Bowling for Columbine

We spent the first bit of class discussing the people in the film Michael Moore would like us to view in a negative light (Charlton Heston, the bank that gives away guns when you open an account, James Nichols) and those he would like us to listen to and/or admire (Matt Stone).  We talked about the techniques Moore uses to persuade his audience, like editing of interviews, asking targetted questions, and purposely omitting information.

We then continued watching the film, with the goal of determining Moore's message.  We will conclude the film and prepare a set of notes for our paragraphs on Tuesday.

And we're back!

Hi there!  I hope you had a restful, satisfying Spring Break, and that you are energized for this last part of the school year.  I apologize for falling down on my responsibility to update this blog, and I assure you I will be updating it each day until the end of the school year!  I promise!

Today, we began a mini-lesson on documentary films.  We discussed that even with documentaries, which claim to represent "reality," those realities are constructed, and we should be aware and critical of the messages which the filmmakers intend to convey.

We began watching Bowling for Columbine, a documentary film made in the early 2000s, by American filmmaker Michael Moore.  Our goal with this activity is to determine which messages Moore is attempting to get across, and which persuasive techniques he uses in order to do this.

An introduction to the mini-lesson was detailed on a handout I gave out today, and can be accessed at the side, here.  There are some guiding questions to consider, as you watch the film.