Paideia High School/Battle with the Cannon

The Battle with the Cannon by Victor Hugo is a Paideia Unit Plan. These guidelines address teachers for the purpose of guiding instruction. See Paideia Learning Plan for the student's point of view.

Column One
Column One teaching and learning should make up about 10% to 15% of the total scheduled instructional time. It is didactic in nature and uses teacher lectures, text books or other didactic instructional materials, and questioning appropriate to this mode of education. Teaching in this mode encompasses of three facets: Exoridium, Interpretation, and Erudition.

Exordium
The Exordium is the teacher's didactic introduction to the work that is the subject of a Paideia Unit Plan. This introduction consists of both an oral and physical (or electronic) presentation of the work. For longer works, the teacher may limit the oral presentation to key parts of the work. The teacher should read texts live distinctly, accurately, and intelligently. Other works should be orally presented similarly as appropriate to the type of work. In addition, the teacher should provide high quality audio and video recordings of works if possible. Students should have a consumable print copy of the work both electronically and in hard-copy if possible.

Oral Presentation

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Written Presentation

 * http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/3067/
 * a copy of this work with line numbers, ready to print out for student use is stored on the school moodle in the Reading & Writing IB course in the week of March 28, 2012, and in the curriculum folder on sharepoint.
 * This work is in the public domain.
 * It is several chapters from Hugo's Novel, Ninety-Three. (Book 2, Chapters III-conclusion, IV, V, and VI. This is early in the novel, as Book 1 is fairly short.)

Interpretation
Textual Interpretation refers to the teacher's didactic analysis of a written work in terms of the four major questions a demanding reader should ask of a text. Using the term work instead of book, these questions are: (1) What is the text about as a whole? (2) What is being said in detail, and how? (3) Is the text true, in whole or part? and (4) What of it? The Exordium begins to answer the first question because it introduces the whole text both orally and in writing (although the oral presentation may be limited in the case of longer works). It is in the Interpretation stage of Column One instruction that the teacher didactically begins to thoroughly unlock the second question. The third and fourth questions are relevant to Interpretation, but question two receives most of the teacher's attention. It is only when the student begins Column Two activities that a fuller grasp of questions three and four begins to mature in the student's mind. Consistent with the purpose of Column One instruction, the teacher is simply introducing elements of proper interpretation for the student to build on during Column Two and Column Three learning.

Interpretation of Key Terms
The key terms are those few words or phrases the author uses in unique, special, or important ways. . In the Column Two stage, students are coached both to find these key terms and to "unlock" them on their own. This skill is essential to analytical reading. In this Column One stage, however, the teacher points out a list of such terms. Students should understand that this listing is not necessarily exhaustive. In addition, the teacher provides students with a handful of these terms worked out in detail for consideration; it should consist of about three to five terms.
 * carronades a cannon used to attack from the deck of the ship. A "twenty four pounder" means it shot 24 pound cannon balls. The cannon itself probably weighed between 800 and 1000 pounds. Carronades were shorter guns, used because they weighed considerably less than a long gun. The disadvantage of the carronade is the ship had to be at point blank range to hit the target.
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General Vocabulary
The teacher may anticipate general unfamiliar vocabulary and point out the more difficult words either orally or in writing or both. However, defining words using context, a dictionary, or a knowlegable friend or adult (including the teacher) is a Column Two skill that must be coached. Teachers must help students build good habits of knowing the meanings of words. Dictionaries, in both electronic and book form must be available, and students must be taught how to use them. They must also be taught how to ask for definitions--a perfectly acceptible life skill commonly used by demanding readers!


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Note: If the teacher points out words in anticipation of their potential difficulty, this should be done in context by giving citations or electronically highlighting the words.

Interpretation of Sentences
One point of didactic interpretation at the level of interpreting sentences is to use grammar to get at the author's meaning. As with interpreting words and terms, this level of interpretation is also a Column Two skill that must be coached. Consequently, at the Column One didactic level, a teacher should choose a handful of the most difficult sentences in the text for demonstration. The teacher will always unlock the grammar of a few important and more difficult sentences for students independent of whether these sentences are key premeses to an argument. As appropriate to the text, a teacher should also consider demonstrating the grammar of sentences that work together as propositions in the author's most important arguments.

Another important point is to demonstrate the meter and prosody in both poetry and prose texts. This aim is in great danger of being completely overlooked or forgotten in a world where oral reading is not nearly as common as it once was. Nevertheless, great speechs often succeed in part because the author understands prosody. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and King's I Have a Dream serve as striking examples. The teacher should select sentences or versus to demonstrate both meter and rhythm.


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Interpretation of Passages
At the level of passages, the full trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) come into play. First, a teacher should choose one or two of the author's most important arguments for a demonstration of how to use logic as a key to interpreting a text. Next, the teacher should select several passages to demonstrate how they conform (or not) to rhetorical, poetical, and sylistic rules. These rules, of course, must be didactically taught as prerequisites to interpretation of texts.


 * : <demonstration of both the grammar of the sentences comprising premeses and of the concluding proposition along with the logic of the argument followed by an explanation of how the arguments help to unravel the author's meaning>
 * <Passage Illustrating Rhetorical Rules>: <demonstration of the rhetorical rules and their value in the success of the author's purpose>
 * <Passage Illustrating Poetical Rules>: <demonstration of the poetical rules and their value in the success of the author's purpose>
 * <Passage Illustration Stylistic Rules>: <demonstration of the stylistic rules and their value in the success of the author's purpose>
 * What happens next? http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ninety-three/1.2.7

Erudition
Erudition refers to all manner of background information assumed by or necessary to understanding or fully appreciating the text.

<Note that these categories are presented alphabetically for ease of organization>

Antiquarian References
Most corvettes and sloops of the 17th century were around 40 to 60 feet (12 to 18 m) in length and measured 40 to 70 tons burthen. They carried four to eight smaller guns on a single deck.

Over time, vessels of increasing size and capability were called corvettes; by 1800 they reached lengths of over 100 feet (30 m) and measured from 400 to 600 tons burthen.

Biographical References

 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo
 * http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/
 * <information about other textual references to important people--include citations--delete if not used>

Cultural References
Cross of the Order of Saint-Louis Awarded for exceptional merit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Louis

Conditions to obtain the award did not include nobility; however, Catholic faith was mandatory, as well as at least ten years' service as a commissioned officer in the Army or the Navy. Members of the Order received a pension.

Until the death of Louis XIV, the medal was awarded to outstanding officers only, but it gradually came to be an award that most officers would receive during their career. On 1 January 1791, during the French Revolution, a decree changed the name to décoration militaire ("military decoration"). It was subsequently withdrawn on 15 October 1792.

Geographical References


See maps below. The Channel Islands include Jersey and Gurnsey--as you can see, although the islands are British possessions, they lie much closer to France than to the British mainland. The significance of the location of the ship is that they are engaged in a civil war with the French revolutionaries, and are drifting into enemy territory. Although the British are in favor of one side over the other in the conflict, they are not at open war with anyone at this time.

Historical References

 * In 1793, the time in which this story is set,the French Revolution is in full swing. The guillotine is executing "enemies of the state" at an unnerving pace, and a monarchist counter-revolution threatens the revolutionary government.
 * The ship on which the story takes place is allied with the counter revolutionary forces.
 * Circulating counterfeit money to undermine the value of a government's currency, and thus hurt the economy, is a time-honored practice of war. The British did it in the colonies during the Revolutionary War in the United States.

Political References

 * <information and links to political references--include citations--delete if not used>

Column Two
Column Two teaching consists of coaching. This mode of instruction aims at helping students to form habitual skills in the language, scientific, and fine arts. Thus, a teacher must correct students as they practice listening, speaking, reading, writing, observing with the senses unaided, observing with the aid of scientific apparatus, measuring, estimating, calculating, and exercising dexterity in the musical and visual arts. Each of these arts in turn rely upon the aquisition of fine and gross motor, imagination, and memory skills. These rules for developing Paideia Unit Plans address teachers. For their counterpart written for students, see Paideia Learning Plan.

Column Two learning comprises 65% to 75% of scheduled learning time. It's chief charactaristic is student activity. Students must be practicing some skill or skills while the teacher corrects him or her. While athletic coaching is an obvious example of this type of instruction, debate coaching, directing a drama, art instruction, and piano lessons also represent coaching. In order to coach well, a teacher must have a repertoire of activities carefully designed to exercised desired skills. Additionally, the teacher must have a clear idea of how to correct the skills as students practice them to ensure their habitual formation.

Mnuemonic Skills
<consider this category for every unit>

Listening Skills

 * <links to additional quality recordings--include citations--delete if not used>
 * <information relevant to listening for grammatical, logical, rhetorical, poetical, and stylistic elements of the work--include citations--delete if not used>

Speaking Skills

 * <imitation of quality oral readings--should be a part of every unit>
 * <recitations from memory--should be some part of every unit>
 * <oral presentations of written work--should be a part of most units>
 * <class discussions--should be a part of every unit>
 * <recitation of the rules of reading from Adler's and Van Doren's How to Read a Book or similar rules>

Reading Skills

 * <read hard-copy with a pencil in hand--always!>
 * <marking up a text both with a pencil and electronically>
 * <inspectional reading notes as taught in Adler's and Van Doren's How to Read a Book>
 * <analytical reading notes as taught in the same work>

Writing Skills

 * <Choose phrases from text and express them in different ways>
 * <Reconstruct a previously disarranged passage from the text>
 * <Compose verses or lines in imitation of the author>
 * <Change a passage or poem of one kind into another kind>
 * <Imitate a passage>
 * <Write a composition imitating the author>
 * <Translate sentences or passages into Latin or another language>

Seminar Question Writing Guidelines
The following table serves to guide teachers in understanding the types of questions that guide good seminars and how to write them. Good seminars follow the general structure given by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren in their classic How to Read a Book published by Simon & Schuster in 1972. Column one gives the four main questions that a demanding reader should ask of any book. These questions guide the types of questions and the purpose of each type used in good seminars. The last column serves to illustrate questions that might be asked of The Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address, or Hamlet. This table could be easily adapted for any work of fine art like a painting or a musical score.

Specific Seminars
Battle with the Cannon Seminar 4/13/12

Victor Hugo’s story of The Battle with the Cannon, set in the time of the French Revolution, takes place aboard a French naval vessel in the English Channel at a time when the French are engaged in a civil war, with one side backed by the English.

Suppose that as a final project for this work, you are going to create a filmed version of this story. After deciding what sets to build and special effects you will need to create, and how, you will need to cast actors.

1.	Who are the characters in this story that you will need to cast?

Are there groups or crowds we will need? Do we have every one who is vital to telling the story?

2.	Most stories center around a conflict. Conflict can be external, or internal. The commonest types of external conflict are:

Man against man

Man against nature

Man against machine

Internal conflict is usually described as: Man against himself

In “The Battle with the Cannon” what is the primary conflict?

Why did you choose that one? Give examples from the text. 3.	Let’s look at the Chief Gunner—we don’t even know his name, and we hardly even hear him speak. In terms of assessing him as a character for our pretend movie, how will you portray him?

What do his actions tell us about him?

Give examples from the text to demonstrate his flaws:

Give examples from the text to demonstrate his strenths:

What do we hear him say?

To the cannon?

To the other characters?

To the peasant/general?

Does this dialogue increase your understanding of the Gunner? Why or why not?

4.	Now let’s look briefly at the captain.

What adjectives would you use to describe the captain? Why?

Why might the captain have handed over his authority about the gunner’s fate to the general?

5.	At the time of this story, The Cross of Saint Louis was awarded for exceptional officers to acknowledge outstanding actions in the line of duty.

Why did the general take the cross from the captain’s uniform and fasten it on the gunner’s jacket?

Is the general saying something about both the captain and the gunner, or only one of them? What is he saying?

6.	Why is the gunner bewildered during his sentencing?

Do you think he was expecting a death sentence? Why or why not?

If he knew he was going to die, does this make his fight with the cannon less heroic? Why?

Who was he going against the cannon for?

How did the sailors and marines respond to the general’s sentence of the gunner?

7.	With respect to the chief gunner, does he receive what he deserves at the end of the story?

Does he deserve the Cross of Saint Louis?

Does he deserve to be shot?

What kind of shape was the ship in at the end of the story? What will happen to the rest of the crew?

If you were in charge, what would you have done with him?

Do you think the outcome would have been different is the gunner had had a trial? Why or why not?

8.	In our society, even when a person takes the life of another person, the courts give sentences designed to both punish and rehabilitate.

Imagine an accident caused by a drunk driver. All of the members of the family in the other car are killed except for one. The drunk driver doesn’t run away, but calls 911 and stays and gives the survivor first aid until the ambulance arrives, and saves the vicitm’s life.

Does what the driver does to save the survivor make up at all for causing the accident?

Does the drunk driver deserve a more lenient sentence because of his later actions?

Does the drunk driver deserve a the death penalty?

9.	Can a person’s good deeds ever make up for the bad things they do?

This was too long, there wasn't enough time for the last 2 questions--next time omit the discussion of the captain's character, perhaps.