It is not a surprising observation that students today readily receive visual information through movies, computers and many other stimulating technological devices. I believe that we can use that to demystify the writing process for our students by using this to develop their awareness of voice. When we finish this unit, students will have reinforced their knowledge of elements of fiction, they will understand better how stories work in both written and visual texts, and will have developed their ability to "listen" to the voice of written and visual texts which will strengthen their own ability to use and alter their own voice in their writing.
I've recently gained new perspective on struggling readers: everyone is a struggling reader, depending on the text. For instance, a repair manual for any electronic gadget is cause enough for even the avid reader to struggle. So, the issue isn't so much
what
we struggle with as much as providing the
strategies
that will guide students through those struggles. Most educators recognize the connection between reading and writing. Good readers usually make good writers. Similarly, if we can improve one, the other will usually improve. It is my hope that this unit will do two things to begin to help students beat their struggle with reading and writing. First, the difficulty that written texts may present will be removed initially while we are strengthening our thinking skills. We will be addressing a visual text instead of a written one which will remove some of the hindrances that usually accompany the written word in a classroom of diverse learners. This will allow us to attend primarily to the
story
itself (Don't worry! This unit does eventually require students to apply the skills that we learned and applied with visual texts to written texts.). Second, students will use the "safety" provided by the accessibility of a popular film to strengthen cognitive and comprehension strategies that, once learned and practiced, will help them become independent readers of difficult texts thereby, also, improving their writing.
I am concerned with helping students attend to the voice that is present in nearly every area of their lives. They hear the term used a lot in school, but its import can be lost on them because they aren't aware of its presence in advertising, magazines, and film. These are media that don't usually threaten students like other forms of literature. Why not use these authentic examples to tune their ears to this trait that is present in their everyday lives
and
in all good literature? They must realize that there are authors of varying kinds that all have a message that they want to convey; their particular voice is crafted so that this attitude is most successfully shared.
Many people seem to approach movies as passive observers receiving something from a passive creator--the director. In reality, every visual text, like every written text, is carefully crafted by its author. If we can help students recognize the presence and types of narration in movies (perhaps the form of story that is most common to them), we can focus their attention on the distinctiveness that a particular text carries; that distinctiveness is called
voice
. Indeed, students often feel the presence of a narrator through devices such as music, voiceovers, and camera angles, but we must help students recognize these things and how they affect how they view a particular scene. The thinking skills that students develop in this unit can be easily applied to other genres.
Consciously understanding how stories work is a valuable part of a learner's education. This foundation allows them to see how traditional forms are manipulated and rearranged to suit an author's purpose. Though generally students are aware of the presence of the story (
fabula
) and the plot (
syuzhet)
, they are not aware of how these elements guide the spectator's narrative activity (Bordwell, 57). The plot structures how much and when certain elements of the story are revealed. A director makes choices that govern how a story unfolds, how it is revealed to the spectator. These choices alter what a spectator is likely to feel. In doing so, he creates what some theorists call
le grand imagier,
the master of images. This "master" operates as a "fictional and invisible personage who chooses and organizes what we shall perceive" (Bordwell, 62). This artistic figure behind the work is like Wayne Booth's "implied author." In other words, there is a voice that is guiding the perceptions and meanings that a film's audience receives. There is an alternate view of narration in film that characterizes narration as a set of signals that help construct a story. This view acknowledges that there is a viewer, but not a "giver" of a particular message or theme for a given film. Regardless of the theory, there is a connecting belief that a spectator does leave a film with particular feelings or judgments based on the way that the director chooses to reveal the story.
This unit gives students skills in critical viewing and provides an alternate way for students to "respond to literature." This is a skill that is essential in the development of critical thinking and is gaining increasing importance and weight on standardized tests nationwide. Using the seemingly unassuming nature of film helps students become more open to this process. Once this skill is developed, students will be able to apply their knowledge to other forms of "literature" with a deeper understanding of how they, as the author, are much like the director of a filmcarefully crafting their own voice to suit their purposes.
This unit will be about 4 weeks long and will begin by establishing vocabulary that they will use throughout their academic careers. First, we will introduce the elements of fiction (characters, setting, plot, etc. and the other characteristics of what "makes" a story). It's convenient that what makes a written story is similar to what makes a story on film. I want students to see the similarities of "story" in its written and visual forms. Once this basic vocabulary is established, a brief overview of the elements of film will give students the added tools that they need to begin their analysis. The two films that I have chosen (
Pay It Forward
and
The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun
)are advantageous because they are parallel in that both feature children who sacrifice themselves in some way for the betterment of others.