Peter N. Herndon
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As the film opens, the viewer observes a thin, brown-skinned old man dressed in a simple flowing white robe, supported by two tall dark-skinned women, walking slowly through what appears to be a garden. There is a crowd of smiling people there who seem to recognize the old man and seem happy to see him. He also is smiling. Suddenly an angry-looking well-dressed younger man with black hair is standing in front of the old man. He bows respectfully, stoops down, then quickly points a pistol at the old man and fires three times. The old man gasps, calls out “Oh God,” and slumps to the ground. The people in the garden are amazed and shocked. In the next scene the audience sees a large flower-covered coffin with the old man lying in it. There is a funeral procession with what seems like thousands of people, mostly dark-skinned, the men wearing turban-like cloth head coverings and the women wearing long dresses with sashes around their waists. Some of the women are veiled; some of the men are wearing western-style suits, and a few are wearing military dress. As the marchers go past the camera, a broadcast commentator is shown speaking into a microphone with an “ABC-CBS-NBC” label. As the radio announcer speaks of the dead man, whom he calls the “Mahatma,” he reads a quotation from another man named Nehru, who said this about the dead man:
“The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. . . . Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of our nation, is no more. The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong. . . . The light that has illumined this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years, and a thousand years later that light will still be seen in this country and the world will see it.” (quoted in Severance, pages 128-9)
After the long procession is over, the viewers see the coffin by itself, fire engulfing it, smoke rising to the heavens. The screen becomes dark. The classroom lights go back on. Students are asked at random to share their impressions of what they have observed; the teacher records their recollections on the chalkboard/overhead projector. Then the teacher asks that the students try to arrive at consensus about which observations they can all agree to. Once the list is altered, the teacher rewinds the film and the students observe the entire segment again in an attempt to corroborate the observable “facts.” After discussion of the list, and that list is amended, the instructor asks each member of the class to create a written list of questions that the film segment raises in their minds. After an appropriate amount of time, the questions are collected, then selected ones read to the class. Responses should fit into one of several categories including: “ what? who? where? when? and why?” If time permits, once the observable facts can be corroborated, students should be encouraged to speculate answers to their questions, based on what they have seen.
This opening exercise is designed to accomplish several goals which are essential to my curriculum unit: one, learning to observe more objectively; two, learning to describe more precisely; three, learning to deduce from the observable evidence; and finally, to speculate about possible scenarios based on events the viewer has just seen.
It is significant that this film segment of Gandhi’s assassination is the first time students have been given information from the teacher about Gandhi, the times in which he lived or even about India or its people. It is possible that some students may have already seen the film or have some knowledge about Gandhi; it has been my experience that such pre-existent knowledge does not significantly alter the value of this assignment.
The teacher should note that this exercise works best if students are not shown the film title and beginning credits. Finally, it is time to inform the students who the old man was, what violent forces were at work in India at the time (Hindu-Muslim enmity following the independence of India just five months before Gandhi died) of his death in January, 1948, and why one of his friends had said of him: “He will always be remembered as one who made his life a lesson for all ages to come.” (Quoted in Severance, page 129)
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