"Teache"ing the young

[Will Fiddle]

Fair winds do blow my way!

I have been contracted by Carthage College to design and teach a course--"Pirates: Facts and Fictions" for their January term. This will be working with material from my doctoral dissertation, but goes beyond those narrow confines even to the point of exploring films! Yarr!

I have some ideas for the course and I will definitely be using films to explore the mythology of pirates, a transformation that even contemporary histories were already working to engender.

We will be reading Esquemelin's "History of the Buccaneers of America" and portions of Defoe/Johnson's "General History of the Pyrates" so they can get a feel of the "reality" of pirates. I am thinking of assigning one of Cordingly's books, but I don't remember which was best for an overall view, suggestions are welcome

The students will also be broken into small (4-5 student) "crews" or perhaps "messes" to work on research projects like maritime architecture, economics of smuggling, pirate fashion, 18th century maritime law, weaponry, period medicine...

Any additional topic suggestions would be welcome.

Most significantly, I get to teach films with this course. I plan on using at least one of the Depp's "PotC"s, Flynn's "Captain Blood", and Robert Newton's "Treasure Island". Beyond that I remain undecided. Whatever films I use have to be the sort of things that can motivate discussion, either by how well they imitate historical pirates, or by how poorly they do so. I may even show "The Dancing Pirate" from 1936 as a curiousity of pirate culture (mostly because I happend to have the DVD). Again suggestions are welcome.

I already plan to bribe active sailors by using chocolate dubloons on a daily basis. I may even give some of my spare (not period correct) tankards to the crew that does the best research and presentation. Yet again, your suggestions are welcome.

--Your most obliged and humble servant,

Will Fiddle

[hurricane]

If you need any information for your class about Port Royal I will be happy to share my knowledge and resources. PotC really butchered what the town looked like. In fact, the only one to come close was Cutthroat Island. Their aerial shot was pretty much spot on, as was the carriage ride down what would have been Thames Street (at least for Hollywood, it was close). PotC kills me every time I see it set against the mountains. Argh!!!! :)

-- Hurricane

[Will Fiddle]

Thank you sir!

Even if I don't show all of Cutthroat Island (filmed in fabulous Explodovision), I can use that shot sequence to compare portrayls and start a discussion of why it is that the movie portrays the city as it does, and explore how the amusement park ride dictates our experience of the movie.

I will have to look at Cutthroat Island again. I know many people pan the film, but I have always enjoyed it and its soundtrack.

[Rumba Rue]

Congradulations on your new job!

I'd like to recommend the book by Joan Druett, "Bold in her breehes", it does a fine job of covering female pirates, which is a subject not to pass over.

[Will Fiddle]

Thanks for the suggestion of "Bold in her Breeches" I won't make it mandatory reading, but I will put it on the recommended reading list, and make women pirates one of the research topics that they can take on with a note to refer to the work.

I am hoping that by researching an aspect of pirate culture that intrigues them they will do better reading and (hopefully) make a better presntation to their peers, increasing the amount of material generated by the students themselves.

[Coastie04]

Another topic suggestion I have is something about the methods of hunting (and/or harboring) pirates and smugglers. This might go under the maritime law category, but I figure that one would be extensive enough on its own. This can delve into the hows and whys of bribing government officials, as well as the maritime strategies of using smaller, fast vessels to combat piracy instead of ships of the line.

Also, for possible reading regarding the maritime architecture group, I'd say Tall Ships Down. Though this doesn't focus on the GAoP, it does give a lot of insight to the design of cargo vessels under sail and their possible flaws when trying to convert them for different uses (though the book mainly focuses on switching to passenger service, it can be useful to help understand other changes such as creating a pirate/combat vessel from a captured merchant ship, changing the rig, stability, etc).

Wish I had this class in college!

Coastie

[Red Maria]

I would recommend Sea Rovers Practice by Berenson Little

http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Rovers-Practice-...95242815&sr=1-1

It about pirate tactis, weapons, and techniques. Very nittygritty stuff. The tables in the back detail trajectory of shot etc. As far as movies are concerned, while playing fast and loose with some history BlackbeardTerror at Sea depicts pirate life at sea during the Golden Age with quiet a bit of accuracy.

http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-...95243018&sr=1-1

Just make sure the students know that Benjamin Hornigold was Blackbeard's mentor not Charles Vane. Also the whole Frenchie gorl dressed as a boy thing is probably not true.

[Will Fiddle]

Thank you coastie04

Sadly the course is a compressed format, running daily for just over three weeks, and I will have the crews reasearching a different topic each week for presentation and discussion. The hunting pirates angle might work, but I will have to focus it for them or they will flounder with research and get nothing done. It's a topic on the the list now though.

"Tall Ships Down" does sound interesting, because while it is about a different problem, it can help us think about the problem at hand. That is the sort of associative thinking I want my students to develop. Ultimatley most of the subject matter I teach, whether literature or humanities, is quite useless, but the way students learn to conquer new ideas and to think new thoughts is the real value. I will get Tina at the library to secure the book for reserve, even if it isn't in our current collection.

[Will Fiddle]

Thanks be given to Red Maria.

Yer input be most welcome.

I warn't sure about Blackbeard "Terror at Sea" it didn't wow me when I got it for Christmas, but ye may be dead on when it comes to the impact it will have for students who know nothing but Hollywood. The historical differences will be pointed out to be sure, but the real fun (discussion) for the students will be pausing on elements of the DVD and pointing out the differences between this documentary and an action movie. Of course we will also talk about what is included in the documentary to make it more appealing as entertainment.

Yes, I suck the fun out of everything, but they will learn better when the focus of inquiry interests them. "And what be more more interesting than pirates? Nothing!" says I.

Special thanks also for "Sea Rovers Practice" I hadn't seen that before, and it looks really useful.

[Red Maria]

You're welcome Will. Always glad to help a fellow fiddler!

[HildeKitten]

Dude that is so cool!

I wish schools in Belgium would do courses like that!