Cinema Studies for Literature Learning is geared to the visual learner in high school, to those who are reluctant readers or for whom reading is very time-consuming, and to those who love movies! Good movies tell good stories, and good storytelling requires the use of traditionally respected literary devices and techniques. With a little help from a study guide, many movies introduce the viewer to excellent literature that is being presented in a visual medium.
Cinema Studies for Literature Learning in High School
This format for literature study is a great option for high school students who become overwhelmed with a demanding reading list. Can you REALLY use movies as literature? While reading books is still a necessary part of a teen’s high school education, placing the ANALYSIS of literature primarily in the arena of movies is a good option for some students. As with all curriculum from 7SistersHomeschool.com, we aim for no-busywork and no-overkill, instead offering teens a chance to build critical thinking skills while earning high school credit.
Here’s how Sabrina Justison’s Cinema Studies for Literature Learning guides work.
Each study guide asks the student to read the introductory material, watch the movie once (answering questions as they go, occasionally pausing the video), and then take a week to think a bit about the ideas and the literary devices they observed. Ideally, students should discuss their answers with someone else to enhance the learning process.
Students then watch the movie a second time after the questions and ideas have had some time to
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take root, then write in response to the suggested assignment at the end of the study guide. Writing assignments assume a certain degree of basic understanding on the part of the student regarding paragraph structure and essay form. (If your teen has not practiced essay writing, we recommend that you look into a writing guide like Introductory Guide to High School Essay Writing by Marilyn Groop, available in the ebookstore here.)
Individual guides ($4.99 each) are available for the following titles:
- Rudy
- High Noon
- Places in the Heart
- The Three Musketeers
- Casablanca
- What’s Up Doc?
- A Christmas Carol
- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- The Wizard of Oz
- 12 Angry Men
- Field of Dreams
- Moby Dick
- The Truman Show
- The Miracle Worker
If you’d like to try a full YEAR of learning literature through a cinema studies approach, you can order the bundle of 15 study guides with introductory material that helps you plan your year for just$29.99…a 60% savings off the cost of purchasing all 15 guides individually!
Explore literary devices and techniques including:
- Theme
- Universal and Personal Symbolism
- Satire
- Archetype
- Motivation
- Internal and External Conflict
- Static and Dynamic Characters
- Extended Metaphor
- Father and Son Stories
- Fiction as Social Commentary
- Suspension of Disbelief
- Dramatic Foils
- The Nature of Heroism
- Irony
- Foreshadowing
- Composite Characters
- Classic 3-Act Plot Structure
- Sub-plot
- Deus Ex Machina
- Farce
- Bildungsroman (Coming of Age Story)
- Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, and Allegories
- Juxtaposition
- Allusion
Cinema Studies for Literature Learning explores the important IDEAS of story-telling and the power
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stories have to shape individuals, groups of people, and even entire cultures using the visual medium of movies…all while earning Level 2 Average High School credit in literature toward the core English/Language Arts credit that must be recorded on the transcript each year in high school.
Click here to learn about using Cinema Studies for Literature learning in a co-op
Movies can also be used to enhance learning of history. Click here to see a list of some of our favorite history movies.
Click here to see literary elements as illustrated in Disney movies.
NEW Cinema Studies for Literature Learning in High School
This amazing, but I want to understand…
The $15.00 includes all of the movie guides to be downloaded and printed as needed?
If so this is exactly what I have been looking for:)
You are correct, Lainie! But the special price lasts only until the 29th! Have fun!
For the student guides we prefer to print sheets and handwrite vs fill in answers on the computer. Do the student sheets print well for use either way? Thank you! I am so excited that this curriculum is available!
Printing the guides works just fine. I have the students do this in my local co-op class. So glad you are excited about the curriculum! I love teaching it.
Looks great. Can you please explain or elaborate on this statement made in the description above? Specifically, what do you mean by Level 2 Average? “…all while earning Level 2 Average credit in literature toward the core English/Language Arts credit…”
Hi Nicole,
Here’s a post that explains levels. They are important for college-bound students: http://7sistershomeschool.com/homeschool-high-school-transcripts-recording-course-levels/
I love the idea of cinema studies! I’m wondering if I could see a sample study guide online before purchasing. Also, would this work to do as a co-op?
Hi Lisa! There will, indeed, be excerpts to view from each guide. You will find the “click here to view excerpts” link near the bottom of the product description for each title when the guides go “LIVE” at 12:01 a.m. on Black Friday. I have been teaching in our local homeschool group for two years using these guides, and they work GREAT in a co-op class setting. Lots of wonderful discussion.