November 2, 2001

FEAR FACTORS
Confronting Childhood Fears Through Creative Writing

Grades:  6-8,9-12

Subjects:  Fine Arts, Language Arts

Related New York Times Article
"Monsters of Childhood With Feelings and Agendas, By ELVIS MITCHELL", November 2, 2001

Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students explore their own childhood fears. Then, by reversing the scenario and considering how the objects of their fears might in turn also be afraid of them, students confront these fears and create children's books that help younger students do the same.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
45 minutes

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

  1. Express their childhood fears.
  2. Explore how the issue of facing childhood fears is explored in the movie "Monsters, Inc." by reading and discussion the review "Monsters of Childhood with Feelings and Agendas."
  3. Consider the concept of their biggest childhood fears being afraid of them; outline children's books on this topic.
  4. Develop illustrated children's books to read to younger children in a future class.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

  1. WARM-UP/DO NOW: Students respond to the following questions in their journals (written on the board prior to class): "Think about what was your biggest fear when you were younger. Can you identify what caused this fear? When were you confronted with this fear? What tactics did you use to try to keep the object of your fear from overtaking you?" After a few minutes, encourage students to share their answers with the class.
  2. As a class, read and discuss the review "Monsters of Childhood with Feelings and Agendas," focusing on the following questions:
    1. What positive features of Pixar films in general does the reviewer cite?
    2. What is the power source of Monstropolis? Why is there an energy crisis there?
    3. Who are the main characters of the film? Who are the voices of these characters? How do the personalities of these actors fit those of the characters they portray?
    4. What happens in Monstropolis when an object from the human world is brought there?
    5. According to the film, what happened to the Loch Less monster and Big Foot, and why?
    6. What other films seem to have inspired "Monsters, Inc.," and how is this inspiration apparent in the film?
    7. How is this movie different from all of the other films in which Steve Buscemi has been?
  3. Provide students with the following prompt: What if your biggest fear as a child was actually scared of you? Explain that students will each be writing a children's book with this as the main premise of the plot. First, as a pre-writing exercise, students respond to the questions below in their journals. Read a question aloud, and then allow students two minutes to free-write their responses. When the time is up, read the next question and have students free-write for two minutes on that topic. Continue until you finish all of the following questions:
    • Was your biggest fear a creature (like dogs) or a concept (like darkness)? What about it scared you?
    • Why might the object of this fear be afraid of a child?
    • What does the object of this fear look like? How would you draw this creature to accurately depict the fear you felt without scaring children so much that they would not want to read your book?
    • What type of personality do you think the object of this fear would have? How does it act? How does it react to other things around it, including humans?
    • What does the object of this fear think about humans? About itself?
    • Have you completely overcome this fear? If so, how did you do it, and what have you learned through the experience? If not, why are you still afraid today, and how has you fear evolved as you have gotten older?
    Now that students have finished the pre-writing activity, brainstorm ideas on the board of some possible ways to incorporate their ideas into children's books. Suggestions might include discussion between the child and the object of fear, a monologue from the point-of-view of the object of fear, and a look into the world of the object of fear. (This is most similar to the concept from the movie, so students should be encouraged not to mimic the movie plot if they choose this option).
  4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Students write and illustrate their children's books. In a later class, students should share their works, either by hosting a story hour in which students read their stories aloud or by having a silent reading hour in which students read others' stories silently and write reactions to them. Students might also read their books to younger students, following each story with a discussion of this particular fear and how one can overcome it.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on initial journal response, participation in group discussion, thoughtful pre-writing, and well-developed and illustrated children's books.

VOCABULARY:
mutants, shambling, premise, streamlined, myriad, ominously, impetus, twaddle, jaunt, denizens, iconic, inroads

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  1. Poll the students and faculty at your school regarding their biggest fears as children. Look for patterns based on age, gender, or other interesting factors (such as subject taught, for teachers who participate in the poll). Create a graph based on the patterns you find in your results, and write an analysis.
  2. Write a reflective essay comparing your childhood fears and your current fears. Are there any underlying similarities among them? How do the things you fear now reflect how you have changed as a person?
  3. Watch "Monsters, Inc." and write your own review of it, focusing on the following questions: Do you think that the movie accurately depicts childhood fears? Do you think the movie would alleviate a child's fear of monsters or exacerbate it? How do you feel about the characterization of the monsters? Alternately, review another current movie and compare your responses to it to a published review, like those published on The New York Times on the Web (http://www.nytimes.com/movies).
  4. Use the children's book you developed as a basis for your own short film about childhood fears. Use live actors or animation (clay, computer animation or drawings) to make your story come to life.
  5. Design your own monster. Create a poster depicting the monster and describing its vital statistics, including its age, gender, "specialties" (little girls, bed-wetters, etc.) and locations where it is commonly found, and describe its personality traits. Also include the name of the actor who would act as this monster's voice if it were to star in a film, and explain why this actor would best portray this monster's personality.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Current Events- Since the events of September 11, 2001 and those that followed, many people have had to deal more directly with some of their fears then they ever did before. More people are experiencing anxiety, and even panic attacks, due to these events. Learn about anxiety, panic attack and coping techniques that can be used to reduce the risk of these ailments. Conduct a presentation for your class on these coping techniques, and practice them together as a class.

Global History- Learn about famous childhood monsters (and other fantastic "characters") of different cultures (e.g., the "Boogie Man," Germany's "Thumbcutter" or the "Tooth Fairy"). Create a poster depicting some of these characters. Label each one with the culture in which they were created and a short explanation of their role they play in children's lives in that culture. Alternately, compare a similar "monster" across cultures.

Health - When are childhood fears "normal," and when are they indicative of a larger problem? Interview a mental health professional about the difference between normal and abnormal children's fear behaviors. Ask about how one determines when a child needs help and what treatments are used with children. Give a presentation to your class based on the information you collect. You might also invite this speaker to come to your class to speak.

Media Studies- The question of the extent of the media's responsibility to inform us of potential or real danger has been a very relevant one since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Write an essay addressing the following questions: How does the media contribute to people's fears? Overall, is it better to be informed, even if this may mean increased anxiety and fear, or should the media withhold information that may result in increasing our fear of certain things?

Technology- Compare movie animation technologies of the past to those of today. Use the upcoming re-release of Disney's "Snow White" as a benchmark, and look at how animation has changed since this film was first released in 1934. Create a timeline describing the changes that have taken place in animation technology since then, including the dates and names of films that first used each type of technology. Create an illustrated timeline or a guide to movie animation, including examples of types of animation and descriptions of how they are achieved.

Copyright 2001
The New York Times Company

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