Lessons On Movies.com
  Free Handout + MP3 + 8 Online Quizzes on The Shawshank Redemption

  GAMES:

  • Fill-in-the-blank
  • Matching
  • Hangman
  • Flash cards
  • Sentence jumble
  • Missing words
  • No letters
  • Crossword puzzle

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. It was adapted from the Stephen King book Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation. The story ends on a beach in Mexico after "Red" spends forty years in jail.

Despite a lukewarm box office reception, it initially did not recoup its budget. The movie was made at a cost of $25 million. It was re-released in 1995 during the Oscar season, and made an additional $9 million. Overall, it has made $28.3 million in theatres in the USA. It has since made more money in DVD sales. In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio listeners as their favorite film of all time. It also tops the list of the Internet Movie Database.com's (IMDb.com) top 250 films of all time. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Unfortunately, it failed to win a single Oscar.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption

  TRAILER AND POSTER

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION POSTER

1. SIX WORDS: Look at the poster and write down six words (more if you like) that you think of as you look at it. Share the words with your partner(s). Why did you choose them?

2. STORY: Talk about what you think the story of the movie is – the start, beginning, end, etc. Change partners and share stories.

3. CREDITS: Look at the credits on the poster (the actors, director, producer…) and talk about them with your partner(s).

4. MUST-SEE: Talk with your partner(s) about whether the poster and movie title are good and make you want to see the movie.

5. STARRING YOU: Imagine you are one of the stars of the movie. Talk about your role with your movie star partner(s).

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION TRAILER

1. RETELL: Watch the trailer and retell what you saw to your partner(s).

2. CHUNKS: Watch 10-to-15 second chunks of the trailer and retell what you saw to your partner(s).

3. QUIZ: Watch the trailer and write down some quiz questions for your partner(s). Watch a second time to find the answers to the questions.

4. VOCABULARY: Make a note of words in the trailer that you see or hear. Talk about them with your partner(s).

5. GOOD / BAD: Watch the trailer and write down why you think the film might be good or bad. Share your ideas with your partner(s).

  MATCHING

SYNONYM MATCH

1.	adapted	a.	was unsuccessful
2	book	b.	guiltlessness
3.	claims	c.	get back
4.	innocence	d.	reworked
5.	operation	e.	indifferent
6.	lukewarm	f.	undertaking
7.	recoup	g.	novel
8.	of all time	h.	put forward
9.	nominated	i.	ever
10.	failed	j.	assertions

PHRASE MATCH

1.	It was adapted from	a.	of innocence
2	…for the murder of his wife	b.	laundering operation
3.	despite his claims	c.	for 7 Academy Awards
4.	money	d.	the Stephen King book
5.	"Red" spends	e.	box office reception
6.	a lukewarm	f.	to win a single Oscar
7.	it initially did not recoup	g.	forty years in jail
8.	It was re-released	h.	and her lover
9.	The movie was nominated	i.	in 1995
10.	it failed	j.	its budget

  LISTENING / READING GAP FILL

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film      (1) ____________________ by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. It was (2) ___________________ Stephen King book Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The (3) ____________________ Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover (4) ____________________ innocence. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation. (5) ____________________ beach in Mexico after "Red" spends forty years in jail.

Despite (6) ____________________ office reception, it initially did not recoup its budget. The movie was made at a cost of $25 million. It was re-released in 1995 (7) ____________________, and made an additional $9 million. Overall, it has made $28.3 million in theatres in the USA. It has (8) ____________________ in DVD sales. In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio listeners as their favorite film of all time. (9) ________________ the Internet Movie Database.com's (IMDb.com) top 250 films of all time. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Unfortunately, (10) __________________ Oscar.

  CORRECT THE SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	written and derdceit
2.	dapeadt from the Stephen King book
3.	the mrrued of his wife
4.	his claims of connceine
5.	dtcetpore by the guards
6.	money elguranidn operation
Paragraph 2
7.	a lukewarm box office necrpteoi
8.	pecuor its budget
9.	It was re-seerelda in 1995
10.	BBC Radio esslntire
11.	andnmtieo for seven Academy Awards
12.	Best Adapted ceeaSprlyn

  PUNCTUATE & PUT CAPITALS IN THE TEXT

the shawshank redemption is a 1994 american drama film written and directed by frank darabont and starring tim robbins and morgan freeman it was adapted from the stephen king book rita hayworth and shawshank redemption the film tells the story of andy dufresne a banker who spends nearly two decades in shawshank state prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence during his time at the prison he befriends a fellow inmate ellis boyd "red" redding and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation the story ends on a beach in mexico after "red" spends forty years in jail

despite a lukewarm box office reception it initially did not recoup its budget the movie was made at a cost of $25 million it was re-released in 1995 during the oscar season and made an additional $9 million overall it has made $283 million in theatres in the usa it has since made more money in dvd sales in march 2011 the film was voted by bbc radio listeners as their favorite film of all time it also tops the list of the internet movie databasecom's (imdbcom) top 250 films of all time the movie was nominated for seven academy awards including best picture best actor best adapted screenplay and best cinematography unfortunately it failed to win a single oscar

  INSERT THE VOWELS

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  MARK THE SPACES

TheShawshankRedemptionisa1994Americandramafilmwrittenandd
irectedbyFrankDarabontandstarringTimRobbinsandMorganFreema
n.ItwasadaptedfromtheStephenKingbookRitaHayworthandShawsh
ankRedemption.ThefilmtellsthestoryofAndyDufresne,abankerwhos
pendsnearlytwodecadesinShawshankStatePrisonforthemurderofhi
swifeandherloverdespitehisclaimsofinnocence.Duringhistimeatthep
rison,hebefriendsafellowinmate,EllisBoyd"Red"Redding,andfindshi
mselfprotectedbytheguardsafterthewardenbeginsusinghiminhismo
neylaunderingoperation.ThestoryendsonabeachinMexicoafter"Red"
spendsfortyyearsinjail.Despitealukewarmboxofficereception,itinitia
llydidnotrecoupitsbudget.Themoviewasmadeatacostof$25million.It
wasrereleasedin1995duringtheOscarseason,andmadeanadditional
$9million.Overall,ithasmade$28.3millionintheatresintheUSA.Ithas
sincemademoremoneyinDVDsales.InMarch2011,thefilmwasvotedb
yBBCRadiolistenersastheirfavoritefilmofalltime.Italsotopsthelistoft
heInternetMovieDatabase.com's(IMDb.com)top250filmsofalltime.
ThemoviewasnominatedforsevenAcademyAwards,includingBestPic
ture,BestActor,BestAdaptedScreenplayandBestCinematography.U
nfortunately,itfailedtowinasingleOscar.

  DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	__________________________________________________________________
2.	__________________________________________________________________
3.	__________________________________________________________________
4.	__________________________________________________________________
5.	__________________________________________________________________
6.	__________________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	__________________________________________________________________
2.	__________________________________________________________________
3.	__________________________________________________________________
4.	__________________________________________________________________
5.	__________________________________________________________________
6.	__________________________________________________________________

  THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about The Shawshank Redemption in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	Student 1 __________	Student 2 __________	Student 3 __________
Q1.
Q2.
Q3.
Q4.
Q5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

  WRITING

Write your own movie review. Show your partner your letter. Correct each other's work.

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

  HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET INFO: Search the Internet and find more information about "The Shawshank Redemption". Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about "The Shawshank Redemption". What are (did) critics and moviegoers saying (say) about it? How good were the actors' performances? What was good and bad about the movie? Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. "THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION" POSTER: Make a poster about "The Shawshank Redemption". Make sure you put tag lines, audience and critics' reviews, why people should see it, etc.  Show it to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your posters.

5. MY PREQUEL / SEQUEL: Make your own prequel or sequel for  "The Shawshank Redemption". Make sure there is a good mix of things to do. Find some good online activities. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback.

6. CHARACTER STORY: Choose one of the characters from the movie. Imagine you are that character. Write your story about what you did in the movie. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback.

7. ONLINE SHARING: Use your blog, wiki, Facebook page, Twitter stream, or any other social media tool to get opinions on "The Shawshank Redemption". Share your findings with the class.

  ANSWERS

SYNONYM MATCH

1.	adapted	a.	reworked
2	book	b.	novel
3.	claims	c.	assertions
4.	innocence	d.	guiltlessness
5.	operation	e.	undertaking
6.	lukewarm	f.	indifferent
7.	recoup	g.	get back
8.	of all time	h.	ever
9.	nominated	i.	put forward
10.	failed	j.	was unsuccessful

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Please check for yourself by looking at the movie review article at the top of the page.
(It's good for your English ;-)