The Stranger

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY: “Marie’s Social Media Feed”

Everything the reader knows about what happens in The Stranger is filtered through Meursault’s perspective. But imagine that his girlfriend Marie is posting regular social media updates throughout the story. (For the sake of this activity, pretend that social media platforms already existed in the 1940s.) What is Marie’s perspective on the events of the story? Prepare a social media feed with 8-10 posts, in the style of the platform of your choice, that reveals Marie’s perspective as the events of The Stranger unfold.

Part A: Analyze Marie’s character.

• Reread the sections of the text that offer characterizations of Marie--either directly, through Meursault’s narration, or indirectly, through her words and actions.
• Decide what kind of a person Marie probably is, keeping in mind that you might need to think critically about Meursault’s judgments about her.

Part B: Choose a social media platform to mimic in your response to this assignment. You can use any platform in common use--TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Create a mock-up of a feed for that platform that reflects Marie’s personality and perspective on key plot events. (You will need to choose a format that you have the time and tools to reproduce well. Don’t choose TikTok if you don’t have a way to record videos, for instance.)

• Skim through the book, making notes for yourself about the 8-10 plot events that would matter the most to Marie.
• Create posts for each of the events that you chose. Remember that Marie does not necessarily know the things the reader knows or feel the way the reader feels. Make sure that your posts reflect both her personality and her perspective.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can be assigned to individuals or to small groups. If time permits, students can share their work with one another and discuss why certain choices more accurately reflect Marie’s personality and perspective. For students facing language or academic barriers, you might reduce the number of posts required, ask that the characterization of Marie (Part A) be turned in as an interim “check-in” assignment, or offer assistance finding online templates for Twitter-, Instagram-, or Facebook-style posts. More advanced students can be asked to add comments from other characters as reactions to Marie’s posts, using these to demonstrate their grasp of a variety of characters’ personalities and perspectives.