sentimentalism lesson

8/3/2019 Sentimentalism Lesson

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sentimentalism-lesson 1/4

Jason Peterson

2/17/12Sentimentalism: Gallipoli and Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Time: One 50-minute period class

Setting: Senior elective: “Literature from Around the World.” 25 students: 10 White, 8 African

American, 6 Latino/a, 1 Asian. Gender: 10 male, 15 female. Five of the Latino/a students speak

Spanish but they are bilingual and are not classified as English Language Learners. One studenthas ADHD. All students are of varied ability, but as this is an elective, students are in this class

because they want to be and are genuinely interested in the content. It is a class designed for a

college track student.

Theory Into Practice Background: As we are starting to look at moral issues closer in this lesson,

I am starting to utilize Jim Burke’s suggestions more. For this lesson I wanted students to start

questioning the validity of using literary techniques, primarily sentimentalism, to shape

readers’/viewers’ perspectives on historical events. I utilized Burke’s suggestion of use moviesto discuss moral and ethical issues (414). Because movies are more popular in today’s culture

than books, I thought it would be a good way to engage students in these issues. Gallipoli

happened to exemplify exactly what I wanted to discuss with the class, the use of

sentimentalism. My decision to include a free write for the students to process their thoughts on

the film is supported by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Fry’s research on the impact of writing on

learning (171).

For my students to succeed in this lesson they will have had to have been in class the day before

for the bulk of our viewing of Gallipoli. If a student missed that class, I would suggest he or shewatch the movie at home. Other than that, this lesson stands alone pretty well. I will use it to

make connections to Midnight’s Children in future classes, but a student who is behind onreading could still engage in this lesson. During the lesson, active participation is critical. If notin the group discussion, students need to engage in the movie activity. I think most students

would be stimulated by the activity, so that should not be an issue. Sentimentalism and the

general theme of literary impacts on history will be carried through into the next week, as weexamine what effect works of art can actually have on society.

Objectives:

-Students will demonstrate a thorough understanding of the literary element

sentimentalism by verbally articulating their opinion on its moral soundness.

-Students will demonstrate their ability to evaluate literary techniques through their

critique or defense of sentimentalism.

Materials:

-Gallipoli



-Internet and YouTube access in the classroom

-Notebooks (for the students)

Preparation: For this lesson, I will have to get permission to show the film Gallipoli to the class.

Also, I will have to make sure that I have access to YouTube in the classroom. If not, I will haveto get an overriding code from the principal.

Procedures:

-Finish Gallipoli (skip ahead to the final twenty minutes) (20 minutes)

-Have the students briefly free write on their reaction to the film. Ask them rhetorically:how does the story leading up to the Battle of the Nek affect our view of that battle?

What is the director’s message about the Battle of the Nek? Make sure that students

understand the term sentimentalism and how Peter Weir uses it in the film to criticize the

decisions made in the Battle of the Nek. (5 minutes)

-Show Uncle Tom’s Cabin clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4T1d6IZe44). Makesure students understand how Stowe uses sentimentalism to deliver her message as well

as the impact of it. (5 minutes)

-Ask students to think about an issue that is important to them. It can be political, social,religious, or just something they feel strongly about. Have students brainstorm an idea for

a movie that would use sentimentalism to convey their desired message about the issue.

Try to think of a title for the movie, the general plot, the characters and anything else youwant to include. Make sure they write everything down in their notebooks. Ask them to

think about whether or not they would actually want this movie made? Is it a fair way to

portray the issue? What reasons can you think of in favor of using sentimentalism? Whatreasons can you think of for not using it? Have them add a couple sentences responding

to this question at the bottom of the page. Turn in page. (10 minutes)

-Discuss sentimentalism as a class. Does it play too strong on people’s emotions and

blind us from reason in a particular scenario? Or does it protect us from the cold,

unattached nature of reasoning, forcing us to face up to the consequences of our

decisions? If comfortable, students can bring their own “movies” into the discussion.Encourage them to bring other movies or books that use sentimentalism into the

discussion as well. Think about movies you’ve seen or books you’ve read that do the

same thing. Also include Gallipoli and Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the discussion. (10minutes)

Discussion Ideas:

-How does the story leading up to the Battle of the Nek affect our view of that battle?

-What is the Peter Weir’s message about the Battle of the Nek?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4T1d6IZe44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4T1d6IZe44



-Does sentimentalism blind us from reason or force us to weigh the emotional

consequences of our rational decisions?

Bilingual Accommodations: Similar to my previous lesson, this lesson supports our bilingual

students’ language development through Faltis and Coulter’s commitments in practice: active participation (37-38). Our bilingual students will also get practice with their English skills within

academic discourse, which Faltis and Coulter argue is the best way to prepare students for tests

and for life (42). I will not be collecting the free writes at the beginning of class, as it is just awriting-to-learn activity. And since the movie activity does not require a constructed response,

our bilingual students will mainly get conversational English practice through the activity and

the discussion. However, conversational use of language is still an important part of the language

learning process (29). I know from my experience learning anything that too much monitoringand assessment, grades or no grades, can make you uncomfortable and can actually subvert your

learning. I want to give our bilingual students a chance to practice their conversational language

without the pressure of assessment. However, if they want to be assessed, I can give them

feedback the next day in class.

Special Education Accommodations: In general, I have my two behavioral systems in place for our student with ADHD—positive reinforcements and self-regulation (see: “Modes of

Connection Lesson” for more details). For this specific lesson, I implemented a lot of transitions.

In one way this is helpful for our student with ADHD, because it breaks up periods of attention.

However, the many transitions could cause problems for him initiating each new task. It isimportant that students with ADHD know the directions before transitioning to new activities

(Rosenberg, Westling, and Mcleskey 246). To help him stay focused, I will give him a written

agenda of the day’s activities. This way he can prepare himself ahead of time for each activityand can know roughly how long each will last. I chose to put it in writing because, according to

Rosenberg, Westling, and McLeskey: “Relying on a child’s memory and verbal reminders will

often be ineffective” (246). As another written reminder, I will also write the directions fr thegroup activity on the board.

Assessment: I will be primarily assessing my learning objectives through the students’ movieidea write-ups. In my previous lesson, I assessed my learning objectives through a constructed

response. Although this will be a common form of assessment for me, because it allows students

to practice and develop their writing, I am also aware of the value of offering students multiple

methods of expression (Hall, Strangman, and Meyer 8). The topic of this lesson is foundationaland will be covered again next week. So, I saw it as an opportunity to give the students a break

from intensive writing and an opportunity for them to show me what they know through other

means. The students will get to use their creativity to develop a hypothetical movie, and I willuse that to assess their understanding and evaluation of sentimentality. This type of assessment is

not as thorough or clear-cut as constructed response, but I will have an opportunity to assess their

understanding of this topic again throughout the semester.

Extension Ideas: This lesson carries over our inquiry from the previous lesson about how

literature can shape perspectives on historical events. We talked briefly yesterday about how

Rushdie uses allegory and other “modes of connection” to characterize and give body to India’s



post-Independence. For this lesson, I wanted to look at another way literature can be used to

shape perspectives on history—sentimentalism. Both literary elements are important to

answering the essential question: how can literature be used to enact social change? I will buildoff students’ understandings of these concepts next week when we analyze the tangible effects a

book like Midnight’s Children or a movie like Gallipoli can have.

Source of Activity: My inspiration for this lesson was the movie Gallipoli. It is one of my

favorite movies, and I have always thought it would be useful for a study of sentimentalism.

When we decided on our framework for this unit, I felt, because of its literary critique of ahistorical event, it would be a good supplement to the novel. I was also inspired to use it because

of Jim Burke’s recommendation of using movies when discussing moral issue (414).

Resources and References:

Burke, Jim. The English Teacher’s Companion. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2008.

Faltis, Christian and Coulter, Cathy. Teaching English Learners and Immigrant Students inSecondary Schools. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008.

Fisher, Douglas and Frey, Nancy. Improving Adolescent Literacy: Content Area Strategies at

Work . Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008.

Hall, Tracey, Strangman, and Meyer. “Differentiated instruction and implications for UDLimplementation.” National Center on Accessible Instructional Material. 14 January 2011.

7 November 2011.

<http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/differentiated>

Rosenberg, Westling, and Mcleskey. Special Education For Teachers: An Introduction. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008.

Gallipoli. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Mark Lee and Mel Gibson. Paramount Pictures, 1981.

“Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” 3 March 2009. YouTube. 2 December 2011.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4T1d6IZe44>

Content Standards:

-2.A.4a Analyze and evaluate the effective use of literary techniques (e.g., figurative

language, allusion, dialogue, description, symbolism, word choice, dialect) in classic andcontemporary literature representing a variety of forms and media.

-2.B.5b Apply knowledge gained from literature as a means of understandingcontemporary and historical economic, social and political issues and perspectives.

sentimentalism lesson

Documents