silverlance
Member
The 9th and 9th repeat (failed 9th first time around) students in my English classes have been working on a unit on War narratives (o'brien) and poetry (o'brien, billy collins).
I'd like to show them a film that helps them put visual evidence to textual evidence. so far I have showed them clips from vietnam war footage, and clips from 9/11 (which is what collins wrote about).
reflexively I was going to show Full Metal Jacket, but then I thought about it further - I personally want my students to understand more than the usual knee-jerk "war is hell" message that is often espoused but seldom understood. perhaps this might be the best film - but as someone whose experince with the military was fleeting, I'd like to ask the veterans and historians here which film THEY would choose to show the next generation if they were given a choice.
here is a little information about my studnets: these are all kids from one of the poorest parts of California, in central Los Angeles. The population is 98% hispanic - mexican, guatemalan, el salvadoran. the latter two are products of the civil wars in those countries during the 1980s. they are all intervention students, meaning that their files indicate a very high likelihood of dropping out by the 10th grade. my job is to give them the skills and motivation necessary to prevent that from happening.
parent slips will be collected for the film, so R ratings will not be a problem as long as it can be justified.
I'd like to show them a film that helps them put visual evidence to textual evidence. so far I have showed them clips from vietnam war footage, and clips from 9/11 (which is what collins wrote about).
reflexively I was going to show Full Metal Jacket, but then I thought about it further - I personally want my students to understand more than the usual knee-jerk "war is hell" message that is often espoused but seldom understood. perhaps this might be the best film - but as someone whose experince with the military was fleeting, I'd like to ask the veterans and historians here which film THEY would choose to show the next generation if they were given a choice.
here is a little information about my studnets: these are all kids from one of the poorest parts of California, in central Los Angeles. The population is 98% hispanic - mexican, guatemalan, el salvadoran. the latter two are products of the civil wars in those countries during the 1980s. they are all intervention students, meaning that their files indicate a very high likelihood of dropping out by the 10th grade. my job is to give them the skills and motivation necessary to prevent that from happening.
parent slips will be collected for the film, so R ratings will not be a problem as long as it can be justified.
