I want to agree with the points that say that it is quite different and difficult to get in front of your peers. 9th graders don’t intimidate me, but my peers do. Many of you have so many more years of teaching – on all kinds of levels, too – than I do. I know 9th graders can’t do my job better than I can, but I know that many of you could.
On the whole, I think that my presentation went pretty well given the circumstances. The only thing I wish that I had done differently would be to connect the opening writing activity a little better at the end. I ran out of time before getting to really talk about the ending. I kept forgetting to incorporate the teaching explanations in there. I wasn’t worried about the presentation going into it, but I hadn’t anticipated how difficult it would be to teach and explain why I was doing what I was doing at the same time. I also over-planned, so there were a lot of things that I wanted to talk about that I didn’t get to do.
I was really glad for the variety of examples from funny to serious, and the participation that was given. There was one more activity I had hoped to get to or at least be able to discuss, which tied in with the last activity. We would have a conversation about the fact that this story seems to be a confession, but we don’t know to whom. I wanted to talk about how the class would discuss that, and then how different opinions would come out of that. After we’d discussed the irony and the narration, I would have students write from another character’s point of view – perhaps from Fortunato’s, but even other characters who are mentioned but never actually show up in the story (Lady Fortunato, Luchesi, the servants, etc.). Alternately they could write from the point of view of the person who is hearing Montresor’s confession – is it a person, a diary, a child, a spouse, a random person that he is telling? And WHY is he telling it? Is he guilty, dying, proud, etc.? There is so much to discuss with this story that it’s impossible to cram it all (with explanations) into 20 minutes. But overall, aside from the aforementioned nerves and the speed-talking I seem to make a habit of when giving presentations, I felt like it went pretty okay.
I thought the presentation was interesting and fun. I liked the idea of having the students identify with the desire for revenge. My favorite part of the story is the difficult first paragraph that lays out the requirements for a satisfactory act of vengeance. I thought of that paragraph when Laura shared her story at trying to get revenge and not finding it satisfying. Perhaps other examples of revenge that students share could be measured against Montresor’s standard to decide if they were satisfying. Maybe the students have different standards for satisfaction.
I love "Cask" and I think you did a great job. I echo Naomi’s suggestion about discussing the standards of satisfaction. Or even talking about how Fortunato could possibly have insulted Montressor enough to warrant such an act.
Edith
I really like the confession activity. Several of Poe’s short stories seem to have that quality to them – "The Tell-tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" to name two. It would be interesting to do an in depth comparison of those works and see what conclusion the students come to regarding the nature of the confession-style narration.
Flipping the point of view sounds like an entertaining and worthwhile strategy. Most students are familiar with the revenge theme. Telling the story from another point of view can bring out elements from the text along with the student’s own interpretation.
Revenge is a very interesting topic for students. Every student starts to think about a personal experience with revenge and how it affected their lives. Your lesson helps students connect to the story by comparing their experience with revenge to the experience in the story. Great way to spark discussion, and teach a lesson. I will definitely consider this lesson and idea for my future teaching career. An activity one of my undergraduate instructors had us do was he would have us watch the movie "Godfather". That really sparked "revenge" conversations.
During the drawing exercise, I found myself wanting to draw out the scenes too! – I think it would even be a great project (long term of course) for the students to make a comic book of "Cask" and a 2 page paper/explanation to go with it of course. Or if you have a longer class period – have the students split up into groups and each group draws a scene on the board (all at once? – if there is enough space) and then the class can visually walk through everyone’s scene in order of the plot line. I really liked the revenge discussion and I connected the writing practice in the beginning with the theme. If your class does journals, then this could be great for a journal entry too! I assumed this is what you meant we’d be doing. And the "confessions" writing exercise – wonderful! That would be an awesome creative writing activity, and I think it would allow the students a chance to continue out the drama and tension that Poe creates in the story! And WHY Montresor is confessing; I was dying to know this – what was the insult in the beginning? I love it! (PS – I will return the pen one day.) :)
Thanks for sharing the things you didn’t get to. I think the confession activity is a very interesting idea that ties nicely with your start of having your students "confess" their revenge stories to each other.
I’ve copied you! I was so taken with your drawing technique that I used it in my class yesterday. And students loved it. I’m a lousy artist but that doesn’t seem to matter. Thanks for sharing such a great idea with us.
I thought this was a great choice for teaching and a great way to teach it. The involvement of the students is so important, and who hasn’t felt rage? The wish for revenge is a fantasy we all entertain. This story is creepy, but it is just a story and the exercises were a great way to entertain us with our memories of past pranks and silliness. Fun. lc