HISTORICAL PERIOD: The West - The late 1800s
WHO’S IN THE FILM:
Robert Redford,Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch,
Allyn Ann Mclrie, Charles Tyner, Josh Albee, Del Bolton
DIRECTOR: Sydney Pollack
DATE MADE: 1972
RUNNING TIME: 107 minutes-color
PLOT SUMMARY:
Redford stars as a man trying to fulfill an inner need
by choosing the solitary life of a mountain man in
the late 1800s. He battles the elements, Indians, and
the encroachment of civilization to find inner peace.
LEARNING STANDARDS: The learning standards for this film include, but are not limited to:
#1 Learners will be able to understand and
analyze the complex nature of cause and
effect, questioning what
factors cause events to unfold as they do.
#3 Learners will develop an understanding of
people in other times, both in their own
terms and in terms of present
perspectives.
#4 Learners will analyze how and why some things
change, while others persist.
They evaluate factors that
lead to change, the pace of change, and its impact.
They organize time periods
divined by patterns and turning points.
#9 Students will analyze social, cultural,
and economic systems in relation to the
environment.
#10 Learners will integrate the studies of people and environments,
analyzing the
interaction between physical
and human elements.
ACTIVITIES:
I. BEFORE VIEWING THE FILM
SECTION 1: HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
1. What is meant by the term “The West”?
2. When did it begin and end?
3. How did it end?
4. What were the results?
SECTION 2: SETTING THE STAGE:
A. CHARACTERS: (List the main characters in the film.)
Jeremiah Johnson
Del Cue
Bearclaw Grizlap
Two Tongues Lebeau
Paints His Shirt Red
The Swan
Caleb
B. PLACES: (List the important places mentioned in the film.)
The Rocky Mountains
The Musselshell River
The Judith River
Colorado
Gila
Canada
C. TERMS AND CONCEPTS: (List the terms/concepts students need to know.)
Hawken 50 Caliber
Blackfeet
Pilgrim
Crow
Adulterous
War against Mexico
Mormons
Settler
Flatheads
II. VIEWING THE FILM:
A. VIEW THE FILM IN SEGMENTS: We suggest
that the instructors preview
the film and select
breaks in the film that are appropriate to the class.
NOTE: You may want to pause the film for clarification when the story
line
becomes confusing or when a pivotal event occurs.
B. RECAP: RECAP EVENTS OF THE
SEGMENT YOU HAVE JUST
SHOWN BY
USING QUESTION PROMPTS:
1.
What is happening, or what just happened?
2.
What do you think about this?
3.
What do you think will happen next?
C. ACTIVITIES BETWEEN SEGMENTS: (May be done during or after class)
1.
Make and document predictions
2.
Word search activity
3.
Map activities
4.
Fill in a time line
III. PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
A. THE 5 Ws AND MORE: Suggested questions
for JEREMIAH JOHNSON
which may be asked
during viewing of the film and during teacher facilitated
discussion after
viewing the film.
1.
Who were the main characters? Describe them.
2.
Which character(s) did you like? Why ? Which character(s) did
you
dislike? Why?
3.
What was the first problem Jeremiah faced?
4.
How did he get the Hawken rifle he had wanted?
5.
Why was it so snowy all the time?
6.
What did Bearclaw do to Jeremiah?
7.
How did Bearclaw help Jeremiah?
8.
What did Bearclaw think about women?
9.
Why did Jeremiah give the furs to Paints His Shirt Red?
10.
What was wrong with the woman he meets at the cabin?
11.
Where did he and the boy find Del Cue?
12.
Why was Jeremiah mad at Del Cue for killing the Blackfeet?
13.
How did Jeremiah insult Two Tongues Lebeau? What does Jeremiah have
to do?
14.
How do The Swan and Jeremiah get along at first?
15.
Do you think things like this really happened during this era?
16.
Why did Jeremiah shave? What did it show about his feelings toward
The Swan?
17.
How did Jeremiah and the Reverend Lindquist feel differently about the
Crow burial ground and Indians in general?
18.
Why do you think Caleb and The Swan were killed?
19.
What did Jeremiah doafter Caleb and The Swan were killed? Why?
20.
What did you think the Crow warrior was singing for?
21.
How had Del Cue changed when he and Jeremiah met again?
22.
Why did Del keep yelling?
23.
Who lived in the crazy woman’s cabin after she died?
24.
What did he say about the monument the Crow had built?
25.
How did Bearclaw feel about Jeremiah when they met again?
26.
When Bearclaw asked Jeremiah if it was worth the trouble what did he
say? What do you think he meant?
27.
Where do you think they were if it was still snowy in late March?
28.
Who did Jeremiah meet at the end? What did you think the signals
they
made to each other meant?
B. THEMES AND CONCEPTS: Teacher may
initiate discussion from the
areas listed below
contingent upon learner interest.
1.
Manifest Destiny
2.
Christianity vs. tribal religion
3.
Bartering
4.
Combining cultures
5.
Outdoor survival in winter
6.
Co-existance with other cultures
7.
How do you learn the things you need to know to survive?
8.
What is a mountain man?
9.
How do the Crow’s beliefs differ from the white men’s?
10.
How would you have helped the people in the stranded wagon train?
11.
What things do you think you would need to survive in the mountains?
12.
How did the arrival of the settlers change the west?
13.
How would you have felt about the arrival of the mountain men and the
settlers if you were an Indian in those days?
14.
What is scalping? Why was it done?
IV. THE FUN STUFF
The following activities may be used at any point during this unit.
1.
Use the library, atlases and other documents to find the location of the
Rocky Mountains, Colorado, the Musselshell River, the Judith River.
2.
Gather information from resource materials from the library on the tribes
mentioned in the film, including the names, places and artifacts used by
each culture.
3. Create a poster using the information.
4.
Use “Lincoln Logs”, straws or any other appropriate material, to build
a
mountain man’s cabin. With the previously gathered information include
all the things necessary for survival in the wilderness.
5. Have the class try the CD “The Oregon Trail”
6.
Write an essay on five important items you would need to survive in the
mountains.