The Curse of the 'Somers,' Billy Budd's Ghost Ship: An Educational Guide to the Documentary Film.

Somers Educational Film, 330 Bret Harte, Reno, NV 89509; telephone: 1-800-914-7286 ($69.95 for 55-minute VHS color video and guide, plus $4 shipping/handling).

N

45

Teachers; Practitioners

American Studies; Class Activities; Documentaries; Higher Education; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Military Personnel; Seafarers; Secondary Education; United States History; United States Literature

This 32-page teaching guide accompanies a 55-minute documentary film, structured to be viewed in 1 or 2 classroom sessions. The film relates the story of the 1842 mutiny and hangings aboard the "U.S. Brig Somers." The guide recommends the film for grades 5-8, high school, college, and general audience. It suggests that the film material is appropriate for the study of U.S. history, U.S. literature, psychology, law, geography, underwater archeology, and naval and maritime history. The guide is divided into 11 sections, as follows: The Making of the Documentary Film; The U.S. Brig Somers--A Shipwreck from the Mexican War; The Mutiny, Herman Melville & Billy Budd; The Controversy; The Mexican War; Underwater Archeology; Characters in the Documentary Film--19th Century; Characters in the Documentary Film--20th Century; Traditional Music and Sea Shanties; Vocabulary and Terminology; and Recommended Bibliography. Appended are a number of laudatory letters regarding the film. Contains 15 references. (NKA)

1997

ED401578