Lesson 1

 

Objective:

To introduce students to surrealism using visual images and a short movie clip. Students will begin to understand the basic terms and definitions that are related to surrealism. They will also become familiar with the names and ideas that were central to this artistic and literary movement.

 

Procedure:

First, tell students that they will be watching a short film clip and ask them to consider some of the following questions while watching the clip:

 

-What makes this film different from other movies you have seen?

-What do you notice about the actors/actresses?

-What do you notice about the music?

-What seems out of place or out of time to you?

After the students have had a minute to look over the questions, play a clip from the movie Un Chien Andalou (1929). The best scene to play begins at 1 min. 42 seconds and ends at 6 minutes. It is only about five minutes of this short film, but is more then enough to introduce students to surrealism and the surrealist elements that we will be discussing. 

 

Next, have a student hand out this introduction to surrealism worksheet. Along with the worksheet, hand out four or five pictures created by surrealist artists. Some great pictures can be found here. Dali, Magritte, Ray, Picabia and Ernst are a few of the most well-known surrealist artists, and their pictures would offer a great array of surrealistic images. In order to prepare students for future lesson make sure that Magritte’s “The Dominion of Light” and Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory” are among the pictures handed out. Have students take turns reading the definitions from the worksheet out loud. Ask them to look at the various pictures and to find and point out examples of the surrealist ideas being defined. This should take about fifteen minutes.

 

Finally, replay the short film clip and ask students to try to identify the different surrealistic elements being portrayed throughout the film. Following the second viewing of the film clip, have students sit with a partner and compare notes.  Ask student pairs to share with the class the interesting observations and connections that they are making.

 

Homework:

For homework have students read the short story “Virus” by Neil Gaiman. This story can be found in the anthology Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions.