Shmoop's summary page

Step 1: Start by showing the students David Puttnam's TED Talk "Does the Media Have a 'Duty of Care'?" Puttnam discusses how journalists should be concerned with presenting the world as it is, rather than creating a fictionalized version to appease their readers. This guy wants the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Ask the students what Putnam's views are. We want to get them thinking about how the media's presentation of a certain event can significantly impact society's perceptions.

Step 2: Next, read one or more passages from the novel that focus on the media's presentation of Giovanni's crime out loud. We've noted one here for you, because we're cool like that: "The newspaper told the unforgiving world how Giovanni repented, cried for mercy, called on God, wept that he had not meant to do it. And told us, too, in delicious detail, how he had done it: but not why. Why was too black for the newspaper to carry and too deep for Giovanni to tell."

Ask the class what details the newspapers don't include about the case, such as how Giovanni's sexuality plays a part in the episode, as well as why they chose to omit this kind of information. Have the students think about what effect this has on the case. You can devote between five and ten minutes to this discussion, to get to grips with all the sneaky journalistic methods going on here.

Step 3: It's time to let the students take over the Parisian newspaper in Giovanni's Room. In groups of three, they'll outline a plan for their story about Giovanni's crime, showing what details they would include. Each student must provide a plan for a certain part of the story: one should outline a backstory on Giovanni, detailing how an Italian man ended up in Paris, and we're not talking about his mode of transport. The second should prepare a plan for writing about Giovanni's relationship with Guillaume and how they were once BFFs. The third should focus on how the relationship went sour, ending up with one of them in a body bag and the other facing execution.

The outlines can be in note form, and about one page.

Step 4: While your students are in their groups preparing, you should wander around the classroom like the editor in chief you are, reminding them that they must not only include details of what they'll write but also reference why their story is factual (i.e. evidence from the novel). Giovanni deserves the truth to be told, even if he has gone and killed someone.

Step 5: Once they've outlined their section, give the groups twenty to thirty minutes to write their pieces. When all three sections are combined, the pieces should be about two pages (or 400 to 500 words).

When the students are finished, they can submit their pieces to you, the editor in chief; you'll let them know whether they'll be making the front page or will be pushed to the back of the paper with all those weird plastic surgery ads.

Instructions for Your Students

No doubt, Giovanni's got it pretty rough. As if it's not bad enough to be facing execution, he also has to put up with the city's newspapers airing all his dirty laundry.

Worse still, the newspapers aren't even giving a full account of the case. There's no mention of Giovanni's personal situation and how it played a part in his downfall. David isn't particularly happy about this, but he can't really act like he cares now, after he sold his ex down the river. Jeez, David.

In this activity, you're going to take over journalistic duties at a Parisian newspaper. You'll have to decide how to write the story in a way that's factual, truthful, and based fully on reality.

Step 1: Watch Puttnam's TED talk, and start thinking about how journalists should act appropriately.

When Puttnam's finished gabbing, you'll talk with your teacher and classmates about how journalists should approach their stories, as well as how they can impact their audience's perception of such events. Try to give real-life examples of where journalists have gone wrong and swayed their audiences by taking out a little detail here, or adding a few falsities there.

Step 2: Your teacher will read out one or more passages of the novel where the media exerts their creative license and twists an event. Talk about what details the newspapers left out, and why they did this.

Step 3: Congrats. You've bagged the position of journalist at the Parisian newspaper in Baldwin's novel. Your first story: Giovanni and Guillaume's murder.

Split into groups of three. You'll outline a plan for your part of the story, to show what you're going to focus on and, more importantly, that you'll stick to the truth. Your outline can be in note form, about one page, and should include specific references to the novel.

Each member of your group will be writing a certain part of the story. One will consider Giovanni's backstory, and how a man living in Italy turned out to be the most gruesome Parisian killer of the week. The second will focus on G and G's relationship, from how they met in a cinema to briefly going out together. The last member of the group will consider the downfall, and how one's now dead with the other not far behind him.

You will have between fifteen and twenty minutes to outline your plan for the story. The editor in chief (okay, fine, your teacher) will come by and discuss your plan to make sure you're focusing on all the facts.

Step 4: When you're all set with your outline, your group will have around twenty to thirty minutes to put the whole story together. All told it'll be around two pages (400 to 500 words). When you're finished you can submit your piece to the "editor in chief," who'll check it over. Hopefully you'll make the front page, rather than being pushed to the back of the paper with all those weird plastic surgery ads.