The Rosemary Game

Number of Participants
The size of the group is unimportant - from 10 to whatever.

Materials
Chalkboard and chalk.
Paper and pencils.
Comfortable seating arrangements, in which chairs can be moved into small groups.

Time
About 40 minutes for the exercise itself, with as much time for debriefing as seems appropriate.

Procedure
The facilitator tells a simple yet somewhat ambiguous story, involving 5 characters. He or she may draw stick figures on the board as "illustrations" of the story. The behaviour of each of the characters is intended to suggest a number of different values. After the telling, each participant is asked to select two characters: the one whose behaviour he or she most approves and the one whose behaviour he or she least approves. Then the large group is divided into groups of four or five to discuss individual choices with the assignment to arrive, if possible, at unanimity about the most approved and the least approved character. An open discussion follows, in which participants are asked to share on a voluntary basis what they have learned during the small group sessions.

Steps to Follow

Step One
The facilitator tells the following story to the group, perhaps illustrating it with rough drawings:

For several months, Rosemary has been engaged to a young man named Geoffrey. The problem she faces is that between her and her betrothed there lies a river. No ordinary river mind you, but a deep, wide river infested with hungry crocodiles.

Rosemary ponders how she can cross the river. She thinks of a man she knows, who has a boat. His name is Sinbad. So she approaches Sinbad, asking him to take her across. He replies, 'Yes, I'll take you across if you'll spend the night with me.'

Shocked at this offer, she turns to another acquaintance, Frederick, and tells him her story. Frederick responds by saying, 'Rosemary, I understand your problem - but - it's your problem, not mine.'

Rosemary decides to return to Sinbad, and spend the night with him. In the morning he takes her across the river.

Geoffrey is delighted to see her and they enjoy being together. But on the evening before they are to be married, Rosemary feels compelled to tell Geoffrey how she succeeded in getting across the river. Geoffrey responds by saying, 'I wouldn't marry you if you were the last woman on earth.'

In desperation, Rosemary turns to the last character in our story, Dennis. Dennis listens to her and says, 'Well, Rosemary, I don't love you ... but I will marry you.'

And that's all we know of these five people and what they did.

Step Two
The facilitator asks each of the participants to choose his or her most approved and least approved character.

Step Three
In groups of four or five, participants are asked to discuss the choices they made. Not more than 10 - 15 minutes should be allowed for this discussion. Its main purpose is to sharpen the issues, not exhaust them.

Step Four
Calling them back to the larger group, the facilitator repeats Steps One to Three, except that Rosemary becomes Roger, Geoffrey becomes Gwendolyn, Sinbad becomes Susan, and Dennis becomes Denise.

Step Five
Calling them back to the larger group, the facilitator provides some time to discuss to what extent participants found it easy or difficult to approve or disapprove of a character's behaviour when his or her gender changed.

Acknowledgement
Based on a values clarification exercise developed by Sidney Simon, Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts.
It was found at
http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/int/PSY130/psy130b.html
on 9 September 2008 at 21.40.