LESSON DELIVERY IDEAS: The following "Owl Creek" movie activity incorporates ideas from chapters six, seven, and eight of our SIOP textbook about content & language objectives, grouping configurations, differentiation to promote comprehensible input, and designing a lesson-delivery plan. As we practice this sample lesson plan together in class, we'll "troubleshoot" how things go, just like we might do in a real classroom situation, looking for ways to follow up and adapt during the class and for a next class day. Okay, here we go... Academic Discourse: Presenting Your Position Through Your Own Movie Summary & ReviewLIFE-CHALLENGING EXPERIENCESSmall-group & Individualized Interaction An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Biercehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk8KO0jZzbk
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*Content Objective for today's activity: Ambrose Bierce defines the unexpected challenges and problems that enter our lives as “calamities,” experiences which teach us that “the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering” (from Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary). Today, we will view a shortened version of the academy-award-winning film interpretation of Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." This story is also available as an inexpensive ebook, the narration taking us through unexpected plot twists, challenging us to consider how we might personally react to the unfolding events.
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Presenting Your Own Position Through a Movie Review *Language Objective: In speech and in writing, reviews are one of our most common and practical skills. In every day speech, we tell our friends about our favorite books, movies, restaurants, places to visit and more. In university academic writing you will also be asked to write reviews of books, films, plays, musical presentations, and journal articles in your field. An effective review involves two important skills: summarizing and responding. Today we will do exploratory writing and discussion which will give you the background to write up your own review of the film to post on our online class wiki by next week *Activities Balancing Group & Individual Learning: Activity One: Viewing & Summarizing the Film
When we summarize, we focus on important, memorable events and facts.
To begin with, let’s watch the film and summarize it. We’ll do so interactively in small groups, each person taking on an important role:
1) We will divide into groups by number: each group with 5-6 members
2) Choose a recorder, group leader, and contributors. Before viewing the film, go over group roles and responsibilities. The four contributors will take turns remembering a one-word/phrase or one-sentence memory of something important they have seen or heard. The group leader makes sure all four contributors take turns and continue summarizing the story from beginning to end. The group leader will paraphrase or clarify if the recorder or others can’t understand a contribution. The recorder writes the summary of the story on a sheet of paper or digital device (smart phone, laptop, tablet)
3) Watch the film. There is little verbal dialogue but pay attention to the action, sounds, and visual clues.
4) Interactively summarize the film according to the group roles in #2 above. Give your recorder a lot to work with so that you get a written version of the story from beginning to end. You might not actually use all the details and ideas your group comes up with for your final review paper, but remember that a good photographer takes many photos before deciding on the very best ones to show off.
5) After writing up your summary, Group A will pass theirs to Group B, Group B to Group C, and so on. Choose someone from your group to read the summary out loud. Notice how the same story can be written in very different ways, using varying vocabulary and sentences, and highlighting details your group might not have focused on in the same ways.
6) For whole-class feedback, your instructor will ask each group to tell the entire class about one particular detail or event you included in your summary and why members of your group thought it was a significant, important part of the story. It can also be important to look at verb tense. For example, do you choose to tell the story in present or past? Do you remember to stay consistent? Activity Two: Responding to the Film
After viewing the film, you have your own personal ideas about what took place. In addition, you’ve interacted with the impressions of your group members to create a written summary and you have also read the summaries of the other groups in class. Now you’re ready for the next phase necessary for an interesting, meaningful review: your response.
A) QUICK LIST: At first, many of your responses will still be at the brainstorming stage, full of guesses and questions. Look over the following quick-list of items from the film that your group or the other group might have put into their summary papers. Add more items to the list that you remember.
hooting of the owls
early morning sun
soldiers
the condemned man’s face
the man’s wife and children
noose around the man’s neck
broken rope
water bubbles
gradually building musical score
swimming down the river
rifle and cannon fire
running on bloody feet
B) OBSERVATIONS: Now write sentence-long observations about details that catch your attention. Write more than one, up to three short observations if you can. Some observations might be very explicit and direct as in (1) below. Others might be more implicit guesses at underlying meanings as in (2), or you might think of some contextual ideas or questions based on historical, societal, or psychological issues as in (3):
(1) This film was like a scary ghost story. For example, the hooting of the owls in the early morning hours gave me a sense of foreboding, a fear that something terrible was going to happen.
(2) The film made me feel sympathy for the condemned man as his face and thoughts showed how much he wanted to return to his wife and children. He had tried to blow up the bridge, but was it fair to simply hang him without a trial?
(3) Who are these guys? What time period? Which war? This story makes me think about conflicts in and around my own country.
C) SHARING BUT NOT MONOPOLIZING: Just like we tweet, text, message, or email online, you’re going to share your one or two sentence observations in your group. Go around the circle in your group, each person reading ONE of your observations. After each group member has finished reading one observation, go around the circle a second time and read another observation on your personal list. Feel free to take notes about ideas you might want to use in your review paper "write-up" about the film.
D) REVIEW WRITE-UP:
The Personal-Comment Review: This type of review summarizes one specific aspect of the source material and then focuses the most on your own opinions or experiences, sometimes only indirectly related to the main idea of the original topic. Important elements should include (1) Your own title focusing on your own main idea, (2) Giving credit to the original source, (3) A brief summary of one of the details of the original, and 4) The reviewer’s personal response. See the example below:
(1) When Time Froze
(2) The film version of Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” is (3) the riveting account of a condemned man’s last moments just before he is to be hanged at sunrise. There is a wide-eyed expression on the man’s face just before he is sent hurtling over the bridge with the noose around his neck. (4) I’m sure that was exactly the same expression on my face just before I hit the concrete highway median strip speeding along on my bicycle at 40-plus miles per hour. Like the condemned man in the movie, everything froze, and I could see with amazing clarity each car on the highway, the trees, people walking on the sidewalks, all the while realizing that suddenly I would be in tremendous pain….or dead! Here's what happened to me on that amazing day...
The Analysis-style Review: This type of review is directly related to the original, summarizing and responding in careful detail. Again, you should include (1) your own title, (2) the source should be credited. Then summaries and responses will alternate throughout the review: (3) response, (4) summary, (5) response, (6) summary, etc.
(1) Oscar-Winning Cinematography
(2) The famous short story by Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” has been reinterpreted in many ways. (3) In my opinion, the 1962 French film directed by Robert Enrico is the best because of its well-crafted cinematography. I also like the shortened versión with its driving musical escore and soundtrack, available on YouTube (István Gál edited versión). (4) The film has very little verbal dialogue, so viewers find themselves drawn into every aspect of the smart, creative cinematography. In the dim, pre-dawn opening we find ourselves being taken through a dark forest of ominously hooting owls. (5) The effect is one of a gloomy, foreboding of impending doom. (6) Added to these sights and sounds, we are confronted by lines of soldiers on either side of a bridge over a river. Close-ups of the face of a condemned man reveal (7) first, a surprising calm, his gradually-developing terror as a noose is tied around his neck, and then a despair and longing as we are visually transported in his inner thoughts to a slow-motion scene of his wife and children enjoying a picnic outside his home…but without him present.
notes.jpeg
Now, look over your notes and brainstorm your own review, including both summary and response. At this point, don’t worry about perfect organization or correct grammar, just jot down your first written draft of your review of the film on a sheet of paper or your digital device of choice.
Academic Discourse: Presenting Your Position Through Your Own Movie Summary & ReviewLIFE-CHALLENGING EXPERIENCESSmall-group & Individualized Interaction
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Biercehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk8KO0jZzbk
Presenting Your Own Position Through a Movie Review
*Language Objective: In speech and in writing, reviews are one of our most common and practical skills. In every day speech, we tell our friends about our favorite books, movies, restaurants, places to visit and more. In university academic writing you will also be asked to write reviews of books, films, plays, musical presentations, and journal articles in your field. An effective review involves two important skills: summarizing and responding. Today we will do exploratory writing and discussion which will give you the background to write up your own review of the film to post on our online class wiki by next week
*Activities Balancing Group & Individual Learning:
Activity One: Viewing & Summarizing the Film
When we summarize, we focus on important, memorable events and facts.
To begin with, let’s watch the film and summarize it. We’ll do so interactively in small groups, each person taking on an important role:
1) We will divide into groups by number: each group with 5-6 members
2) Choose a recorder, group leader, and contributors. Before viewing the film, go over group roles and responsibilities. The four contributors will take turns remembering a one-word/phrase or one-sentence memory of something important they have seen or heard. The group leader makes sure all four contributors take turns and continue summarizing the story from beginning to end. The group leader will paraphrase or clarify if the recorder or others can’t understand a contribution. The recorder writes the summary of the story on a sheet of paper or digital device (smart phone, laptop, tablet)
3) Watch the film. There is little verbal dialogue but pay attention to the action, sounds, and visual clues.
4) Interactively summarize the film according to the group roles in #2 above. Give your recorder a lot to work with so that you get a written version of the story from beginning to end. You might not actually use all the details and ideas your group comes up with for your final review paper, but remember that a good photographer takes many photos before deciding on the very best ones to show off.
5) After writing up your summary, Group A will pass theirs to Group B, Group B to Group C, and so on. Choose someone from your group to read the summary out loud. Notice how the same story can be written in very different ways, using varying vocabulary and sentences, and highlighting details your group might not have focused on in the same ways.
6) For whole-class feedback, your instructor will ask each group to tell the entire class about one particular detail or event you included in your summary and why members of your group thought it was a significant, important part of the story. It can also be important to look at verb tense. For example, do you choose to tell the story in present or past? Do you remember to stay consistent?
Activity Two: Responding to the Film
After viewing the film, you have your own personal ideas about what took place. In addition, you’ve interacted with the impressions of your group members to create a written summary and you have also read the summaries of the other groups in class. Now you’re ready for the next phase necessary for an interesting, meaningful review: your response.
A) QUICK LIST: At first, many of your responses will still be at the brainstorming stage, full of guesses and questions. Look over the following quick-list of items from the film that your group or the other group might have put into their summary papers. Add more items to the list that you remember.
hooting of the owls
early morning sun
soldiers
the condemned man’s face
the man’s wife and children
noose around the man’s neck
broken rope
water bubbles
gradually building musical score
swimming down the river
rifle and cannon fire
running on bloody feet
B) OBSERVATIONS: Now write sentence-long observations about details that catch your attention. Write more than one, up to three short observations if you can. Some observations might be very explicit and direct as in (1) below. Others might be more implicit guesses at underlying meanings as in (2), or you might think of some contextual ideas or questions based on historical, societal, or psychological issues as in (3):
(1) This film was like a scary ghost story. For example, the hooting of the owls in the early morning hours gave me a sense of foreboding, a fear that something terrible was going to happen.
(2) The film made me feel sympathy for the condemned man as his face and thoughts showed how much he wanted to return to his wife and children. He had tried to blow up the bridge, but was it fair to simply hang him without a trial?
(3) Who are these guys? What time period? Which war? This story makes me think about conflicts in and around my own country.
C) SHARING BUT NOT MONOPOLIZING: Just like we tweet, text, message, or email online, you’re going to share your one or two sentence observations in your group. Go around the circle in your group, each person reading ONE of your observations. After each group member has finished reading one observation, go around the circle a second time and read another observation on your personal list. Feel free to take notes about ideas you might want to use in your review paper "write-up" about the film.
D) REVIEW WRITE-UP:
The Personal-Comment Review: This type of review summarizes one specific aspect of the source material and then focuses the most on your own opinions or experiences, sometimes only indirectly related to the main idea of the original topic. Important elements should include (1) Your own title focusing on your own main idea, (2) Giving credit to the original source, (3) A brief summary of one of the details of the original, and 4) The reviewer’s personal response. See the example below:
(1) When Time Froze
(2) The film version of Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” is (3) the riveting account of a condemned man’s last moments just before he is to be hanged at sunrise. There is a wide-eyed expression on the man’s face just before he is sent hurtling over the bridge with the noose around his neck. (4) I’m sure that was exactly the same expression on my face just before I hit the concrete highway median strip speeding along on my bicycle at 40-plus miles per hour. Like the condemned man in the movie, everything froze, and I could see with amazing clarity each car on the highway, the trees, people walking on the sidewalks, all the while realizing that suddenly I would be in tremendous pain….or dead! Here's what happened to me on that amazing day...
The Analysis-style Review: This type of review is directly related to the original, summarizing and responding in careful detail. Again, you should include (1) your own title, (2) the source should be credited. Then summaries and responses will alternate throughout the review: (3) response, (4) summary, (5) response, (6) summary, etc.
(1) Oscar-Winning Cinematography
(2) The famous short story by Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” has been reinterpreted in many ways. (3) In my opinion, the 1962 French film directed by Robert Enrico is the best because of its well-crafted cinematography. I also like the shortened versión with its driving musical escore and soundtrack, available on YouTube (István Gál edited versión). (4) The film has very little verbal dialogue, so viewers find themselves drawn into every aspect of the smart, creative cinematography. In the dim, pre-dawn opening we find ourselves being taken through a dark forest of ominously hooting owls. (5) The effect is one of a gloomy, foreboding of impending doom. (6) Added to these sights and sounds, we are confronted by lines of soldiers on either side of a bridge over a river. Close-ups of the face of a condemned man reveal (7) first, a surprising calm, his gradually-developing terror as a noose is tied around his neck, and then a despair and longing as we are visually transported in his inner thoughts to a slow-motion scene of his wife and children enjoying a picnic outside his home…but without him present.
Now, look over your notes and brainstorm your own review, including both summary and response. At this point, don’t worry about perfect organization or correct grammar, just jot down your first written draft of your review of the film on a sheet of paper or your digital device of choice.