Movies as Literature (Half-Year Course for High School English credit)
Teacher: Maria Leahey
Grades: 9 - 12
Meets: Monday 3:00 - 4:00 (Click link to see if class is full) optional movie viewing from 4-6 p.m
Class Description:
Good storytelling teaches---whether
heard, read, or seen.
Through cinema, your students can learn to critique narrative content and form,
identify underlying messages and analyze from a moral standpoint.
The Movies as Literature curriculum developed by Kathryn and
Richard Stout includes plot summaries, discussion and composition questions and
extended-study activities for movies chosen for literary merit and effective
filmmaking. Each semester, this THEO course will concentrate on the eight films
of the 17 films suggested; two semesters will equal one year of high school
English.
This course is not an “English Lite” or “Literature for
Physicists/Mathematicians” brand of class. Essays and outside work will need to
meet academic standards. However, it would be a great “change of pace” course
for those with heavier loads in other academic disciplines.
Films used by class in spring semesters will be:
Shane, Friendly
Persuasion, The Quiet Man, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Music Man, ET The Extra
Terrestrial, The Maltese Falcon,
and Rear
Window.
Films used by class in fall semesters will be:
Emma,
The Philadelphia Story, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Raisin in the Sun, Raiders of
the Lost Ark, Henry IV, A Man for All Seasons and Chariots of Fire.
There
are no R-rated films viewed as part of this class.
The Movies as Literature curriculum is VERY specific on the versions of movies
required, so students will need to make sure they view the right version and
view each at the right time in the semester.
Prerequisites:
Openness to watching certain movies as an academic pursuit rather than a means
of entertainment.
Maximum number of students:
15
Homework:
Movies will need to be viewed more than once at home each week, so this may take
3-4 hours of viewing in addition to homework. Academic essays will be required
every week or every other week.
Prerequisites: Openness to watching certain movies as an academic pursuit rather than a means of entertainment.
Maximum number of students: 15
Homework: Movies will need to be viewed more than once at home each week, so this may take 3-4 hours of viewing in addition to homework. Academic essays will be required every week or every other week.
Cost: $45 Monthly Fee, plus Netflix membership. Netflix membership (even the most basic at $8 per month) is strongly recommended so that students can locate the right version of each movie in a timely way.
Supplies that the students should bring to class:
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