Relate Material to a Well-Known Cultural Icon

Relate Material to a Well-Known Cultural Icon

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Teachers often bring in elements of popular cultures to lectures for students to relate to. It can work even better if the material is a cultural icon. Not everyone knows who Lady Gaga is, especially recent immigrants or middle-aged students, but most students will be familiar with a cultural icon like the movie The Titanic.

 

Bringing in something like this to teach plot structure brings a lecture to life. The teacher can link elements of plot to the movie: the plot problem of Titanic is Rose is being forced to marry a man she doesn’t love. The plot becomes complicated when she meets and falls in love with Jack, another passenger on the ship. Further complications are their differences in social status…and so on.

 

Having the well-known story of Titanic to relate the elements of the plot to helps students in remembering these elements.