Using Han Solo vs. Greedo to Teach Author's Purpose (or HtRLLaP Violence Chapter)

Students often have a hard time understanding a text from the author's perspective, a question type that appears on many standardized reading comprehension checks.  The following lesson works well to teach that concept and it also works well to teach Chapter 11 "More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence" from How to Read Literature Like a Professor (for you AP Lit teachers out there).

First, start with this clip from Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope.  This is part of the first time we meet the character Han Solo.  The only background needed at this time for the non-Star Wars fans is that they are in space at a bar and this guy we just met gets stopped by a bounty hunter (the green guy).  

This scene serves as our introduction to this character.  What does this tell us about Han Solo?  Various answers will be given, but most will center on how calm and collected he was in the face of death and how clever he was kill Greedo without Greedo knowing he was in danger.'

Things were all fine for a while in Star Wars fandom, but then the director, George Lucas, kept toying with the scene - specifically the shooting scene and more specifically with Greedo's role in the shooting.  Now show them all five shooting scenes and ask they why would George Lucas want to change the scene? 

There will be various answers, but help them focus on that Lucas wanted the character of Han Solo to be more heroic.  Having Han not just shoot first, but to be the only one shooting when Greedo had made it clear that he was going to take Han in alive, shows Han to be more of the Byronic hero type.  If Greedo is shooting, then Han is shooting back in self defense.  Changes the character just a bit (and drives old Star Wars fans insane).

This is a rare opportunity for us to see how an author (director) changes things up.  Everything is done on purpose with a specific rationale.  For a reader to move from what the plot means to how the author reveals it is a major step in advancing reading comprehension.

As far as AP Lit goes, this is an excellent way to show how this violent scene reveals character and how small changes in the scene reverberate out into changes to the characters as well.