Activity
1. Before class begins, have copies of the two articles on
rogue waves (you may present these articles in their
entirety, or you may use only excerpts).
Hand out the articles to students as they come in the
classroom, and have them read the articles to gather
background knowledge on the subject for today. Allow
the class about 10 minutes to review the articles.
2.
Ask students the following questions concerning their
reading:
What
are these articles about?
How
would you define a “rogue” wave?
Where do these waves occur?
What has happened to ships that
have encountered these waves?
Allow
students to discuss their newly acquired information
about rogue waves for a few minutes.
3.Ask
the class to define the style of writing of these two
articles. Some
responses may be “factual”, “scientific”,
and “non-fiction”. Ask the class what
kind of techniques these authors used to write these
articles.
Some
may respond
that the authors had to research their topics and
find accurate data and history. Ask the class if
they found
these articles
interesting. What makes them so? Discuss and point
out uses of powerful word choice (diction) and similes.
4.
Have the TV/VCR set up for the class to view a short
clip from the
movie “The Perfect Storm.” The section
you want the students to view is about an hour into the
film which depicts the same scene in the book excerpt students
will read.
5. After
watching the clip, ask the students what just happened
in the scene (identify this as the plot).
Ask the class to describe where the scene takes place
(identify this as the setting). Have the students describe
the actions
of the characters (identify this as characterization).
Ask how they felt while watching the clip (identify this
as the
mood). 6.
Explain to the class that these same techniques which
are used in a film to create excitement and interest
are
used in
writing for the same effect.
7.Handout
copies of the excerpt from The Perfect Storm by
Sebastian Junger, which gives
a hair-raising account of the coast guard pilots who
were forced
to abandon
their rescue helicopter off the coast of Maine during
a terrible storm. Instruct the class to read over the
account
and answer
the following questions:
- What
happens in this account? (plot)
- Where
does this event take place? (setting)
- Who
are the people involved and how do they behave? (characterization)
- How
does the story make you feel? (mood)
Closure
Have the class identify the following terms:
plot, setting, characterization, and mood.
Homework
Students may
finish reading the excerpt from The Perfect Storm for homework
if class time runs short. |
