What’s bugging you?
“Teen Depression as related to Catcher in the Rye

Created by Ms. Yiadom

English 4

Astor Collegiate Academy

“I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty
run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.”

-Holden Caulfield

INTRODUCTION

Literature often relates to real-life issues and topics. In J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”, the main character Holden has a serious case of depression. He talks to himself, creates alter-egos, and could be characterized as an escapist. In New York City, many students suffer from depression, which takes away from school participation, friends, and family. Your group has been appointed to a high school discussion and advisory panel on teen depression sponsored by the Department of Education. As a group of public policy analysts, it’s your job to figure out why there is such a high rate of teen depression and create some solutions to fit it. How will your group help break the ongoing circle of depression? You will then present your findings to the class. Your job is extremely important. Your help may save the lives of your friends and family…Work Hard! Good Luck!

TASK

As students in our school, and active citizens of The Bronx, your group will investigate teen depression. Your group will also review current policies the city has to deal with depression. Are there any policies in your own school? Research all areas. Your group will be responsible for discovering the causes and effects of depression on teens. After, your group will investigate the current policy/policies and proposed policies, utilizing the Public Policy Analyst to create a new policy to be implemented in your community to prevent teen depression. You will present your findings to the class.

Your group will:

· Complete the Public Policy Analyst Worksheets (to be explained in Process)

· Create a campaign to prevent youth gang involvement in the Bronx. You can create this campaign by creating a poster or designing a pamphlet. Your campaign must include:

ü A title

ü Your research (you must show evidence of your research)

ü A new policy that you group has created to prevent and discourage youth gang involvement in the Bronx

ü A 5 minute video about teen depression and oral presentation of your group’s findings based on your PPA Worksheets

PROCESS

Step 1: You will form groups of 3-4 to complete this Web quest together.

Step 2: Each group will research teen depression in the Bronx. This may include information about why are teens depressed, what causes depression, what are the side effects. Make sure you include your research about these topics. Research will be done on the internet, using the suggested sites listed.

Step 3: Each group will complete the following

Public Policy Analyst worksheets in order to help you with your projects:

#1- Defining the Social Problem

What is the problem that you plan on addressing?

#2- Gather evidence of the problem

How do we know that this is a problem?

#3- Identify the causes of the problem

What causes this problem that you plan on addressing?

#4- Identify and evaluate the existing public policies

What policies already exist on your problem?

#5- Developing public policy solutions

What new public policy do you want to create?

#6- Selecting the best policy solution

Decide with your group the best policy to use for the problem.

Your group will use these worksheets as resource for completing the task assignments.

Step 4: You will use your research to create a poster or pamphlet to address the problems posed by youth gang involvement in your community of the Bronx.

Step 5: Each group will prepare a five minute video and oral presentation describing the new public policies (step # 5 in the PPA). In your presentation, which includes your group video, your group should outline the problem, present data to support the evidence of the problem, and detail your effective policy.

RESOURCES

These are websites and articles that will help you with your research

ü http://www.focusas.com/Depression.html

ü http://health.yahoo.com/centers/depression/1518

ü http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_healt h/depression.html

ü http://www.about-teen-depression.com

You should also use the following search engines to further research the topic of gang involvement in the Bronx…

****PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CITE WEBSITES IF YOU USE THEM!****

EVALUATION

You will be evaluated on all worksheets, your poster, and your presentation according to the following rubrics…

Worksheets

Grade A: All questions answered thoughtfully and completely

Grade B: All questions are answered thoughtfully however some are not complete

Grade C: The questions are not thoughtfully answered or the information is copied word for word with no student input

Grade D: The answers are not done or incomplete

Oral Presentation Rubric

A B C D

- Everyone in group presents

- Excellent eye contact

- clear and loud speech

- Creative use of visual aides

- Everyone in group presents

- Most people maintain decent eye contact

- volume and clarity of speech is sufficient

- Visual aides used appropriately

- 1or 2 people in group present

- Eye contact half of the time

- Can understand

most of time

- some use of visual aid, may be inappropriate

- Only one person in group presents

-Little eye contact

- Difficult to understand and hear

- No or minimal use of visual aid

Video Rubric

A B C-D

Collaboration	There is strong evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment	There is some evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment	There is little or no evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment
Visual Piece	The video is appealing, clear and creative. Images and themes represent ALL the social issues being discussed.	The video is appealing, but not clear. Does not represent all the idea of the social issue discussed.	The video is not clear and does not capture the social issue, themes, or ideas discussed.

STANDARDS

New York City Language Arts Performance Standards

E2a: Produce a report of information

E3b: Participate in group meetings

E4a: Independently and habitually demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.

E6a: Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse

SOCIAL STUDIES

Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Standard 3:

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the interdependent world in which we live—local and national.

CONCLUSION

By completing this web quest and researching teen depression in The Bronx, you now understand the impact depression has on others and the community. You have also mastered the use of the Internet to gather information and do research. You have used critical and analytical thinking skills to make decisions on what policies would be most effective in helping to prevent and treat teen depression. You should now have an appreciation for the public policy analyst and you understand their importance in addressing social problems. Thanks for your participation!!