From “Twelve Angry Men” …to… Media Literacy Yet Another Unit Plan and Lesson Plan Outline to Promote Critical Thinking in Gr.12 Communication and Presentation Dieder Bylsma LLED-314 December 3, 2003 Prof. Hugh Rocket From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Overview December 4, 2003 Overview Subject & Grade: BC Grade 12 English Curriculum Year: 2003-2004 Number of Lessons: 12 (6 weeks) Lesson Lengths 80 minutes Primary Reference Text: Harrison, R.G., Gutteridge, H.D. eds. Two Plays for Study: Twelve Angry Men and Romanoff and Juliet. Toronto: McClelland And Stewart Ltd. 1967. Supplemental Material: 1957 B&W film of “Twelve Angry Men” Passionate Eye Media Literacy episode. Current newspapers/periodicals Rationale The Ministry of Education specifies that senior level English (Grade 11 and 12) aims to provide “a framework for students to experience language in its full range of contexts and purposes”. Within this incredibly broad objective, there are a number of areas that will be built-upon based on what is seen through the lens of the play “Twelve Angry Men”. Specifically students will be encouraged to: • Present and respond to ideas, feelings and knowledge sensitively and creatively • Use language confidently to understand and respond thoughtfully and critically to factual and imaginative communications in speech, print and the media • Express themselves powerfully, convincingly, and gracefully for a variety of personal, social, and work-related purposes The play offers a wide variety of opportunities to achieve these objectives, some of which can be leveraged into talking about media literacy at a later point in the unit. Given the opportunity for interpretation, a series of 12 packed lesson plans are presented as a basis from which to work in creating a more detailed set of lesson plans. Some possibilities for student and class activities that can be included in lesson activities are: • reading aloud • reading on their own • conducting critical analysis of the evidence under consideration • considering the emotions and involvement of the characters involved • consideration of any contemporary corollaries • dramatizing a scene from the play • determining how it could be staged in-situ or in the school auditorium for a single-class period. (logistics, locations, actors, sets) • rewriting a scene as a creative writing assignment in alternate formats such as (cid:1) prose (cid:1) poetry (cid:1) visual • critiquing a pre-existing production of the play (1957 B&W Film Twelve Angry Men) how faithful it is to the screenplay, how it compares to the students’ efforts. • application of critical thinking and analysis to media literacy and its effect on viewers/readers LLED-314 2/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #1 – Setting the Stage Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson, students will: o know the basics of a jury trial (judge, defense, prosecution, evidence, reasonable doubt etc) o be familiar with the context of the play (i.e know a bit of background info about the play and the author (from text pp. 46-49) o know which students will be in which group representing actors 1-12 (~2-3 per character) Resources • Overhead notes on: (cid:1) Jury trial {see http://www.sd272.k12.id.us/District/lessons/Plans/Patrogers.doc for one approach} (cid:1) Characters (assign pair or triplet per character) (cid:1) Biography of Reginald Rose • Textbook to be issued: Harrison, R.G., Gutteridge, H.D. eds. Two Plays for Study: Twelve Angry Men and Romanoff and Juliet. Toronto: McClelland And Stewart Ltd. 1967. Activities (cid:1) Note-taking on what is a jury trial (w/overheads), highlight some differences between Canada and the US (cid:1) Discussion (cid:3) Cultural context, what is different between 1957 and 2003 in Canada, in US (cid:3) Format of plays vs short stories (cid:1) Character assignment w/overheads – two to three per character. Read out character, ask for volunteers. All characters must have students assigned to them. (cid:1) Sign out texts to students (cid:1) Assign in-class reading to be completed for homework as necessary. (cid:3) Author’s afterward pp. 46-49 (cid:3) Act 1 Assessment/Extension (cid:1) Completion of assigned readings. Follow-up quizlet the next day on author’s afterward, and basic format of jury trials. LLED-314 3/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #2: The Act Begins Learning Objectives: At the end of the lesson students will: (cid:1) be familiar with the contents of Act 1 of the play (pp. 15-25) (cid:1) be prepared for a mock-provincial exam essay Resources (cid:1) Quizlet (cid:1) Text (and spares for those who forget) Activities (cid:1) Administer quizlet, check answers in class. (cid:1) Choral reading of Act 1 as per day’s previous assigned student/character roles (cid:1) Discussion of Act I (cid:3) What do people think of the characters? Realistic/Applicable today? (cid:3) Do you agree or disagree with your character’s actions and their arguments Assessment/Extension • Continuation of Discussion of Act I in (pre-existing) student journals • Re-read Act I in preparation for mini-in-class essay modeled on Provincial Grade 12 Exams with topic given ahead of time (based on in-book questions pp. 50-51). Possible questions: (cid:1) Make a detailed study of one of the jurors in Act 1 to discover what role he plays in the jury’s conduct and conversations (cid:1) Consider the specific problems with the limitation of time involved in making a television production of less than fifty minutes of air time. How would you compensate for squishing a 90 minute play into 50 minutes? (cid:1) Would you prefer to see Twelve Angry Men in black and white or in colour? Justify your answer, paying attention to how the decision affects the viewer and the actors. Your experience of motion pictures may help you to make and justify your choice. (cid:1) Explain how the mind, imagination and feelings of the viwer are projected beyond the limits of the chosen range of the camera. In your explanation, consider the setting, people and conflicts outside the jury room (cid:1) We often allow our judgement of a play to be determined by what we call its “realism” Give examples of 3 or 4 instances of ‘realistic’ or ‘unrealistic’ details in Act 1 and why they affect your perception of the performance LLED-314 4/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #2: Quizlet 1. Reginald Rose wrote “Twelve Angry Men” after he was part of a jury for a manslaughter triianl New York. The outline of the play actually took longer to do than the script itself. 2. Four elements of the jury experience were documented in the play. a) the evidence as remembered and interpreted by each individual juror b) the relationship of juror-to-juror in a life and death situation c) the emotional pattern of each individual juror d) the physical environment of the jury room, the weather, etc. 3. The play itself when presented on television was less than 50 minutes in length whereas the motion picture release was approximately twice as long as the TV show. 4. The set used, in order to be realistic had to be small and cramped 5. There are twelve jurors in the play. Only one juror is not referred to by a number. This juror is referred to instead as the foreman . 6. Your juror is . He is . In addition to this, he is 7. One juror says: “That’s old enough. He knifed his own father. Four inches into the chest. An innocent little nineteen-year-old kid. 8. The initial vote for guilt is 11:1 9. Juror number 8 takes the initiative and buys a switch-knife around the corner from the boy’s host. It cost him $2.00 10. Int he final moments of Act 1, 11 jurors vote on whether or not the accused is guilty. LLED-314 5/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #3: Trial and Continuation Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson, students will: (cid:1) Complete a timed in-class essay in preparation for the provincial exam (cid:1) Begin choral reading of Act 2 (pp 26-35) to be completed at home for homework Resources (cid:1) Text (and spares for those who forget) (cid:1) Exam booklets (such as what is available at UBC) Activities (cid:1) 40 minute in-class essay (cid:1) Reading of Act 2 (pp 26-35). Choose 12 members of the class, orient them around a table and get them to play their parts, reading from the text, walking around, etc. Assessment/Extension (cid:1) Re-read Act 1 & 2 in prep for following day’s conversation LLED-314 6/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #4: Final Readings Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson, students will: (cid:1) Be able to discuss Act 1 & 2, whys and wherefores etc. re: characters and the plot so far. Do they identify with any of them? If so, why, why not, etc. Resources (cid:1) Text (and spares for those who forget) (cid:1) VHS/DVD of 1957 version of “Twelve Angry Men” Activities (cid:1) Hand back in-class essay, general comments etc. (10 min) (cid:1) Discuss Act 1 & 2 re: characterization, critical points. Class comes up with criteria for grading characters (personality traits) and significance of characters towards plot development. Grade each character on their aspects A to F. (40 min) (cid:1) Present Act 1 & 2 on VHS/DVD (~30 min). Possibly present the video with the audio muted, or with the screen blackened as a way to keep the students’ focus on the text. Assessment/Extension (cid:1) Prepare for reading of Act 3 (pp. 36-45) LLED-314 7/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #5: The End… or is it? Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson, students will (cid:1) have completed the in-class reading of Act 3 (cid:1) have done a wrap-up on the play by doing a sociogram and a freeze-frame (tableau) Resources (cid:1) Text (and spares for those who forget) Activities • completion of in-class reading of Act 3 as per previous ‘in-place’ reading around a jury table. Different people from Lesson #3 take up the roles. • break class up into groups of 4 to: • sociogram of characters in play • assigned from random (secret) drawing one page of the play to be acted out in ‘tableau’ format • demonstrate their tableau and get people to guess which scene/act they are portraying • journal entry assignment: do a reader’s digest version of the play in a poetic format (Dr. Seuss, Haiku, Sonnet, Free Verse, etc) Assessment/Evaluation (cid:1) As per activity: journal entry assignment: reader’s digest version of the play in a poetic format of their choice LLED-314 8/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #6: A matter of interpretation Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson, students will: (cid:1) identify and share with others the most crucial issue and character in the play (cid:1) determined and defended their point of view with ‘what if’ statements and what ‘would happen as a result’ (cid:1) block out a scene that is either described directly (Jury room) or the criminal act described in court Resources (cid:1) text (and spares for those who forget) (cid:1) VHS/DVD of 1957 version of “Twelve Angry Men” Activities • view remaining Act 3 of VHS/DVD • discuss the interpretation of the film vs the text vs the students. • begin piece-setting and blocking of a scene in groups of 4 (cid:1) block / story board one scene Assessment/Evaluation • Journal entry continuing group work of blocking/story-boarding a scene. LLED-314 9/18 From “Twelve Angry Men” …to…Media Literacy: Lesson Plans December 4, 2003 Lesson #7: It’s a wrap! Learning Objectives At the end of the lesson students will: (cid:1) shared by demonstrating their blocking/story-boarding to the class on overhead (cid:1) “not guilty or innocent” begin preparation for a unit on media-literacy by considered the role that image and presentation has on believability of the boy Resources • text (and spares for those who forget) • http://www.Andrew.cmu.edu/course/80-236/ex1.doc Activities • groups (in random hat-picked order) present their blocked-out/story-boarded scene • overhead notes: • What is reasonable doubt • What is reasonableness • 3 Degrees of plausibility (mere, equal, greater) 1 degree of probability, 1 degree of proof • In groups answer the question: what needs to be changed in order for the verdict (either innocent or guilty). Define the difference between “not guilty” and “innocent”. Was the boy “not guilty” or was he “innocent” • collect texts Assessment/Evaluation • Journal entry to pre-develop thoughts for next class: think of an example where someone was “not guilty” of something but might not necessarily be “innocent” either. Describe the situation, what were the key factors, what your opinion is. Evaluation will be on explication and evaluation of the facts and arguments LLED-314 10/18