Golden Deer Pub Community Forums

Don't know if anyone will see this before tomorrow around 11:30, but I would like input/feedback on these 6 essay topics I am thinking of giving my students, if anyone is willing to give it. Basically I'm wondering if people think these topics make sense/are feasible for 9th graders to write about.

They have just watched Inception and The Dark Knight, both films by Christopher Nolan, and they have to write a standard issue essay on 1 or both of the films, though most of the topics cover both. These are the 6 topics I have come up with that I am thinking about using:



If you have thoughts for further essay topics I would be happy to hear them!

5 and 6 might be hard for 14-15 year olds

i think the bigger issue though is that your students might not have seen a ton of movies, so comparing/contrasting is harder when they dont have a frame of reference

To me the topics 1, 3 and 4 are consistent and feasible, since there's enough ideas to take from both movies.

The other topics might seem a bit tricky, as noodles said.

I think you covered all the bases. Some kids will be more into simple comparisons between the two movies while others might have ideas for the other topics. I think it's good variety.

5 and 6 are my two reach topics, I don't really expect anyone to choose them or successfully complete them, but I have a few students who are at a high level of understanding.

@Film knowledge: We just spent a month and a half on film analysis and terminology. They should be able to make basic comparisons at the very least.

I also added these topics. 7 is more expository, so it should be pretty easy, and it only requires students to know TDK, and not Inception, which is the more difficult film. 8 I'm on the fence about, I could see it going either way.

Hate the Dark Knight, LOVE Inception. I know it's too late but I wanted to insert my own opinion nevertheless.

I think it's ultimately a fantastic idea, Starfe. ^_^ I loved when teachers use current media and not just old materials to teach their lessons. Honestly I seriously wish I'd had you as a teacher and I think you're doing a fantastic job.

I absolutely hate 4, though - didn't really watch Dark Knight (so not interested) but from what I know and love of Inception trying to put those details down when honestly the whole point of the film is 'when has reality truly disappeared' I think that question presents an answer that is far too convoluted.

I would do 2, 5, or 6. Probably it would come down to 5 or 6. 6 if I was feeling in the mood to invest effort, 5 is the 'easy' that would require little thought for me.

On the whole, though, haha, I thought the questions were quite varied and offered a chance to challenge the students' minds without being too forced. For high school students it provokes their minds into thinking in depth on the content, but still manages to stay away from the horrific moment when you sit back and think 'so what the HELL does the teacher want again?' It was also a good range. ^_^ It's always a good thing in my mind when I'm able to debate over two topics and which one I would choose.

Ok, let me fix:

I hate Batman movies. Comics-turned-movies. I hate batman. I hated the old sixties tv series (which reruns would air while I was growing up... POW ... WHAM...). I hate batman related merchandise. I hate comic related merchandise. I also have a serious dislike for x-men and superman.

So I have only watched clips of the shows and all of the third movie because guess what - my dad likes Batman. He likes comic related shit like that. I've also been forced to sit through X-men and I'm waiting for superman. I'm sure I will have to endure that, too. So I'll be eating dinner, he'll either have already had it playing, will be putting it into the dvd player, or it will be coming on tv. Maybe I'm coming down the stairs. Maybe (as in the case with the third movie with the joker) it turns into a family-movie night that there is no escape from. Oh and I was also forced to watch the other batman movies that came out while I was growing up. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze ... I can't roll my eyes enough here.

I "did not really watch it" which means I've seen clips here and there enough to know that like ALL OF THE OTHER Batman shit I've been forced to sit through it's not something that I'm interested. To be forced to sit down and attempt to write an essay on it.... ....... ..................... *stabs herself with her pencil*

^_^ Does this help to clarify my post?

The joker one is the second one of the Nolan trilogy, but I'm not as in love with the trilogy as everyone seems to be. And I agree that the old Batman stuff was brutal, and the third X-Men movie sucks too. There is good superhero stuff out there, though!

The first Iron Man is by far my favorite, but I think personally you'd like the Thor movies the most. They're a bit campier than most superhero movies, and the visuals are gorgeous and the weird stuff from the comics is brought to light in an amazing way.

~_^ Zam, all watched. My dad loves this shit and I always end up watching it because I'm sitting in the room or whatever. Iron Man 1 was entertaining because I loved that computer Jarvis. It made the movie tolerable. I loved the back and forth. The second one I got up in the middle of and left absolutely bored out of my mind. The third I've not sat down to watch - again just clips and pieces but nothing looked compelling enough to bother.

Thor... was stupid. The action bits were fun but Loki... Ick. And where the hell were they going with that love story shit? Seriously if they had kept it off earth and just tried to do something fantasy it would have been more entertaining. I'll admit the visuals in this movie were BEAUTIFUL. It would have made a great fantasy story if they didn't try to have 'oh this is earth in the 20th century and ur the one human who somehow believes i'm an intergalactic being.'

Also: oh and sorry, I dunno - the batman with the joker and I dunno, they all get mixed up in my head. whatever. Batman movie: #5042440 whatever. I'm not keeping track.

I never really viewed The Dark Knight as a superhero or comic book movie, but rather as a crime thriller that happened to contain a guy in a costume. I feel like you could have stripped away the bat gadgets and all that stuff and had essentially the same movie, which I think is one of its major strengths.

Even so, they're not for everyone, but I chose it because I feel like they (TDK and Inception), being from the same director, address some common themes and were filmed in a similar style.

Yeah, that's a great way of putting it. TDKR lost that feel a bit though.

I think it was too long and needed some editing for pace, but was otherwise mostly perfect, even if it's not my favorite. I prefer Begins because I'm a total sucker for origin stories.

Edit: And there's a homework help thread that you could use, that would be a better fit for this kind of thing in my opinion.

Maybe this thread is more appropriate: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2051