Critical observation
Students are invited to observe the posturo-mimo-gestural elements of a person or group ofpeople in a public space (mall, church, bus, classroom, street, etc.). They will then make a reportin which they describe all the gestures observed, deduce from their explanations, and relate theirobservations to the concepts studied in class. They will have to describe the scene, explain the context.
Scene description:
The scene description deals with the answer to the questions about who is doing what, where,and how. This section lists the main characters in the observed scene. It describes what they aredoing at what time. It might be interesting to be mindful of the sequences by using adverbs suchas now, then after, or any other indications related to the time such as at the beginning, in the middle, at the end, etc. Gesture listing and description: This section uses the lecture insights to identify the type of gestures used by each character atwhat moment. This is also the venue where to assign meaning to the gesture by referencing to Cosnier’s classification seen of communicative gestures and extra communicative gestures.Remember that the person (s) you are observing might not even be conscious of their gesture left alone, assigning them any signification.
Analysis of emotions displayed during the situation
This section deals with the analysis of critical emotions that could have been associated withwhich gesture. Students will use their knowledge of gestures functions to deduct the kinds ofemotions associated with each gesture. Students will explain if, by those gestures, the actor isfriendly, unpleasant, happy, and angry, or any other sort of emotion
