Are you familiar with the Henry Littlefield interpretation of the Wizard of Oz, linking it overtly to the Populist movement? I am including a link to his 1964 article in American quarterly HERE.
Littlefield takes L.Frank Baum's children's novel, not the movie which is remarkably different from the book, and argues that the novel is Baum's own treatise on the rise and benefits of Populism. Each of the major characters has some Populist meaning. Even the yellow-brick road and the Emerald City have some Populist meaning for Baum, according to Littlefield.
When I taught in the public schools, I would use the novel in the following way. I would have students read the novel first - it is a children's book and accessible/readable by all levels of high school students. I would give them a content quiz on the book, much like an English teacher would give (who did what, who were the characters, etc.). I would then give them a copy of Littlefield's article and would lecture on the Populist movement. They would then do some independent research on their own (there are a number of revisions of Littlefields work that both extend and discredit his arguments) and would create presentations either defending his position or refuting it. I would use the presentations as a way to review/reiterate the elements of Populism. I would then allow the students to watch the movie (many of them for the first time) and we would discuss the changes made in the film and why they might have been made. Most of this conversation is speculation, but it is fun to see what they will come up with.
Feel free to steal the idea if you like.
Littlefield takes L.Frank Baum's children's novel, not the movie which is remarkably different from the book, and argues that the novel is Baum's own treatise on the rise and benefits of Populism. Each of the major characters has some Populist meaning. Even the yellow-brick road and the Emerald City have some Populist meaning for Baum, according to Littlefield.
When I taught in the public schools, I would use the novel in the following way. I would have students read the novel first - it is a children's book and accessible/readable by all levels of high school students. I would give them a content quiz on the book, much like an English teacher would give (who did what, who were the characters, etc.). I would then give them a copy of Littlefield's article and would lecture on the Populist movement. They would then do some independent research on their own (there are a number of revisions of Littlefields work that both extend and discredit his arguments) and would create presentations either defending his position or refuting it. I would use the presentations as a way to review/reiterate the elements of Populism. I would then allow the students to watch the movie (many of them for the first time) and we would discuss the changes made in the film and why they might have been made. Most of this conversation is speculation, but it is fun to see what they will come up with.
Feel free to steal the idea if you like.