Judith J. Katz
Once students have begun to become sensitized to the idea of CCR the next logical step is to bring their awareness to the part that characters play when they interact with the major and minor CCR's in the Narrative Structure.
Burroway and Weinberg write that the key elements in creating a believable character are that the character must have Credibility, Purpose, and Complexity, CPC. If a character is missing even one of those qualities, the character is likely to be either a minor, perhaps somewhat stereotypical character, or a character that we, as an audience cannot believe is realistic. Students need to learn that audiences have certain expectations that, even in a fantasy realm, characters will act within certain believable parameters. Failing to have characters act
within these parameters can cause the audience to be unable to stay in the universe being created for them. Once that happens the audience will simply stop watching or reading.
Film: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 125 minutes
I have chosen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Directed by Frank Capra, as the second film in the series of films to be shown in this unit. This is perhaps an unusual choice for a contemporary group of 14 year olds, but I believe the movie's message is very compelling to current students. Many of these students grew up watching kids shows with "save-the-environmentit's a small planet " messages, as well as their share of political corruption and turmoil. As contemporary young people they are both innocent and jaded. They want everything to be simple, kind, fare, and beautifuI even though they can plainly see that it just doesn't always work out that way. They can be very like Jimmy Stewart's character: Jefferson Smith.
Yes, I know it will be a bit of a tough sell. The film is old fashioned, in black and white, and contains very elegant speech, which compared to the way student's speak now seems almost Shakespearean. Preparation for watching the film has to based on having the students understand that this is a Character Driven story. And to understand that they must observe, and take notes on the CPC of the characters.
The narrative structure and appeal of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was perhaps best described in a review in the New York Times, by Frank Nugent, which was published on October 20, 1939, just after the film opened in New York City. He says:
Jefferson Smith came to Washington as a short-term senator. He came with his eyes and mouth open, with the blessing of the Boy Rangers and a party boss's prayer that he won't tumble to the graft clause in the bill the senior senator was sneaking into law. But Senator Smith tumbled; dazedly, because he couldn't quite believe the senior senator was less than God- like; helplessly, because the aroused political machine framed him four ways from Sunday and had him up for expulsion before he could say Jack Garner. But the right somehow triumphs, especially when there's a canny young secretary on Senator Smith's side to instruct him in the ungentle art of the filibuster and preserve his faith, and ours, in democracy.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a comedy/drama and it plays that edge in a way that, I believe, will keep the students interested. The major and minor CCRs are clear and well structured, and the thematic issues give the students a lot to consider, not the least of which is how much things may not have changed over time. The film also has a strong male and female lead, which gives students of both genders someone to relate to.
Projected Length of Lesson
Because this is the second lesson in the unit, there are a number of ideas and activities to review, and keep track of as we move forward and add a new idea. I project that this lesson will take four to five days, depending on how well students integrate what they need to do and keep track of. The film is long, at 125 minutes. I have projected the flow of lessons for a class that is in block format (84 minutes). If your class is one period long (42 minutes) you will have to recalculate accordingly. I would recommend that however you show the film, try to keep the activities and scaffolding of the first and last day of the lesson intact.
On day one I expect to cover the introductory elements of CPC, and to review CCR Mise-en-Scene, how to use their film journals, as well as have a discussion about what kind of notes, reflections, and methods of organization were most useful from their prior experience with Wallace and Gromit. This introduction could take most of the first 40 minutes. I would then introduce the film and begin to watch 20 minutes of the film, allowing the class 10 minutes for a reflective quick-write at the end of class.
On day two I expect to students to share some of their quick writes as well as have a discussion about what we know so far, perhaps predict what we think might happen, and generally facilitate a discussion that will prepare us to go back into the universe of the film. We would watch 60 minutes, and then do a reflective quick write, paying particular attention to character development and CPC.
On day three I would expect to repeat the structure of day two, except in discussion I would encourage students to formulate some "wonder why" type questions. These questions could be from any point of view such as: I wonder why Capra chose to…, I wonder why Mr. Smith…, etc. Then we would complete watching the film. Take ten minutes to quick write a reflection.
Student Assessment Activity
On day four I expect students to begin writing a three paragraph review/essay based on the CPC of one of the major characters in the film using information either from their film journal or memory, as long as they can provide film-based supporting evidence. The film will be available in the classroom during the writing of the review/essay and students will be allowed to use the film if they need to.
Students will use the three-paragraph film review/essay rubric like the one they used when writing about the CCR. The rubric is entitled "Working Self Assessment Rubric for The Three-Paragraph Essay: CPC/Character Development" (see below). The rubric will give the students guidance on the various elements I expect their review/essay to contain. Some of the elements I expect to be included in t he essay are: topic sentences, film based supporting evidence, a conclusion, and various basic grammatical ideals.
Before students begin writing their reviews/essays I will read them a sample, model review/essay that I will write based on Finding Nemo. My review/essay will focus exclusively on the CPC of one character. I have developed a graphic organizer that the student and teacher can use to keep track of the progress of the students work. It can be found at the end of the unit.
Students should expect to use the self-assessment rubric below to discover what they have covered in their review and what they still need to write. Your review should cover the following points:
Section one is worth 30 points
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- I have written three paragraphs
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- Each paragraph has a topic sentence
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- Each paragraph has supporting evidence related to the topic sentence
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- Each paragraph has a conclusion that ties together the topic sentence3 and the supporting evidence.
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- I have written about one character
Each of the three items in section two is worth 20 points – whole section 60 points
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- I have written about that characters purpose in the film
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- I have written about that characters credibility in the film
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- I have written about what makes the character complex, or not
Section three is worth 10 points
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- I ran spell check
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- I read the piece out loud to myself to make sure it makes sense.
Students are expected to hand in their review/essay when they believe that they have accrued 100 points. They can ask questions or ask for help at any time.
