Movie Review
Lincoln is a movie produced in the US in 2012 by Steven Spielberg, director, and Daniel Day-Lewis acting as President Abraham Lincoln. Sally Field is the president’s wife, Todd Lincoln. The movie is mainly concerned with the president’s last days when he was trying to push parliament to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. While in his office, the head of state seems worried about the Emancipation Proclamation ratified in 1963 since slave states were expected to move to court to challenge the validity of the law. In the president’s view, the new law must be passed within the month to ensure the rights of the minorities and slaves are protected before the end of the war because chances of enslaving them would be minimal.
The type of government that is demonstrated in the movie is democratic since elections are held periodically to select the officials and each citizen is free to seek any position. This means individuals have voting rights as they are given the opportunity to choose leaders based on experience, manifestos, and their agendas for the country. Similarly, TEKS espouses the kind of governance structures illustrated in the movie since students are allowed to select the course units once they are in the higher levels of studies. In the movie, it is clear that an individual is allowed to select a leader of his or her choice once he or she attains a certain age. TEKS gives an individual a chance to decide what he or she desires in life as far as education is concerned. In the selection of leaders in TEKS, each student is given an opportunity to convince the panel that he or she is capable of delivering the institution’s objective and aim. This aspect is evident in the movie because citizens are allowed to vote freely for the bill or individual without much interference from the government. Unlike in other instructional plans and curriculums, TEKS allows an individual to go through various topics before moving on to the next level of study, something that allows knowledge accumulation and skill development. In the movie, citizens are provided with several ideas and their only responsibility is to select the best among the existing ones.
Government is a large organization charged with the responsibility of taking care of the wishes and the desires of all people in society. In other words, its main role is to provide an enabling environment that guarantees individual fulfillment. Based on this, it should have certain characteristics that allow it to function normally, one of them being the ability to communicate the agenda clearly. In the Movie, the president is in a position to communicate government programs undoubtedly through his representatives in the parliament. In the TEKS, the board always informs students of the expectations of each course unit, which proves the agenda is communicated openly. Another important feature of government is optimism meaning it should always be positive in what it does even though things might be heading in a bad direction. This would allow the citizens to adopt a similar approach leading to hard work and cooperation even in times of economic and political difficulties. In the Movie, the president is aware of the dangers of introducing the bill without waiting for the appropriate time, but he is optimistic about its passage and encourages members of his party to vote for it overwhelmingly.
The Objective
The activity on the study of the form of government will help the students develop critical skills that would be applied in leadership. This would play a role in ensuring the bad qualities of leadership that interfere with goal achievement are eliminated and only the best practices, as witnessed in the movie, are adopted. Students will be encouraged to familiarize themselves with the major themes related to democracy.
Introduction
First, students will learn that autocratic leadership does not allow consultations and the type of decisions made are usually of low quality. In many cases, autocratic leaders end up making defective policies that affect the quality of life and the standards of living in many societies. Students will understand that the movie and the TEKS standards are compatible in the sense that they both support openness, fairness, and impartiality in dealing with issues. In the movie, the president does not force his close policymakers to accept ideas without evaluating them carefully. After watching the movie, students will be expected to answer certain questions based on the tenets of democracy. Again, students will be instructed to form discussion groups in order to understand the themes clearly. Books will be provided to reinforce the student’s knowledge of democracy.
Main Lesson
TEKS supports the form of government illustrated in the movie because it allows students to apply the instructional plan together with other additional learning materials. While in the institution of learning, students should understand that they are allowed to consult with their teachers freely, something that enhances cooperation and understanding. Democracy is a system of governance that encourages people to do as they wish in order to achieve personal goals. For purposes of creativity, innovativeness, and innovation, TEKS do not prevent students from coming up with something new that would develop knowledge. Based on this, TEKS supports the concept of democracy.
Evaluation
Democracy simply means allowing people to carry out their activities without much interruption from the authorities. It encourages members to participate in elections, respect human rights, and be sensitive to gender and racial issues. In this regard, democracy as a government concept is critical because it allows members to fulfill their wishes. Students will be evaluated to determine whether they understand the concepts through a review form and instructional rubric. Evaluation of students is critical as far as understanding their level of comprehension is concerned. Based on this, several instruments should be applied to achieve the desired results.
Relationship between TEKS and the Movie
In TEKS, the instructional plan encourages all students to concentrate on their studies since they will achieve their interests through hard work and cooperation with teachers. Through the movie, it is noted that the authorities should be willing to listen to the pleas of affected individuals. An authority that is indifferent to the sufferings of the majority usually loses popularity and chances of it losing power and authority are high. In the movie, Lincoln’s government is always responsive to the desires of many meaning it prioritized dialogue and consultation whereby the views of various individuals are always taken into consideration. In the TEKS, listening is a valued aspect given the fact students are encouraged to present their challenges regarding the instructional plan since it would help the policymakers in planning and initiating changes