The Odyssey: Seeing My Journey through Film

bySusan H. Buckson Greene

Introduction

Finding your purpose—discovering meaning in your life—the journey. . .each describes our quest to become better individuals. Some find that meaning within the context of a socially stereotyped structure, others in the traditions (or dare I say mysteries) of religion and certainly there are others; however, none of these avenues have been more instrumental in humanity finding individual meaning than religion. It is through our understanding of a higher power and our relationship with that higher power, or lack thereof, that we begin to form our concept of who we are as individuals.

The ancient Greek and Roman cultures certainly realized this concept. Through its intricate web of polytheism, trudged humanity trying to appease the gods to assure good fortune and understand their place as humans in the world. Though many might argue that mythology is just that—myth; still these cultures recognized the sovereignty of gods to man. The Odyssey is one text that juxtaposes the struggle one man, Odysseus, has with finding his place in this relationship as he journeys home.

Odysseus is however not unique in his quest. In literature and in film, such characters—be they heroes or the girl next door—are prevalent. Characters such as Huck Finn, Beowulf, Dorothy, Harry Potter and even Ulysses Everett McGill of film O Brother Where Art Thou? fame, each has a personal journey toward recognizing not only who they are as individuals, but also that they have a significant and specific role in life. Such characters in many ways parallel the classic epic heroes who are men and women of imposing stature, and of great historical or legendary significance (even Dorothy was hailed as a savior after killing the Wicked Witch of the West). The works themselves parallel classic characteristics with their vast setting often mythical in proportion, covering many nations/worlds, deeds of valor and supernatural interventions.

The Odyssey is a foundational text that provides a framework for many works among the western canon. Its strikingly episodic structure presents a Greek culture that has in essence has dominated the formation of western culture to include the reliance on religion, the strength of women and the quest for understanding, each captured through the Homeric tradition. Additionally, Odysseus provides for us the archetypical hero who, though celebrated for his wisdom/intelligence/bravery, is prideful and ultimately blind to his role in his own downfall.

This unit, The Odyssey: Seeing My Journey through Films, is designed for ninth grade students at Booker T. Washington High School who are enrolled in the School of Fine, Visual and Performing Arts. Through the use of films, we will examine the elements of the epic to include: invocation, /praepositio/, /enumeratio/, /in medias res/, /deus ex machina/, /anticipatio/, and epithet to name several.

Though these characteristics are commonly associated with classic epics, such as Sundjata and The Odyssey, I propose that there are modern works that mimic the classics and are very relevant to my students' experiences. Hence, my students will be better tuned to the possibilities that reading or viewing such works have for their cognitive understanding of not only the epic as it is understood in traditional academic arena but also of how these works speak to their personal development. With this in mind, my 9th grade students and I will also view O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Wiz with this focus, though I also propose that this goal might also be achieved with other works such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Don Quixote and The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

Objectives

As a seventeen year veteran, of urban school districts, I have noted that one of the units often included in the 9th grade curriculum addresses the period that students naturally experience as they transition from middle to high school. This critical transitional time is the period when as a society, ninth grade retention remains a crucial focus. However, in Georgia, only 61.2% of students entering as freshmen graduate in 4 years. Hence 38.8% of students do not progress to the 10th grade with their peers. Therefore, a specified push to bolster self-confidence and self-concept among 9th grade students is essential to help them reflect cathartically on their significance in society and the role a solid educational plays.

A key component of students having a self-reflective encounter rests in their exposure to works whose themes align with such experience. The Odyssey is a premier work that at its foundation can be approached as a springboard for students exploring their own lives and their society, much of which is seen as disconnected or episodic. Because 9th graders and adolescents in general are unlikely to respond to material that appears to have no immediate bearing on their lives (as is the case with this "old stuff"—to quote many of my former students), it is necessary to also bridge their understanding of The Odyssey through identification of structure and theme in works in which the same have been acculturated as is the case with The Wiz and O Brother Where Art Thou?

The Wiz is an adaptation of the American classic The Wizard of Oz—based on the Broadway musical—Dorothy (Diana Ross) is a 24-year-old Manhattan kindergarten teacher who is brought by a snowstorm to the mysterious Land of Oz, a sprawling, decaying, nightmarish, and dangerous megalopolis that resembles the physical characteristics of New York City. This variation of the tale includes various urban settings, and features themes of rising above one's background and the expectations of others (scgary66).

I have chosen this works as a part of this unit for its individual uniqueness as a black musical, which will be appealing immediately to my students for its sensory attraction. The Wiz, like The Odyssey, is episodic and features distinct occurrences that are related to one another but can also be viewed individually, almost as independent stories. Though like The Odyssey, are a part of frame stories themselves.

O Brother Where Art Thou? depicts a dapper, smooth-talking con man Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) who escapes from a chain gang and brings along the two fellow prisoners chained to him, Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) with the promise of recovering buried treasure from a heist. In truth, this is just a lie he tells them to get them to come along with him back to his wife and their seven daughters before his wife marries another man (wikipedia).

This film adapataion of Homer's Odyssey will provide a consistent parallel of allusions that students will easily grasp after having read the literary text. I will further use this film to help students learn how to navigate available online film resources thereby increasing internet and research literacy.

Students will read a variety of literary criticism that will help to ultimately shape their eye for reading literature and prick their consciousness during viewing flim. Hence, through both a structural and textural understanding of these works, I am crafting my unit as an experience that will allow students to appreciate themselves through their individual understandings of their personal and societal values as young men and women which far exceeds many of their current concepts of themselves.

Georgia State Performance Standard Alignment

It is very important that every aspect of my teaching align directly with Georgia State Performance Standards. Hence, as requisite by the Georgia State Department of Education and Atlanta Public Schools, the unit addresses two specific Georgia Performance Standards. The first (ELA9RL1), which has at it focus the structural interactions with a text, purports that students demonstrate comprehension by identifying evidence (e.g., diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (e.g., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and ultimately use this evidence as the basis for interpretation. A critical component to identify whether students have met this standard requires that a student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of the themes, structures, and elements of dramatic literature and provides evidence from the text to support understanding.

The second Standard (ELA9LSV2) calls for at its root, students to engage literature with much higher order thinking. It requires that students formulate reasoned judgments about written and oral communication in various media genres; and deliver focused, coherent, and polished presentations that convey a clear and distinct perspective, demonstrate solid reasoning, and combine traditional rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion, and description. The critical components require that when responding to written and oral texts and media (e.g., television, radio, film productions, and electronic media), students focus on (a) analyzing the characters, structures, and themes of dramatic literature; (b) distinguishing and exploring the affect of dramatic elements, (e.g., exposition, rising action, climax, denouement, dialogue, monologue, soliloquy, aside, /in medias res/); (c) analyzing how dramatic elements support and enhance interpretation of dramatic literature; (d) formulating judgments about ideas under discussion and supports those judgments with convincing evidence; (e) identifying the aesthetic effects of a media presentation [of a work] (e.g., layout, lighting, color, camera angles, background, etc.).

Strategies

The unit is designed to span two weeks. For the purposes of this document, I will provide a general overview of each day and then outline three specific lessons, the first of which will focus on the reading of The Odyssey itself, the second on analyzing film and using literary criticism and the third on charting emotional responses to literature and film.

The first day, I will introduce the unit by explaining that we are going to go on a journey to discover who we are as a group, who we each are as individuals and how understanding ourselves in both ways will help us to otherwise discover who we are in light of our personal values and experiences.

I will begin our journey with a discussion surrounding identity, posing the questions: How is our identity formed? Is it a manifestation of our lineage? Is it our culture—our birthplace, country, sex, socioeconomic status? How is our identity formed? Through our discussion, I want students to see that the answer is a resounding "yes" to each question. Our identities are shaped by our experiences—good, bad and even ugly. We are who we are because of where we have been and what we have seen.

And so, we will begin with students reflecting on their own personalities, desires, struggles and fears through the development of an I Am poem (See Appendix A) This poem is designed for students to simply fill-in-the blank with key information about themselves.

To set the foundation for reading The Odyssey, students will complete a research exercise, Let's Go on a Discovery Mission. Here students determine the work that we are going to read through a little detective work. Given some basic information, students will collaborate with a specified group to make a judgment about where we are going to go on our journey. The answer of course being: to many different places to meet many different mythological figures as Odysseus makes his way back to Ithaca.

As students complete this discovery, they will ultimately introduce themselves to the major characters, settings and motifs of The Odyssey. This manner of inductive reasoning will allow students the opportunity to use technological and print resources as well as hone team collaboration skills. This lesson detailing this research experience is outlined in the Lesson Plan section of this document.

To introduce the text, we will view the trailer for Andrei Konchalovsky's The Odyssey (1997) starring Armand Assante to, in a sense, whet students' proverbial appetites. The 1:45 minute clip succinctly depicts the most graphic scenes of the epic (there is fire and monsters and everything. . .the students will eat it up!). I have found that the use of movie trailers are significantly intriguing for their "Hollywood" appeal to students who can be, in many instances, unmoved by the traditional manner of reading the background section in the text that publishing companies so conveniently provide. Using the trailer, students will be able to readily identify with much of what they uncovered from the Discovery Mission completed earlier.

Over the next 5-6 days, we will have a concentrated focus on the structural interactions of The Odyssey. Therefore, we will pay close attention to plot events, symbolism, allusion, main idea, motif and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation/analysis. We will also focus on theme, structure, elements of dramatic literature and providing evidence from the text to support understanding.

We will spend strategic time examining as well the culture of the time and—because this is always a plus—we will enjoy at least one day sharing in some of the food from the time to include bread with olive oil, grapes, olives, lamb. Always remember. . .ninth graders need varied stimulation to sustain interest.

As students read, they will complete a dialectical journal that they will use as a method of personally interacting with the text. The journal as modeled in Appendix B will allow students to maintain a clear record of not only the structural elements of the text, but also their thoughts and feelings about those elements.

This journal will ultimately allow students to have an arsenal of information with which they might make and support judgments about the reading itself. It will also allow students to interact with peers about their thoughts, situations and other connections made to the text. I am also able to tell students that I want them to look for a specific element and therefore guide student reading as necessary.

After the textual analysis, I will discuss with students how many film directors have depicted characters who, in one way or another, must also go on a journey in order to learn a lesson about themselves and ultimately their place in society. We will then view

O Brother Where Art Thou?examining how the plot, characters and motifs parallel those in The Odyssey. To further examine such parallels in literature, we will also view clips of Sidney Lumet's The Wiz and examine how its structure as an episodic film presents similar themes relative to those of The Odyssey. Students will use a teacher-provided format for analysis (Appendix D) prior to, during and following the viewing of each work.

Lesson Plans

Lesson 1

My first lesson Discovery Mission focuses on the art of the sleuth to research the background information needed to set the focus for our reading of The Odyssey.

For this lesson, it is very important to coordinate with the Media Specialist. Prior to the lesson, I will provide a listing of all of the topics that students must research as well as a copy of the research guide they will complete during their time in the media center.

Upon arrival, students will be given a color coded envelope. Each student will then take his/her envelope to the station in the room that matches the color coded envelope. Groups should be no larger than three persons. If needed, allow several groups to have identical materials.

The following grouping allows for 32 students; each color coded envelope will contain one of the terms/phrases outlined below:

  • Group 1 (Red): Scylla and Charybdis, River Styx, Death, Circe
  • Group 2 (Blue): Paris and the Golden Apple, Achilles, Hector, Odysseus
  • Group 3 (Black): Ithaca, Fidelity, Suitors, Greek Hospitality
  • Group 4 (Green): Tiresias, Blindness, Hades, Prophesy
  • Group 5 (Orange): Trojan War, Menelaus, Hercules, Troy
  • Group 6 (Purple): Polyphemus, Sheep, Poseidon, Hubris
  • Group 7 (Yellow): Circe, Sirens, Calypso, Curiosity
  • Group 8 (Brown): Athena, Telemachus, Penelope, Family

Students will have 40 minutes to use media center resources to research their individual term/phrase. They will complete a Discovery Mission worksheet to help guide their research (See Appendix C). Allowing my ninth grade students to research with the instruction to simply go and find information is too unstructured. I am able to do so with upperclassmen, but knowing intimately the nature of ninth grade students, it is much better to provide a structure that will move them strategically through the media center.

Then the group members will come together with the others in their color coded group to discuss how they feel all of their terms/phrases related. Allowing at least 20 minutes for such a discussion will allow students the opportunity to tell the stories of what they found during their research. I truly appreciate this strategy as it provides a rich opportunity for students to learn a lot of material in a short amount of time and, because they are retelling the information to others, students are more likely to retain their bits of information so that when they uncover their terms/phrases or allusions to them in the reading, they will be better able to make logistical connections to the work. After the groups have discussed, the class will make a determination about our literary journey forthcoming with The Odyssey.

Students will take notes on 2 video segments. The first is Odysseus's monologue before when the weary and battle-scarred Odysseus reveals to his hosts his true identity and his intense longing for home. The second from the Encyclopedia Britannica Film Series details the structure of an epic and provides a brief overview of Greek myths.

Lesson 2

Lesson 2: You be the Critic, will teach students about the roles that not only film critics play in film, but also the myriad of roles that are also a part of, to include the caterers and the stunt artists. This lesson will span 2 days and will ultimately teach students to use literary criticism as models to refute or justify their own understanding of works.

Part of becoming literate in today's society is to become well-versed in navigating the internet. To facilitate such an experience for students, this lesson will expose students to the internet resources that provide tools for analyzing literature and film.

As an introduction to the lesson, I will give students a listing of "goofs" from familiar movies. Such listings can be found on the Internet Movie Database, Inc. (IMDb) website. Using the specific clips from the movies that are on this listing will be an attention grabbing strategy to lure my learners into paying closer attention to details in movies. The site also provides trailers, a listing of memorable quotes, financial information relating to the film (that incidentally, may serve as a wonderful resources of interdisciplinary planning with your mathematics teacher.), actor information and a wealth of other material that students will find very intriguing about the behind the scenes aspects of film production.

I will then ask students to go to the IMDb website and guide them through the components of the site indicating how it might be used to secure commentary and critiques. Using The Odyssey as our entry to model, I will provide ask students to read the external reviews and to provide feedback on regarding how they related—positively/negatively—to the review.

Students will then search for reviews O Brother Where Art Thou? and provide the same feedback based on their viewing of the work from a randomly selected viewpoint. I will put students into groups 4 and ask them to view clips and stills (as applicable) of the film from the following perspectives: lighting; audio; set; visual effects; camera angles. Having watched the clips/viewed the stills, I will ask students to critique the effectiveness of their selected element to the overall work.

Students will collaborate on the critique to produce one finished product to share with the class.

Lesson 3

This lesson, Chart It: Formulating and Supporting Judgments requires that students respond in an interdisciplinary mode to express their personal connection with the works presented.

Having now thoroughly analyzed The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art the students will make judgments about the intrinsic effect of the cinematography associated with episodes from each work. In order to do this, the 90-minute lesson will intentionally infuse the use charts and graphs as a medium to do more than display statistical data, but also to analyze emotional response.

Prior to the lesson, I will prepare in electronic format a barrage of charts and graphs from various sources that would in their own right, generate discussion about key socio-economic issues relevant to students peer groups. I suggest using Microsoft PowerPoint or direct links to statistical websites (suggestions are included) if such technology is available.

As a class, we will examine the presented graphics reviewing specifically the structural make-up of the various types of graphs. We will concentrate on why an analyst would choose to "organize" his or her data in such manners ultimately addressing the impact that the visual has on viewers. It is important that students learn to read critically such data for their personal development but also as a strand found among the Georgia High School Graduation and End-of-Course Tests. So, I will explore two paths, how this awareness affects students understanding of their context and what the assumptions of the viewers.

I will then ask students to apply their thinking and interactions with charts and graphs to episodes relating to The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou? and The Wiz. Since by this time in our unit, we have listed the various episodes from the works, some of which are outlined in the following chart for The Odyssey and The Wiz, students will be readily able to do so. A listing of parallels in O Brother Where Art Thou? is also provided.

EPISODES

This is a general listing in no particular order and it does not suggest a visual parallel of episodes.

The Odyssey
O Brother Where Art Thou?
The Wiz*
Polyphemus One-eyed big Dan Can I Go On?
Sirens Changing of Everett's companions into animals So You Want to Meet the Wizard
Cierce The old-man disguise Believe
Scylla and Charybdis The Flood Eviline
Lotus Eaters The Baptists Meeting Addaperle/Munchkins
Tiresias Man of Constant Sorrow Flying Monkeys
Death in the Great Hall Shooting of the crows Sweatshop
Decent into Hell   Poppy Girls
The Bending of the Bow *As this is a musical students will associate episodes with a specific song.

Students will rank a minimum of five episodes according to those they view as most suspenseful, and crucial to character and plot development. Students will then to present their rankings in a graph format of their choosing. After each student has completed his or her individual rankings, the average for each episode as a class will be calculated as well.

Microsoft Word offers a variety of charts (bar, pie, linear, 3-D cone) that students might use easily and include commentary if this is desired; but I will have my 9th graders, who need tactile stimulation, draw their graphs using protractors, graph paper, rulers, calculators, colored pencils and the like. Students normally use these devices in mathematics classrooms, and this interdisciplinary use will be surprising, just as impacting and the finished products will be wonderful additions to my classrooms décor.

Appendix A

I Am Poem (format)

I am (two special characteristics about your personality) I wonder (something you are actually curious about) I hear (a saying that someone might say to you that encourages/discourages) I am on a journey toward (a vision for your future/challenge in your present) I want (an actual desire that you hold for yourself) I am (the first line of the poem restated)

I pretend (something you actually pretend to do) I feel (a feeling about something imaginary that is holding you back) I touch (an imaginary touch) I worry (something that really bothers you) I cry (something that makes you very sad) I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

I understand (something you know is true about yourself/context) I say (something you believe in) I dream (something you dream about for your future) I try (something you really make an effort to do/understand) I hope (something you actually hope for yourself/context) I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

Student Sample

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I wonder where God is leading me. I hear whispers of encouragement. I am on a journey toward learning about who I am to become.

I want to walk boldly into my future. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I pretend to be strong in every situation. I feel my past pulling me away from my future. I touch the lives of so many. I worry that I am walking upright before others. I cry for I know happiness is around the corner. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I understand that I have responsibilities. I say that I am OK. I dream of a life filled with joy. I try to respect the little things in life. I hope I can let down my guard—for a lifetime. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Appendix B

(table 07.01.01.02 available in print form)

Key: P: Personal Connection; Q: Question; MP: Make a prediction; C: Character; S: Setting; A: Allusion; S: Symbolism; O: Other

Appendix C

Discovery Mission

It's time to go on a serious mission. It's a mission filled with never before seen people, places. . .and things. But, I know you are up for the challenge!

The envelope in your hand contains the only piece

of this puzzle that you are going to receive. It isn't much, but it's all the Mission Director could provide. But, you are here in a pace where hundreds of resources are available to help you discover more than you can imagine about your clue and before you leave class today, each of us will have discovered how our piece of the puzzle fits.

So here are your instructions.

1. Open your envelope. Take out your piece of the puzzle. Don't tell anyone just yet what your piece of the puzzle is. You will have time later for that.(You may be familiar with your term. If so, keep going on the mission, because remember, you just have one piece of the puzzle and it has to fit with those of your colleagues.)

2. You may begin your discovery anywhere in the library. You may not go to the internet as a resource for the first 15 minutes. . .in essence touch an actual book!

3. Here are some suggestions for where to look.

  • Use the online card catalog to find at least 2 books about your word/phrase.
  • Check out an atlas. Is your word/phrase a place?
  • Look through the encyclopedia
  • Do an online search

4. Complete the following chart based on your research of at least 5 different sources. You will share this information with your colleagues.

Word/Phrase:

What do you know about your clue already?

How do you think your clue is connected to your colleagues' clues?

Source #1 | Notes:

Source #2 | Notes:

Source #3 | Notes:

Source #4 | Notes:

Source #5 | Notes:

5. After you have researched and you are the expert on that clue, join your colleagues whose envelopes share the same color coding and identify your clue and share your research.

6. As a group, make a prediction about how each of your clues is connected. Write that prediction here: ______________________________________

___________________________________________

7. When all groups are finished, each group will share its predictions based on their clues and as a group, we will make a judgment about what work(s) of literature we are going to read for this unit.

Now that all of the pieces of the puzzle have been shared. . .we are ready to dive into. . .____________________!

Your expertise as an individual and as a team will be valuable throughout the unit; so look for your opportunities to share more extensively what you discovered on this mission!

Appendix D

Motion Picture Analysis

The Motion Picture Analysis Worksheet helps students analyze the historical evidence of motion image materials. It is designed to focus students' attention as they analyze the auditory and visual information contained in motion picture film, videotape, newsreels, and animated features.

Motion Picture Analysis Worksheet

Step 1: Pre-viewing

A. Title of film: ______________________________________________

B. What do you think you will see in this motion picture? List three concepts or ideas that you think you might expect to see based on the title of the film. List some of the people you might expect to see based on the title of the film.

Concepts/Ideas

  1. ___________________________________________________________
  2. ____________________________________________________________
  3. ____________________________________________________________

People

  1. ___________________________________________________________
  2. ____________________________________________________________
  3. ____________________________________________________________

Step 2: Viewing

Type of motion picture (Check where applicable)

__ Animated cartoon

__ Documentary film

__ Newsreel

__ Propaganda film

__ Theatrical short subject

__ Training film

__ Combat film

__ Other

Physical qualities of the motion picture (check where applicable)

__ Music

__ Narration

__ Special Effects

__ Color

__ Live action

__ Background noise

__ Animation

__ Dramatization

Note how camera angels, lighting, music, narration, and/or editing contribute to creating an atmosphere in this film. What is the mood or tone of the film? ___________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Post-Viewing (or repeated viewing)

Circle the things that you listed in the previewing activity that were validated by your viewing of this scene.

What is the central message(s) of this scene?

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Consider the effectiveness of this scene in communicating its message. As a tool of communication, what are its strengths and weaknesses?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

How do you think the filmmakers wanted the audience to respond?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Does this scene appeal more to the viewers' reason or emotion? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

List two things that your specific element as related to this scene tells you about the culture of the work?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Write a question to the filmmaker that is left unanswered by the scene.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What information is there about this scene as conveyed by your group's element that would not be conveyed by a written source? Be specific.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Designed and developed by the staff of the Education Branch, Office of Public programs, National Archives, Washington, DC 20408.

Notes

1. U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics. "Drop Out Rates", http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/dropout05/figures/figure_04.asp. (accessed on July 4, 2007).

2. The terminology structure and texture as explained by Professor Dudley Andrew (Yale University) suggests that structure refers to the "overall shape" of a film whereas texture asks the question of how the work "feels" at any given moment—its sensory aspects/qualities.

Bibliography

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Dir. Stephen Sommers. Elijah Wood, Courtney B. Vance. Walt Disney Productions, April 2, 1993.

CanTeach: How to Write an I Am Poem (adjusted). http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/poetry3.html (accessed on July 10, 2007)

Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Homer: Odysseus describes his home, Ithaca. http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-18477/Moved-by-the-minstrel-Demodocuss-account-of-the-Trojan-War (accessed on July 11, 2007).

Encyclopedia Britannica Film Series

Homer, The Odyssey.

Myrsaides, Kostas, ed. 1987. Approaches to teaching Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

The Odyssey. Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky. Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Vanessa Williams, Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters. Hallmark Entertainment et al., May 18, 1997.

Twain, Mark. 2005. The adventures of Huckleberry Finn. London, Prestwick House, Inc.

The Wiz. Dir. Sidney Lumet. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Lena Horne. DVD. Motown Productions, October 24, 1978.

Peachtree City Real Estate. http://www.wesellptc.com/crime.html (accessed on July 7, 2007)

This site provides housing listings, but also provides statistical information for buyers to statistically analyze the safety of the area in which the realty team concentrates.

www.Nationmaser.com. Provides a wealth of international specific statistical information in various forms.

Scary66. Plot Summary for The Wiz. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078504/plotsummary (accessed on July 10, 2007).

www.Statemaster.com Provides a wealth of state specific statistical information in various forms.

What democracy means to 9th graders. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/quarterly/Vol_3/3_2/q5-1.asp#Figure-6 (accessed on July 7, 2007)

Interesting statistics compiled by the Institute of Education Sciences U. S. Department of Education that analyzes students' responses to political viewpoints.

Where does your income tax really go? War Register League http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm Compiles data with the use of bold colors and pie charts that highlight the fact that the "bigger piece of the pie" is allocated to issues relating to national defense.

Osborne, Mary Pope. (2007). Tales from the Odyssey unabridged CD collection. New York: HarperChildrens Audio.

This is an audio of specific episodes. It does not specifically follow the text, but it is a great resource to use to help with auditory learners and to allow varied presentation of the test as well as for independent follow-up if students happen to miss any of the reading.

O Brother Where Art Thou? Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Brother%2C_Where_Art_Thou%3F. (accessed on July 10, 2007)

Provides a comprehensive summary of varied aspects of the film.

www.YouTube.com.

The site is excellent for finding a variety of film clips that will be helpful not only for this unit but also for other purposes. In many school buildings, the site is filtered out, so you may have to ask your IT administrator to help you access the site. All you simply have to do, is type your subject into the search box and believe me, you will find a wealth of material. . .but beware, preview everything before you just decide to show it to your students; some stuff is simply junk.


Comments (1)

    Ralph E. Russo (Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven, CT)
    Subject taught: history, Grade: 10
    message
    The unit is great.

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