O Brother, Where Art Thou?

After watching a movie with your children or students, we encourage parents and teachers to look for education opportunities to teach with movies. Here are a few discussion topics that can help with lesson plans or teaching in the home.

Despite their history of criminal activity, the audience is expected to have sympathy for the three main characters. What events in the script build that sense of compassion? How does the story justify the convict’s continual lying? Does the manipulation of the roles of heroes and villains in the film add to that perspective?

Who was Homer? This movie may spark an interest in classical Greek poetry. Check your library for The Iliad, and it’s sequel, The Odyssey. But don’t imagine you can write your English term paper if this is the only version of the story you know.