BEFORE VIEWING THE FILM ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS: 1. What is the meaning of the title Bowling for Columbine?

2. What is the film about? 3. What sort of film is it? 4. Who was it directed by? 5. When was it released? DICTATION 1. In April 1999, two teenage boys walked into their Colorado school armed with guns and bombs. They killed one teacher and 12 fellow students and then killed themselves. It was not the first time American high school students had killed one another. Nor was it the last: it was followed by copycat crimes all over the U.S., though none of the others had as many victims. Naturally, parents, school officials, news announcers, politicians, and even other students, are trying to explain the inexplicable. What makes teens attack their classmates at school? The news media reported that the two Colorado boys belonged to a group called " The Trenchcoat Mafia", whose members wore black rain-coats, used to play video games like Doom and listened to Goth music. Did the music make them do it? It turned out that " The Trenchcoat Mafia" was the name given to a group of "nerds" by the school's "jocks". The nerds called themselves "The Anachronists" and took pride in being different from the popular, All-American jocks, who bullied them almost every day. Did the desire for revenge make them do it? These particular murderers spent a great deal of unsupervised time on their computers and got the recipe for their bombs on the Internet. Did the Net make them do it? Gun control advocates pointed out the obvious: once again confused and angry adolescents had easy access to guns. Did the guns make them do it? The answer, it seems to me, is all of the above, and more. American teens grow up in violence.

2. Since this film is a documentary, there is no real plot the way there are in most movies. Instead, it simply follows the liberal political humorist Michael Moore as he tries to understand why Americans are so obsessed with guns, and why there is so much murder and gun violence in the United States: Moore began to ask himself this question after the horrible mass murder at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado (just outside of Denver), on April 20, 1999. On that day, two emotionally disturbed students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 12 students, one teacher and finally themselves. It was the worst high school shooting in US history, but, in fact, it was just one of many that happened in the US throughout the 1990s.

In doing his research, Moore interviews members of the Michigan militia, which is a group of people who spend a lot of time shooting guns in the countryside. From there, he moves on to teenagers who live in the towns of Michigan where he grew up, to survivors of the Columbine massacre, to various people in Canada, who seem to like guns as much as Americans do, but who still dont murder each other nearly as frequently. In the end, Moore asks a lot of questions about the nature of American society, and while he doesnt always give us answers, he does conclude that the United States is a nation that is filled with both two many guns and too much fear. AFTER VIEWING THE FILM The document is about: Killings in a school A drug related murder A car accident Where did the event take place? How many people were killed? Who were the murderes? How did they kill their victims?

MICHAEL MOORE Choose the correct answer: 1. Michael Moore is : A British filmmaker An American filmmaker A Canadian filmmaker 2. He was born in : a suburb of Flint, Michigan Detroit Littleton, Colorado New York 3. He comes from :

An Irish - Catholic family A Jewish family

A white anglo-saxon protestant family 4. His father and grandfather were both workers on a General Motors plant journalists editors at Random house political activists

Scene at North County Bank 1- Fill in all the gaps. Use the words below: Waouw ad bank check crime criminal dangerous dealer exactly gun mental mentally question race right shooter Moore : I'd spotted an in the local Michigan paper, that said that if you opened an account at North Country bank, the bank would give you a ....... Bank clerk : You do a CV and we'll give you a gun. We have a whole brochure here you can look at, then we do the background check and everything and it's yours to go.. Moore : - Okay, that's the account I would like to open. Bank clerk : -We have a vault in which at all times we keep at least 500 firearms Moore :- 500 of these, you have in your vault ? Bank clerk : -In our vault ! Moore :- .! Bank clerk : -We have to do a background ..* Moore :- At the bank, here ? Bank clerk : -at the bank, we are a licensed firearm . Moore :-Oh, you are ? You are a ..and a licensed* firearm dealer* ? What do I put up for "." ; white or Caucasian ? Bank clerk :-Caucasian Moore- I knew you were going to make me spell* that ! Cau-ca-sian..... is that .. ? Bank clerk :- Yes, but I don't think you have anything to be worried about.... Moore :- "have you ever been adjudicated . defective or been committed to a mental institution" ?

Well, I've never been committed to a .. institution ; what does that mean "have I ever been adjudicated mentally defective ?" Bank clerk :- It would be something involved with a ... Moore :- Oh, with a crime ? Okay, so if I'm just normally mentally defective*, but not .. ? Bank clerk : -Yeah, . Moore :-Thank you very much 2- Now answer these questions: 1. Where is the scene taking place? 2. What has Michael Moore come for? What does he want? 3. How many people are there in this scene? Who are they? 4. What does Michael Moore want to show the audience in this scene? What does he want to prove? 5. Who may carry a gun in the U.S? 6. Who can't carry a gun?

THE NRA AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." - Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution The Second Amendment is perhaps the most misunderstood of the amendments contained in the bill of rights. In fact, 48 percent of the American public mistakenly believes that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to arm oneself in defence of life and property. Contrary to public opinion, historians, scholars, and most importantly the courts, have virtually all concluded that: the Second Amendment was designed to protect state organized militias rather than the individual right to own a gun. The American Constitution gives the right to American citizens

to kill others to own and carry guns to protect their families to defend their country The American Constitution gave this right to the Americans so that they could defend themselves against the enemy so that they could defend themselves against other Americans so that they could defend themselves against criminals What is the NRA (The National Rifle Association)? What does it stand for? It's an association which fights for the right to own and carry a gun It's an association which fights for the regulation and control of arms in America

MARILYN MANSONS INTERVIEW Fill in the gaps. AIDS bad bombs consume fear girls influence kids no-one television think violence war word Marilyn Manson ;-Two by-products of that whole tragedy were and entertainment and gun control. And how perfect that were the two things that were going to talk about with the upcoming elections. And we forgot about Monica Lewinsky and we forgot about the president was shooting overseas; yet, I'm a guy, because I sing some Rock'n Roll songs and who's the bigger influence: the president or Marilyn Manson? I'd like to it's me, but I'll go for the president. Moore: -Do you know that on that day Columbine happened the United States dropped more bombs on Kosovo than any other time during that ? Marilyn Manson :- I do know and I think it's really ironic that, well nobody said that maybe the president had an on this violent behaviour, because that's not the way the medias want to take it and spin it, turning it into fear ; you're watching , watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear, there's floods, there's , there's murder, cut the commercial, buy the Acura, buy the Colgate ; if you've got bad breath they're not going to talk to you, if you have pimples the are not going to fuck and consumption. you, and it's just a campaign of And that's what I think it's all based on : it's the whole idea ; keep everyone afraid and they'll . It's as simple as it can be blowed out to.

Moore: What would you say if you were to talk to the of Columbine and the people of that community, what would you say to them if they could hear you now? Marilyn Manson -I wouldn't say a single to what they have to say. And that's what Marilyn Manson " is an American film director rock'n roll singer actor politician In 1999 the president of the US was : President George W. Bush Senior President George W. Bush Junior Bill Gates Bill Clinton Monica Lewinsky was Marilyn Manson's fiance The President's wife leading part of a sex-scandal around the President After the Columbine massacre Marilyn Manson was pointed at as having influenced the two murderers with his music was accused of the murders accused politicians of being responsible for the murders Marilyn Manson believes that he himself had an influence on the violent behaviour at the time the President didn't have any influence on the violence the President maybe and the medias were responsible for the violence. He thinks that the medias help people to feel reassured keep people well informed create fear Marilyn Manson's idea is that people to them; I would listen did ..

don't consume when they are scared consume because they are scared like consuming

BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICA 1. Circle the dates you hear in the video 1- 1655 1715 1755 2- 1826 1836 1846 3- 1751 1851 1871 4- 1935 1955 1965 17 19 75 46 19 71 19 75 2. Put the following events in their chronological order

A black woman refused to move to the back of a bus Killing the British Slave trade The KKK was declared an illegal terrorist organisation Pilgrims went to the New World Black people began demanding their rights Samuel Colt invented the 1st weapon Native Americans were massacred The 2nd Amendment was passed The North won the Civil War, and the slaves became free The Witch Hunt The KKK was formed The slaves started rebelling The NRA was founded 3. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Why did the Pilgrims go to the New World? a. they were explorers on a mission b. they were Americans and they wanted to go home

c. they were afraid of being persecuted d. they were Catholics and they wanted to convert Indians

2. Why did the Pilgrims kill the Indians upon arrival? a. The Indians started to fight them b. The Pilgrims saw Indians as savages and that scared them c. The Pilgrims had very little food and they ate Indians d. The Indians were considered witches 3. Why did the Pilgrims/Americans burn witches? a. Because witches are evil b. Because witches were Indians c. Because God told them to do so d. Because they were afraid of each other 4. Why did they pass the Second Amendment? a. Because they needed a Second before they passed a Third b. Because they didnt feel safe and they felt they needed guns c. Because God told them to do so d. Because the British were no longer there 5. Where does slavery come from? a. From Africa b. The whites were afraid of doing any work c. From freedom d. The whites didnt want to pay the blacks 6. Why were the whites afraid of dying? a. Because slaves were free b. Because slaves were crazy c. Because slaves were cannibals d. Because slaves were murderers 7. Why did the whites flee to live in all white suburbs? a. The blacks were chasing them b. The blacks were demanding their rights c. The witches had returned d. The blacks were invading their territory

4. Listen to the video again and pick up as many expressions denoting FEAR as you can:

5. Bonus questions

a. Who signed the Emancipation Proclamation that effectively ended slavery?

b. What happened to him?

c. What is the connection between the KKK and the NRA? d. What was the name of the black woman on the bus? e. What is the name of the black movement that sprang from the bus incident?

f. Who was its leader? g. What happened to him?

Do you know the answers? THE COLUMBINE MASSACRE 1. 2. 3. 4. Who were the victims of the Columbine Massacre? When did the events at Columbine take place? Where did the events take place? Who were the murderers?

5. Where did the murderers get the recipe for making their bombs? THE SECOND AMENDMENT & THE NRA 6. What right is given to every American citizen in the Second Amendment of the American Constitution? 7. What is the NRA? WHY CARRY A GUN? 8. How many guns are there in the U.S? 9. How many gun deaths were there in the U.S in 1998? 10. What are the risks of having a gun in the home? MICHAEL MOORE & "BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE" 11. Who is Michael Moore? 12. What is the name of his first documentary? 13. What is " Stupid, White Men" ? MARILYN MANSON 14. Marilyn Manson is a ............. 15. After the Columbine Massacre M. Manson was blamed for........................ 16. Marilyn Manson believes that ................................................... causes violence. 17. He accuses ............................................. and ................................................... for being responsible for the violence in the American society today. A BRIEF AMERICAN HISTORY 18. The first colonists who arrived in America were called "......................................................................." 19. They came from................................................ 20. They went to America because................................................................... 21. In 1775 the Second Amendment gave the right to every American citizen to............................................................................ in order to fight................ 22. The slaves came from...................................... 23. Slavery was abolished in the U.S at the end of the Civil War when the ............................................... won the war. 24. In 1954 ............................................. woman (named Rosa Parks) refused to give up her seat to a white man and got arrested for this.