Exit Through the Gift Shop Part 1 (Movie & Questions)
Thierry Guetta: "I don't know how to play chess, but to me, life is like a game of chess."
Exit Through the Gift Shop - Part 1 - Movie & Questions: Having the students watch half of this movie - at this point in the Unit serves two main purposes. One, it gives them a breather in the intense work - yes, there are movie questions but those are due after their Journals have been turned in. In fact, I usually use their movie viewing time to start doing the first Journal Check and grade.
The second reason for showing this film (Part 1) now, is to give them some very real and practical uses for their new found literary analysis skills. Though they won't be answering the questions - they will be reading them and seeing how some of the ideas they've talked about - humanism, feminism, new historicism - come into play - and this movie will definitely prepare them for what is to come down the road (in this Unit).
As always, the movie questions are divided into two parts - questions to be answered now (direct, are-you-watching questions) and italicized questions to be answered later (much later in this case - which will also help them study for the Literary Criticism Final Exam).
Lesson Overview
Exit through the Gift Shop Part 1 - Movie & Questions
We show the first half of the film in today's class - the movie questions, as per usual, contain two sets of questions. Those not in regular type face, they answer while they are watching the film (the questions are short and designed to keep them viewing and engaged). The other questions, in italics, are to be answered later. When we did this - the year the handout is from - we had a couple days off and I suggested they get the questions done before the next section of Literary Criticism - but in the past I have also had them due after we are done with the journals - and as a way to study for the Literary Criticism Exam.
Here are the instructions from the handout:
As you watch – note on a separate sheet of paper, any connections to any of the literary criticisms that you’ve studied. There are a LOT of italicized questions here – remember, only jot down the nonitalicized answers during the movie. I suggest you get Part 1 done by Thursday (while it is fresh in your memory, and after you have finished Topic 3, Author Intentionality) – except for those questions that require you to either finish the film or the unit on Literary Criticism. I will not collect it until we have seen the entire movie.
Some highlights from the questions (see the handout for more):
Why the title?
What is the purpose of Art?
What is the difference between graffiti and art?
Who does Art belong to?
Who determines what is counterfeit and what is real? What does that even mean?
Why is Art more valuable only when we know who did it?
The Movie - Exit Through the Gift Shop
Here is the description taken from JustWatch (a site that tells you where a movie is streaming): "Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner." The trailer can be found here.
Handout: Movie Questions Part 1
Most Recent Handouts
The movie questions, as per usual, contain two sets of questions. Those not in regular type face, they answer while they are watching the film (the questions are short and designed to keep them viewing and engaged). The other questions, in italics, are to be answered later.
Audio Visual Content
Here is the link to JustWatch.com - where you can find where Exit Through the Gift Shop is streaming. And here is a link to Amazon where you can find physical media for the film.
Remote Enhancements
It is more than possible to watch films together with your class - usually that means having the video you are watching on your computer and sharing the screen with students. You can also keep the comment window open to share things with them (just don't get too distracting). You can also see if they are paying attention or not.
Students are instructed to put this rubric on the first page of their Literary Criticism Binders. There are two check-ins - two grades for this unit - both of them unannounced - so students should be up to date at all times. In addition to being a rubric - it breaks down in great detail - exactly what is expected of them - including how many questions (or readings) there are for each part of each day's entries: Readings for that Day (notes are graded), Questions for Today, Group Work Questions, and Solo Work.
Because you don't want to deprive students of their Journals during this unit - I usually do the first check-in (Grading) while they are watching the first part of Exit Through the Gift Shop - I will only collect as many as I can get graded during that time - and will grade the rest the next day - during the class period - asking them to take out the work and readings that they need for that class. The second check-in is not so rushed and I usually collect the binders after the Final Exam to grade them.
NOTE: I always gave students a chance to revise their binders (journals) if they did it BEFORE the final. I told them that I would change the grade they got for Check-In #1 (the only checkin that I offered this) to an average of their original grade with what they would have gotten with the revised journal. In other words, if they got a 50 on the first check-in - and then they revised it, gave it to me (before the final on Literary Criticism) - and the new assessment of their Journal lands them what would have been a 90 - I will change the recorded grade for that check-in to a 70.
Literary Criticism Day 5 - The Fallacy of Author Intentionality: Up until college teachers will talk about what an author meant when they wrote something. What was their purpose? Similarly, past authors and artists are shunned (canceled) because of their horrible behavior - no matter what their art says or stands for. It is as though their hateful acts have somehow infected the words that they wrote. William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley propose that the art and the artist are two very separate things. Furthermore, you (or even the author) can never know what they "intended" or "meant" if even such a thing exists to begin with.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
I've said this before - but it is impossible for a teacher to experience life without wondering - how whatever they are witnessing - could be applied to their classroom. I remember the first time that I saw this movie - and thinking wow! Finally a movie to go along with Literary Criticism. And it does. Quite well, thank you. But sometime, I would like to watch a movie and just watch a movie.