Students Offer Creative Consult to the Obamas

After discovering Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West for the 10th grade English curriculum, teacher Matt Laufer devised an assignment that put students in the role of unsolicited, unpaid consultants to the movie adaptation. Their clients: former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, who are currently producing a movie version of the book!

The novel tells the story of a young couple, living in an unnamed city undergoing civil war, who use a system of magic doors to flee to different locations around the globe. For this assignment, Laufer asked his students to develop an essay advocating for the inclusion of one subtle detail from the movie that a less faithful adaptation would omit. In addition, he asked his students to articulate why this detail was important to include as well as how the producers might illuminate that importance.

With their thoughtful suggestions on paper, students then recorded the consultation as a video essay to tweet to the Obamas and share with the larger school community.

Enjoy a sample of student work produced for this assignment by Samantha Coleman ’22.