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Teacher's Online Guide for The Ponder Heart On Monday, October 15, a new film adaptation of Eudora Welty's comic novel The Ponder Heart
will premiere on EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE'S AMERICAN COLLECTION. This ALT Film Production, directed by Martha Coolidge, stars Peter MacNicol (from "Ally MacBeal"), JoBeth Williams, and Angela Bettis, whom some of your students may remember from "Girl, Interrupted."
The Ponder Heart
is Welty at her finest. It tells the story of Daniel Ponder, the richest man in Clay County, Mississippi, and the most compulsively generous. His ever-present impulse to give away everything he owns threatens his family's fortune. They attempt first to have him put away in a mental hospital, and then to marry him off to a nice, sensible woman who can govern his philanthropic impulses. Both schemes go wildly awry: Daniel's grandfather is institutionalized by mistake, and Daniel ends up marrying the young Bonnie Dee Peacock, who goes from a backwoods shack to being the richest woman in Clay County in a matter of days. When Bonnie Dee dies, Daniel winds up being tried for her murder in one of the most bizarre courtroom sequences in American fiction.
This is a story that will keep your students guessing throughout, and the novel it is based on is both student-friendly in terms of reading level and of manageable length. The Ponder Heart
is a wonderful introduction to one of the century's great American writers, whose recent death so impoverished the American literary scene. Alexander High School student Jessica Brown offers her poem/review of
The Ponder Heart:
The Ponder Heart The Ponder Heart is full of love
Pure and innocent, like a dove.
Their sweet Southern hospitality is a symbol of
A God sent gift from up above. Uncle Daniel has the spirit of a child
He's cheerful and carefree, yet not wild.
He has faith in our race, and sees only the best
He's naive and generous, too generous, as many have confessed. His intentions are good
As is his outlook on life;
However, though not deliberately,
In his family he has caused much strife. Edna Earle Ponder is a more mature gal.
She looks after Uncle Daniel
She is his watcher, his pal.
Concerned for his well-being
And wanting to prevent his dismay,
Edna looks after her Uncle Daniel
Especially on that day. The storm came and lightning struck
Down the drain went his marriage,
His happiness, but not his luck. Uncle Daniel loved Bonnie Dee,
To her he devoted each breath
In fact he loved her so much
That he loved her to death.
Though it was lightning that really caused
Bonnie Dee's heart to fail
Uncle Daniel was accused
And a trial was held. Everyone knew that this crime
Uncle Daniel was not capable of,
Because the Ponder Heart is full
And bursting with love. By Jessica Brown
Alexander High School
Douglasville, Georgia
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Teacher Resources Read a Teacher Review on the film.This novella and film is perfectly suited to middle and high school students alike. Classroom
teachers have created a variety of lesson plans and ideas that are easily adaptable to any secondary level. The first place you'll want to visit is the Introduction section, where two short
essays tell about the Southern women who are at the center of The Ponder Heart, the narrator, Edna Earle Ponder, and the author, Eudora Welty.Just as she did with The Song of the Lark, teacher Susan Thurman has created a comprehensive Viewing Guide for The Ponder Heart. Not only does she provide activities and questions "into,
through and beyond" the movie, she also provides teachers with a literary device glossary, vocabulary list and an extensive list of idioms used in the story. This densely packed unit of
resources can serve as your focal point through which other lessons on the Web site can be woven. A Look at the South
The strength of the teacher-created lesson plans in this section of the site is the focus on linking The Ponder Heart with other Welty works and other widely taught pieces of literature. In Perception Versus Reality students will not only examine Welty's unique style emerging through The Ponder Heart "A Worn Path", but they will also compare and contrast the protagonists
Phoenix and Edna Earle in a literary analysis essay. Studying the range of Southern literature wouldn't be complete without juxtaposing Faulkner and Welty as teacher Boris Kolba does in Character and Class. He uses "A Rose for Emily" as well as The Ponder Heart as the means through which students study social class and character in the South in the 1940s. In the House of Edna Earle essay and accompanying lesson plan, students learn even more about the social class
and customs of the small town boarding house. Finally, a look at Welty's photographs of the South while examining The Ponder Heart and "Why I Live at the P.O." gives readers a glimpse of what life was like in Eudora Welty's South in
Through the Looking Glass. Focus on the Process
Several of the lessons included for The Ponder Heart focus on core literary elements in unconventional and fun ways.
A Collaborative Speaking Unit gets the students to research their
own "unique" family members, learning how to create interesting narrative, culminating in presenting an oral history of what they have discovered about their family. This comprehensive
unit even gives tips on how to be an effective speaker. Another lesson focuses on Humor and Irony, both of which are in abundance in The Ponder Heart
. Role playing is the key element in Point of View to Ponder
helping students understand multiple perspectives. In the Author's Purpose
lesson Welty's novella is linked to another American Collection piece, Langston Hughes' "Cora Unashamed" with close text reading as a tool to depth of understanding in literature. In the Internet Scavenger Hunt students not only learn about Welty's life and times, but they also hone their Internet research skills in the process.Additional Resources
The American Writing Gateway on the site offers excellent resources on Welty. While we usually don't recommend using pay sites, of The Eudora Welty Newsletter is well worth the small fee they
ask. The summer issues of 2000 and 2001 both deal extensively with The Ponder Heart novella and the film production. There are several other comprehensive Eudora Welty sites that teachers have
evaluated for their resource value which can be easily accessed from the Gateway. The Image Gallery on the site offers a look at the production- the actors, the setting, the costumes.
These thumbnails are enlarged by clicking on them and easily downloaded. Student Contributions
Read a review by a Georgia student who previewed the movie:
This movie is intended for all audiences, and anyone from young child to teenager, from young adult to elderly, will enjoy this
fun-filled comedy. I strongly recommend popping some microwave popcorn, gathering around the TV with the family, and tuning in to PBS on October 15. It will be shown commercial free exclusively on PBS. Y'all
will definitely love The Ponder Heart. –By Emily Fogus, Alexander High School, Douglasville, Georgia |
The Ponder Heart issue of Between the Lines
online student literary magazine is the best one yet. (link to BTL) This student written, student run, student programmed magazine focuses on The Ponder Heart
related theme, "Straight from the Heart". It is filled with entries from students across America who have both previewed the film, and/or have responded to the theme. In Mississippi
section of the Literary Map on the site, (link to lit map) two students have written a brief biography of their native daughter, Eudora Welty. |
