I am so glad you are excited about this unit. Please send me your new URLs right away. As a favour to you, I'll put them on my blog role (an offer you can't refuse).
Here are some questions/ideas to consider:
The Godfather was published during a tumultuous era that included the Vietnam War and the struggle for civil and women’s rights. What aspects of the film might have made it particularly appealing at the time?
Marlon Brando initially refused to be considered for the role of Don Corleone, saying “I won’t glorify the Mafia.” Does The Godfather indeed “glorify” organized crime?
Many critics have noted the plot’s symbolic relationship to the corruption of the American Dream. In what ways does The Godfather comment on America and on capitalism in particular?
Women are marginal in the world of the Corleones, seen only in relation to men. What impact if any do wives and mothers have on the central male characters?
Who is the “hero” of the film? What is Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey? How are myths similar to popular stories? Why do we like the stories we like? Are we psychologically/culturally predisposed to rate The Godfather as a top 100 film?
These are only a few of the questions that make this film a relevant subject for a literature course.
You are expected to make at least three online additions in total per week:
A) Comment insightfully on other students' posts (this counts as an addition).
B) Add original posts that you sign. These should be relatively formal and grammatically careful: you need not be perfect, but use varied punctuation and sentence structures--writing is an art unto itself and reflects upon the artist.
Post in these categories:
Literary Feature Hunt
What literary features do you see that illuminate a specific theme?
Archetypes
Do you see this story following Joseph Campbell's concept of the Hero's Journey?
Do you see other archtypes?
Class Act
Refelect on class converstions providing relevant feedback: this is your chance to add your comments if we missed you in class.
The Human Condition
How does The Godfather Part I, in comparison with another work we have studied, illuminate some truth about the human condition? For example, what might we learn about being human by comparing and/or contrasting the treatment of "the outsider" in Twelfth Night and The Godfather Part I ? Pick an element that is in two texts and discuss why each text's treatment of this element matters to you.
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Your work will be graded on the formative assessment rubric. I am looking for appropriate frequency and depth.
As a challenge for you hard-core English students, I will also add a monomyth wiki. Not mandatory, but definitely useful.
