Literature School Shootings

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Introduction

For the next few lessons you will be working on the controversial topic of 'School Shootings'. Unfortunately this phenomenon is not new. The first school shooting occurred on July 26, 1764 and is known as the Enoch Brown School massacre. The last known shooting happened on March 20, 2018 at Great Mills High School. The number of such extremely violent incidents at schools seems to be increasing .

For this module you will be discussing the influence of school shootings on people and on society by means of literature, documentaries, articles and music. It is a difficult and highly sensitive topic, which deserves to be discussed with an open mind.

Good luck!

High School Shooting

Article 1

Read the article in the handout and make notes. You will need to answer questions about the text. 

www.huffingtonpost.com

Article 2

Read the article in the handout and make notes. You will need to answer questions about the text. 

www.scientificamerican.com

Jeremy - Pearl Jam

Read the text in the handout. What do you think this song is about?

Do research and discuss

* What is the true story behind the song? 

* What does Pearl Jam singer Eddy Veder say about this song and its inspiration?

* Whose perspective is the story told from?

* What could be the reasons behind Jeremy’s decision to take  

   his own life?

* Explain what the line: “Jeremy spoke in class today” means.

In the video hand-written words and phrases appear. Try to explain their relevance

peer                                                             erase

harmless                                                   an affluent suburb

disturbed                                                  64 degrees and cloudy 

The government declined comment

At a certain point in the video, Jeremy has the American flag wrapped around his shoulders. What, do you think, did the director of the video try to say with this?

Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People

Read the text in the handout. What do you think this song is about? 

Do research and discuss

* The song’s protagonist is called Robert. He is described as         the ‘cowboy kid’. What type of boy do you think Robert is?`

* What is the relationship between Robert and his dad probably     like? Motivate your answer by using and explaining quotes     from the song.

* The title ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ refers to sneakers such as Nike Airs or Reeboks. What do these ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ represent?

Make notes

We are going to watch an interview with Mark Foster about Pumped up Kicks.    Make notes because you need to answer questions about the interview.  

edition.cnn.com

Discuss

Discuss  what Foster means with “… your following the protagonist, who also happens to be the enemy in a way. It’s illuminating the situation from an interesting point of view.”