Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Bucket List



Has anyone seen or heard of this new movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called The Bucket List?

I saw it last night, but I haven't seen any advertisements about it. Given, I don't really watch much television, but the title was completely unfamiliar to me.

Anyway, this was an amazing movie. It's about two older guys (the lead stars I mentioned before) who get cancer, and it's their journey to try to live life to its fullest until they die. They create a "Bucket List" (a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket) and they try to satisfy that list before they die.

It is a sappy movie, but it's very comical--making up for its sad plot with constant comic relief. It's a movie that made me want to do something different or out of the ordinary when I left the theatre. Even though I'm only 22, it made me think about what I want to do before I die, and what I have already done that I am proud of.



Would giving this assignment to students be too controversial, even if it connected with course material? I think that it would be meaningful to them, and they could actually use it or reference it in the future.

If you could make a Bucket List, what would you put on it?

I will put some of my brainstorms here, but I want to know what's on yours too!

My Bucket List (in progress--initial brainstorm)

1. Publish something
2. Climb a mountain
3. Travel Europe
4. Change someone's life for the better
5. Travel up the west coast
6. Be a mother
7. See all of my favorite artists live in concert
8. See Conan O'Brien live
9. See Saturday Night Live
10. Develop spirituality

Mine will continue. I will add. But what are some of yours?

2 comments:

Megan said...

A few things I want to do before the inevitable bucket:

1: Completely restore an old farmhouse

2: Learn how to make pottery

3: Grow an organic garden

4: Raise a family
....
As far as climbing a mountain, I can help you out with that... TJ and I were thinking that we should all go camping this summer in the Adirondacks... There's this moutain that I climbed with my parents a few years ago called Mount Ampersand... It's a couple hours worth of some fairly rugged climbing, but once you get to the top, you can see alllll around and it is absolutely incredibly amazing. Let's do it.

As far as doing this with a class... absolutely... you might have to finagle the name to say "Things to Accomplish in My Life" versus "Things to Accomplish before I Die," but the idea is still the same. I think it would help kids realize that life goes on outside of high school. It might also help them to set some tangible and feasible goals... who knows, they might just save the list that you had them make and refer back to it throughout their adult lives.

As far as educational value, maybe the list itself doesn't have much to do with reading, writing, listening, and speaking... that might need some development.. have them write a script or short story that mirrors the real Bucket List... You could definately make something of it :o)

Jami said...

I always love your feedback. You put a lot of thought into your own list--which I can definitely see you doing. I think making pottery and growing a garden would definitely be fun to do. I would like to do that as well.

Good advice with the classroom. I'll try to snake my way through something, given I ever use it in the future.

I'd love to go camping some time this summer! We'll have to see when we could work something out--probably a weekend with my intensive summer courses this year.

We'll definitely keep adding to our lists. I forgot to add See a Yankee Game, too.