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Representation at the Movies: Film, Pedagogy, and Postcolonial Theory in the Secondary English Classroom Lucas Alan Rodewald Iowa State University

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Representation at the Movies: Film, Pedagogy, and Postcolonial Theory in the Secondary English Classroom Lucas Alan Rodewald Iowa State University Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2016 (Mis)representation at the movies: film, pedagogy, and postcolonial theory in the secondary English classroom Lucas Alan Rodewald Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Rodewald, Lucas Alan, "(Mis)representation at the movies: film, pedagogy, and postcolonial theory in the secondary English classroom" (2016). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 15035. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/15035 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. (Mis)representation at the movies: Film, pedagogy, and postcolonial theory in the secondary English classroom by Lucas Alan Rodewald A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Major: English (Literature) Program of Study Committee: Donna Niday, Major Professor Michelle Tremmel Jeremy Withers Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2016 Copyright © Lucas Alan Rodewald, 2016. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1 Overarching Research Questions ......................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................... 5 CHAPTER 3 THEORETICAL COMMENTARY ............................................... 18 CHAPTER 4 THE ADVENTURES OF TEACHING INDIANA JONES IN THE WORLD OF THE OTHER ............................................... 22 CHAPTER 5 THE (WHITE) KING OF THE WORLD: PEDAGOGY, IMPERIALISM, AND POSTCOLONIAL (MIS)REPRESENTATION IN JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR .......................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 6 CURRICULUM DESIGN .............................................................. 49 Curriculum Narrative ........................................................................................... 49 Demographic Study ............................................................................................. 53 Instructional Commentary ................................................................................... 54 Minnesota State Standards ................................................................................... 58 Unit Objectives .................................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER 7 LESSON PLANS ............................................................................ 60 Lesson Plan 1 ....................................................................................................... 60 Introductory Film Analysis Checklist (1.1) ......................................................... 64 Introduction to Film Analysis Review Questions (1.2) ....................................... 66 Lesson Plan 2 ....................................................................................................... 67 Mise-en-Scène Assignment (2.1) ......................................................................... 71 Lesson Plan 3 ....................................................................................................... 72 Mise-en-Scène Analysis Checklist (3.1) .............................................................. 76 Lesson Plan 4 ....................................................................................................... 78 Cinematography Analysis Checklist (4.1) ........................................................... 82 Cinematography Assignment .............................................................................. 84 iii Lesson Plan 5 ....................................................................................................... 85 Editing Analysis Checklist (5.1) .......................................................................... 88 Editing Assignment (5.2) ..................................................................................... 90 Glossary (Student Copy) ...................................................................................... 92 Glossary (Instructor Copy) ................................................................................. 95 Lesson Plan 6 ....................................................................................................... 100 Lesson Plan 7 ....................................................................................................... 104 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Viewing Guide (7.1) ............................ 107 Lesson Plan 8 ....................................................................................................... 108 Raiders of the Lost Ark Viewing Guide (8.1) ..................................................... 112 Orientalism Assignment (8.2) ............................................................................. 113 Lesson Plan 9 ....................................................................................................... 114 Avatar Viewing Guide (9.1) ................................................................................ 117 Lesson Plan 10 ..................................................................................................... 118 Avatar and Environmental Justice Assignment (10.1) ........................................ 121 Unit Culminating Assessment Directions ........................................................... 122 CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 124 Analysis of Research Questions .......................................................................... 124 THESIS BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 126 CURRICULUM UNIT BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................... 133 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank those who gave the time, energy, wisdom, and kindness that allowed me to make this project a reality. With great appreciation, I thank Dr. Donna Niday, my major professor, whose steady hand guided and supported me from day one. I am also indebted to my committee members Dr. Michelle Tremmel and Dr. Jeremy Withers, whose input and feedback helped transform this original loose idea into its final, polished product. I also thank both Larry Czer and Paul Grubbs, who unhesitatingly told me to “go for it” when I tentatively brought up the idea of graduate school the summer before my senior year of undergraduate studies. And finally, much gratitude is owed to my friends and family whose unconditional support—always just a phone call away—kept me sane, motivated, and focused throughout the past two years. v ABSTRACT This thesis examines the potential role of film study in the secondary English and Language Arts classroom. Highlighting the frustrated current pedagogical relationship between most secondary instructors and film, it seeks to provide educators with resources to assist them in weaving motion pictures into their classrooms. Specifically, it describes using film to teach secondary students fundamental concepts of postcolonial critical theory. As a result, the thesis addresses three overarching questions: 1) To what extent can the study of film serve as a pedagogical tool in the secondary English classroom? 2) What strategies and concepts can instructors use to make the study of film in their classrooms a reality? 3) How can the study of film be used as a means of postcolonial theory? Three films comprise the thesis’s central focus: Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). By focusing on the medium’s ability to develop visual literacy skills—stressed by both NCTE and IRA as vital for students in the twenty-first century—the thesis provides ways that film can serve as a rich topic of analysis that both challenges and engages students. In addition, it focuses specific attention on using films to help students visualize and connect with postcolonial critical theory. The three films selected for examination in both the critical essays and the corresponding curricular design, in particular, embody and represent several areas of focus common to postcolonial analysis. A comprehensive literature review of film pedagogy and two critical essays on the selected films are paired with a curricular design consisting of ten lesson plans, complete with handouts, assessments, and instructional notes for educators to use in their own classrooms. Combined, these artifacts provide cogent arguments that film both can and should be included in the secondary curriculum as it links students’ inherent interest in multimedia content with the essential analytical and critical thinking skills that
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