Symptoms of Being Human

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

“Representing the Nonbinary”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of characterization and the novel’s messages about Gender Identity & Fluidity by creating a visual representation of the ways in which a character defies the gender binary.

There are a number of characters in Symptoms of Being Human whose identities defy common cultural ideas about the gender binary. Choose one of these characters and create a visual representation that shows how their identity defies the gender binary.

Your visual representation can take any form that communicates the required information and is appropriate for the classroom. Here are some ideas—but you are not limited to ideas on this list:

• A graph or chart about the character
• A movie poster featuring the character
• A comic based on a scene from the novel featuring the character
• A collage representing the character
• A series of Instagram posts showing what is important to the character

When your visual representation is complete, display your work. Then, write a response of 2-3 sentences for each of the following questions:

1. Which of your peers’ representations strikes you as the most creative? Why?

2. Which of your peers’ representations conveys the most information? How does it do this?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can be completed either individually or with a partner. If students complete this activity in class, they will need computer access or art supplies. If computer access and art materials are limited, the list of options might be narrowed to those that can be accomplished with pen or pencil and paper. Before students begin working, you may wish to remind them about guidelines for respectful and inclusive participation in classroom activities and monitor the progress of any students about whose representations you have concerns.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with visual impairments may not be able to complete the activity as written. A reasonable alternative assessment might be writing 1-2 paragraph(s) analyzing the ways in which a particular character defies the gender binary. Students with anxiety or other conditions that make choosing among many options difficult may benefit from a time limit for deciding how to create their representations; if they have not selected when the time is up, they can utilize the default option. Students with aphantasia may benefit from access to inspirational images, as they may be unable to generate the mental imagery needed in order to complete the assignment.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Riley is not the only example of a nonbinary or trans character in this novel.

• What are the main similarities among the experiences of the trans and nonbinary characters in this book? (topic sentence)
• Provide at least 3 examples from throughout the novel that support your topic sentence. Analyze and discuss each example using details from the book.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how these similarities help support the book’s thematic contentions about Gender Identity & Fluidity.

2. Examples of troubled parent-child relationships can be found in this novel.

• Compared to Sierra’s and Bec’s parents, how well do Riley’s parents support Riley and respond to their needs? (topic sentence)
• Explain this evaluation in a detailed way. Choose 3 examples from a variety of locations in the text that support your evaluation to analyze and discuss.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how the portrayals of parenting in this novel relate to its concern with Mental Health.

3. Riley’s blog has both positive and negative consequences in Riley’s life.

• On balance, does Garvin portray Riley’s experience with the blog as more positive or more negative? (topic sentence)
• Explain and offer support for your choice, noting at least 3 examples from the novel that support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this balance of positive and negative experiences supports the novel’s larger thematic concern with Online Community/Harassment.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. One of the novel’s motifs is vulnerability. How does Riley’s life improve when they trust enough to open up to other people? What role does Riley’s blog play in Riley’s developing understanding of vulnerability? How do Riley’s relationships contribute to this motif? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing the novel’s message about vulnerability and its relationship to Mental Health. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

2. Throughout the novel, Garvin avoids using pronouns to identify Riley, and Riley’s perceived biological sex is never revealed. How do these choices relate to the novel’s opening, in which Riley begins writing their blog by saying, “The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?” (Chapter 1). What message do these choices send? What message is being sent about the commonalities between all people? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing Garvin’s choice to obscure Riley’s perceived sex and gender. Show how this choice supports the novel’s overall messages about Gender Identity & Fluidity. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

3. During the novel, Riley writes a blog about the experience of being nonbinary. In many ways, this blog functions as an argument aimed at the book’s reader. What does this say about Garvin’s intended audience? What other elements of the book (e.g., characters, plot events, dialogue, Riley’s thoughts) seem aimed at educating or persuading a general audience of cisgender people? Write an essay that analyzes the novel’s function as an informational and/or persuasive argument about Gender Identity & Fluidity. Support your analysis with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from the novel, making sure to cite all quoted material.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which piece of information does the narrative never reveal?

A) Riley’s sex assigned at birth

B) Riley’s age

C) Riley’s gender identity

D) Riley’s blog-writing pseudonym

2. What do Riley’s choice of the board game at age six and their style of dressing for their first day at Park Hills have in common?

A) The board game and Riley’s style of dressing are evidence of Riley’s anxiety about trying to fit in with their peers.

B) Both the game and Riley’s clothing choices demonstrate the importance of the support Riley gets from their parents.

C) Riley later chooses to dress according to their sex assigned at birth because of how their father reacted to the toy choice when they were six.

D) The board game and the way Riley dresses are both unsatisfying compromises between the two gender presentations Riley is comfortable with.

3. Which best describes the book’s narrative point of view?

A) One third-person narrator all the way through

B) Alternating chapters of first and third person

C) Alternating chapters with two different first-person narrators

D) One first-person narrator all the way through

4. Which characters function as the novel’s main antagonists?

A) Riley’s parents

B) Sierra and Jim

C) Bec and Solo

D) Riley’s teachers

5. How does knowing Riley change Solo?

A) He realizes that sometimes standing up for what is right is more important than going along with the crowd.

B) He becomes less insecure about his own gender presentation and stops trying to project a “tough guy” image.

C) He realizes that he needs to stop sabotaging himself and allow himself to really excel at school.

D) He becomes more interested in writing as a way to express his feelings about the conflicts he has at home.

6. Which is the primary contribution that writing the blog makes to Riley’s happiness?

A) The blog allows Riley to share their love of writing with the world.

B) The blog allows Riley to work through complicated feelings about their parents.

C) The blog allows Riley to help others and work for a cause they believe in.

D) The blog allows Riley to escape from the pressures of their offline world.

7. Which is a way that Riley grows and changes in this novel?

A) Riley realizes that there are people in this world whose minds cannot be changed about gender issues.

B) Riley discovers and begins to outgrow their own unconscious biases and assumptions about gender.

C) Riley begins to believe that self-expression is less important than a willingness to compromise.

D) Riley learns that people’s aggression against nonbinary people comes from their anger over being uncomfortable.

8. Which is the most accurate description of Riley’s character?

A) They are cynical and isolated but also artistic and sharply insightful.

B) They are moody and self-involved but also funny and larger-than-life.

C) They are insecure and mistrustful of others but also ethical and talented with words.

D) They are withdrawn and anxious but also innocent and naively hopeful.

9. In what ways are Bec’s and Riley’s circumstances similar?

A) They are both unsure about their gender identity and their sexual orientation.

B) They both must cope with neglectful parents and the death of someone close to them.

C) They are both bullied online and at school and they both suffer from anxiety.

D) They both must cope with the effects of mental illness and prejudice against gender nonconformity.

10. In what way are Jim’s and Sierra’s circumstances similar to Riley’s and Bec’s?

A) They all have problems with their parents.

B) They all worry about being unpopular at school.

C) They all struggle to achieve and get good grades.

D) They all have body image issues to overcome.

11. Which character is the most confident and secure about their differences throughout the novel?

A) Riley

B) Solo

C) Bec

D) Erik

12. What do the football game Riley goes to and the Q meeting Solo goes to have in common?

A) They are both examples of the novel foreshadowing upcoming tragic events.

B) They are both ways for Riley and Solo to show their parents that they are trying to grow as people.

C) They are both examples of the novel characterizing Solo’s interests as shallow and concerned with appearances.

D) They are both ways for friends to demonstrate support for one another’s interests and concerns.

13. What do the mirror incident and Riley’s cracked phone screen both symbolize?

A) Riley’s disjointed self-image

B) Riley’s anger management issues

C) Riley’s lack of support at home

D) Riley’s panic attacks

14. What do Riley’s online experiences demonstrate about the ways people interact online?

A) People are kinder online than they would be in person.

B) People’s online reactions are often extreme.

C) People are crueler online than they would be in person.

D) People’s online reactions are often deceitful.

15. Which of the following statements do the novel’s plot and characterizations best support?

A) It is understandable and even excusable when people who are suffering lash out in anger at those around them.

B) Character shows in the way that people with similar problems can react very differently to those problems.

C) True loyalty to friends means accepting both their strengths and their faults without criticism.

D) A fully mature person solicits both positive and critical feedback from a variety of people in order to grow and develop.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How do Solo, Bec, and Riley each turn to the past for comfort in a different way?

2. At the end of the novel, why is Riley finally able to complete the whiteboard exercise that Dr. Ann suggested?