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. This THEO course
will concentrate on the first eight films of the 17 films suggested, making this
a semester-long course worth a half-year credit 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 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.
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.
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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