Grendel Day 11 - High Noon - Movie and Questions

 "Kane will be a dead man in half an hour and nobody's gonna do anything about it. And when he dies, this town dies too. I can feel it.''  

Grendel Day 11  - High Noon Movie & Questions: No teacher can watch a movie without thinking - "How does this work in my class?"  There is so much of what the students have worked on so far this year in High Noon.  Heroism, the shaper, the idea of honor being earned - and the abandoment of the hero.  Having that last idea brought out days before they put on their Beowulf Skits - is a great reminder.  Practically, by watching the movie for two days - and the questions being due after their Putting on the Beowulf skits - it gives them time to put the finishing touches on their projects that they been working so long on.

Lesson Overview 

The first set of Movie Questions for my British Literature class.  See my page on Movie Questions.   I have shown films in my class since I was a student teacher.  There is a myth or perhaps, alternatively a bad practice, of believing that showing movies in class means a day off for both the teacher and the student.  Instead, I believe that movies (and music and other media) give teachers a way to present and reinforce material in a completely different way.  Since the beginning of the year, English 3 students have been engaged in the idea of Anglo-Saxon Honor, the Shaper, Heroism and more - - and now they will watch a movie, "High Noon" that will allow them to synthesize what they've been reading, thinking and talking about through a visual medium.  It helps them cement and further their ideas and understanding.  See my page on Movie Questions for more about the methods that I use in this lesson.  In short, there are two sets of questions - those to be answered as they watch the film (to keep them focused) and those questions that are more about critical thinking to be answered afterwards.   Each thinking question is kind of like a mini-essay.  I've included both the Honors and NonHonors (with less questions) versions.  There is also extra credit that brings in Diversity and history. 

Handouts 

Most Recent Handout:

High Noon Movie Questions - Honors -   Docx  PDF  

High Noon Movie Questions - NonHonors -   Docx  PDF

Marshal Kane / Beowulf Heroism Chart    Docx   PDF   (before my questions became so involved this was also a part of my movie questions)

See my page on Movie Questions for the how and the why of these handouts.

Remote Enhancements 

A short little Power Point that I used when I did this (for the first time) during Remote Teaching.
 

Class Recordings (for registered members)

Audio

Video

What's Next & UNIT HOMEPAGE

Puttin' on the Beowulf Performances - The students will next put on their scenes that they've been planning for about a month.  After this they will go back to the Anglo-Saxons.

WHAT CAME BEFORE:

  Grendel Day  10 - Grendel and His Mother - Essay

Thoughts on the Lesson 

I have shown this film in my British Literature class after Beowulf - since I began.   It also happens to be the favorite movie of two of our former presidents....