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Power in Literature: Web Literacy

Power, fame, and the Internet.

  • Course Length: 3 weeks
  • Course Type: Short Course
  • Category:
    • English
    • Literature
    • Life Skills
    • High School

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This Power in Literature course is all about Hollywood celebrities. We can stop there, right? After all, do we really have to convince you that a course about Hollywood celebrities is super fun and relevant? You've pretty much already decided you're so registering for it. Right. Now. Right? But just in case you don't share Shmoop's love for Hollywood gossip, here are some other cool things you'll do in this course:

  • learn how to tell whether an internet source is totes legit, or full of baloney.
  • make your web searches faster and smarter using our quick and easy techniques. They're so quick and easy you could almost call them "tricks."
  • become a more savvy web reader. That means staying away from those sites with the flashing marquee headers and links to nowhere.
  • show your readers where you've been and what you've been doing by citing your sources. All the cool kids are doing it.

As you can see, this course is chock-full of useful information. It's also full of Hollywood gossip. Need we say more?

The Power in Literature Series

Have you ever wondered what makes you keep turning the pages of the latest page-turner? Why those "Happy Anniversary" Hallmark cards come with cheesy love poems inside? Or maybe you're curious about why, when you get on the internet to find out how tall Tom Cruise is (because he looks really short next to Katie Holmes, and she wasn't even wearing heels), you emerge three hours later an expert on the mating habits of ducks. What gives language in all its forms—whether prose, poetry, or on a web page—its power to entertain, persuade, and make us lose all sense of time and decency?

Shmoop's Power in Literature nano-series investigates this question by taking apart some literature genres—short stories, poems, nonfiction, and web reading—to figure out what makes them go. Each twelve-lesson, fully Common Core-aligned course for grades 9–10 introduces students to the basic nuts and bolts of the genre. And just to make things really interesting, we look at the power of money, love, freedom, and fame while we're doing it.

Unit Breakdown

1 Power in Literature: Web Literacy - The Power of Fame (Web Literacy)

This nano course teaches about a mega-important concept—web literacy—through teaching about a concept which plagues the web: the power of fame. Students will learn about the accuracy of websites while sinking deep into the mires of celebrity gossip and scandal.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.01: The Power of Fame

The power of fame can leave you all empty inside.
(Source)

Would you believe that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were offered $3 million for a picture of their kid? It's true: We are borderline obsessed with what celebrities are up to, including the little rugrats they produce in their spare time. Famous people just seem cooler. They wear better clothes. They own more cars. Their dogs have diamond collars.

And to all of that, we say, "So what?" Sure, celebrities have enough money to party with the cool kids and buy expensive stuff, but so does your Great Aunt Wanda, and you don't see anyone camping out under her front porch to get a picture of her in her skivvies. Nope, there's more to this fame thing than money. The allure of fame draws us in. You might even say it has a strange power over us.

Fame has a strange power over the people who chase it, too. Your average everyday person who chases fame may find the ultimate reward—or the ultimate destruction. The allure of fame can lead people down an ugly road of self-indulgence, isolation, and potentially, death.

On the other hand, there is a bright, rarely publicized positive side to the power of fame: Some people are able to harness fame's power and use it for good.

So, we want to know: What gives fame its strange power over us? Why are some people sucked into its swirling vortex of destruction, while others are able to harness its power for good? What would you do if you were famous? Let's find out.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.01a: Harnessing the Power

Okay, let's get one thing straight: We've all clicked away from our legitimate internet news reading over to articles promising to tell us "What Liam Hemsworth Did Friday Night!" and "What Justin Bieber's Dog Eats for Breakfast." 

So, there will be no shaming here. We just want to dig deep and figure out why. It's as big a mystery to us as it is to you.

  1. What do you think makes people so interested in news stories about all the little details of celebrities' lives? Why do we click?

  2. Which famous person do you find most interesting? Why?

  3. Why would you want to be famous? What are the perks?

  4. What might be some of the disadvantages of fame?

  5. What would you do if you were famous?

  6. Finish this sentence: For me, the power of fame is _____________.

Participation Only Rubric - 10 Points

OutstandingNeeds Improvement
Quality of Participation

Student did the assignment as instructed. 

(10)

Student only did part of the activity or assignment.

(5)

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.01b: Sing Me a Song

Famous musicians write songs about fame. No big surprise there, right? After all, if you've spent most of your life darting in and out of cars with tinted windows to escape a sea of flashbulbs, you've probably got something to say about the effects of fame.

We've searched our music library for some cool songs about the power of fame. You'll choose four and get some analyzing in. 

Step 1

Before you start, get some specifics about how to analyze tone here. 

Step 2

Choose four songs, and complete this chart (Word version; PDF version).

Listen to the song and analyze the lyrics to determine the singer's opinion of and experience with fame. Along the way, we also want you to analyze the song's tone. In other words, what's the attitude, or the emotion the song conveys? What specific word choices make you characterize it this way?

Expository Writing Rubric - 25 Points

OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
Evidence / Support

All support is clearly and logically connected to the topic. Examples, evidence, and details are thorough and relevant with effective explanation.

(10)

All support about the main topic is relevant. Examples, evidence, and details are explained.

(9)

Most support is related to the topic. Examples, evidence, or details are given.

(8)

Insufficient examples, evidence, or details. Support may be irrelevant.

(7)
Content Understanding

All content is accurate and analysis is interesting and sophisticated.

(10)

All content is accurate.

(9)

May contain minor errors.

(8)

Major errors.

(7)
Style

Language is clear and interesting. Enhances presentation of information. No errors.

(5)

Language is clear and appropriate to topic. Minor spelling or grammatical errors.

(4)

Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Frequent spelling/grammar errors that do not impede comprehension.

(4)

Language use makes writing very difficult to understand. Frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension.

(3)