Give your students new perspectives on race relations, on the history of the American Revolution, and on the contribution of the Founding Fathers to the cause of representative democracy. Check out TWM’s Guide:

TWM offers the following movie worksheets to keep students’ minds on the film and to focus their attention on the lessons to be learned from the movie.

Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction;

Film Study Worksheet for ELA Classes; and

Worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects.

Teachers can modify the movie worksHeets to fit the needs of each class. See also TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework Project and Movies as Literature Homework Project.

Additional ideas for lesson plans for this movie can be found at TWM’s guide to Lesson Plans Using Film Adaptations of Novels, Short Stories or Plays.

Roots is a video presentation of Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Volume IV shows slave life in the early 1800s and concentrates on the disruptive effects of slavery on family and personal relationships.

Selected Awards & Cast Here.

Selected Awards:

The “Roots” series won a Golden Globe Award as the Best Television Series of 1978, nine Emmy Awards, and many other honors.

Featured Actors:

John Amos, Chuck Connors, Scatman Crothers, Sandy Duncan, George Hamilton, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, Carolyn Jones, Robert Reed, Richard Roundtree, John Schuck, Madge Sinclair, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, Olivia Coles.

Director:

Marvin J. Chomsky.

The “Roots” series describes important aspects of the black experience in the U.S. and, for all Americans, helps in facing the legacies of slavery and segregation.

MINOR. There is some violence but it is appropriate to the film’s message.

Before watching the movie, review the Helpful Background section and describe its contents to your child. Immediately after the movie ask and help your child to answer the Quick Discussion Question, the Social-Emotional Learning Discussion Question under Rebellion, and the Question on Morality and Ethics.

See the TWM student handout Slavery: A World-Wide View, Then and Now.

As shown in “Roots”, slave families were often disrupted and family members sold to distant plantations. This practice was so common that the marriage vows of slaves were modified. The traditional words “til death to us part” were changes to the words “til death or distance do us part.” As “Roots” shows, “enlightened” slaveholders tried to keep families together but would split them up without compunction if a slave ran away or was disruptive to the plantation.

As shown in this segment, slaves were not permitted to learn to read. In fact, it was a crime in most southern states to teach a slave to read. Educated slaves had a tendency to revolt or run away. Literate slaves could more easily conspire to seek their freedom. There is a lot that has been written about the equality of men. Through reading and observation, educated slaves might realize that they were equal to or better than their masters. The gulf between the master and an educated slave is obviously less than that between an educated master and an illiterate slave.

1. See Discussion Questions for Use With any Film that is a Work of Fiction.

REBELLION

1. Describe some of the differences between slavery in Roman times and slavery in the American South. Why was Rome subject to major slave revolts which threatened the Empire (see Learning Guide to “Spartacus”) but there were no slave revolts of major proportions in the American South?

Discussion Questions Relating to Ethical Issues will facilitate the use of this film to teach ethical principles and critical viewing. Additional questions are set out below.

RESPECT

(Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule; Be tolerant of differences; Use good manners, not bad language; Be considerate of the feelings of others; Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone; Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements)

1. Is it possible for a slave owner to be respectful of a slave’s humanity? Why?

Suggested Response:

No. The very nature of the slave/master relationship is for the owner to take advantage of the slave. The slave serves the owner without recompense. A good employer/employee relationship is much different. The employer pays for the work of the employee at a reasonable rate. An employer can also train an employee so that he can undertake new responsibilities, have a more satisfying job and make more money.

See Assignments, Projects, and Activities for Use With Any Film that is a Work of Fiction.

Older children who are good readers will enjoy the book Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Books on this period of American history that have been recommended for children ten years and older include: Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters by Patricia C. & Frederick L. McKissack; The Glory Field, by Walter Dean-Myers, a history of the Lewis family from the capture of Muhammad Bilal in Africa in 1753. Historical novels dealing with experiences of slaves and of the South from 1812-1860 that have been recommended for children ten to fifteen include: Nightjohn, by Gary Paulson and Get on Board: The Story of the Underground Railroad, by James Haskins. Rebels Against Slavery, by Patricia and Frederick McKissack, is suitable for ages 11 and up.

This Learning Guide was last updated on July 21, 2011.

Benefits of the Movie
Possible Problems
Parenting Points
Selected Awards & Cast
Helpful Background
Discussion Questions
Social-Emotional Learning
Moral-Ethical Emphasis
Assignments and Projects
Bridges to Reading

TWM offers the following movie worksheets to keep students’ minds on the film and to focus their attention on the lessons to be learned from the movie.

Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction;

Film Study Worksheet for ELA Classes; and

Worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects.

Teachers can modify the movie worksHeets to fit the needs of each class. See also TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework Project and Movies as Literature Homework Project.

Additional ideas for lesson plans for this movie can be found at TWM’s guide to Lesson Plans Using Film Adaptations of Novels, Short Stories or Plays.

Search Lesson Plans for Movies

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RANDALL KENNEDY, Professor, Harvard Law School on the two alternative traditions relating to racism in America:

“I say that the best way to address this issue is to address it forthrightly, and straightforwardly, and embrace the complicated history and the complicated presence of America. On the one hand, that’s right, slavery, and segregation, and racism, and white supremacy is deeply entrenched in America. At the same time, there has been a tremendous alternative tradition, a tradition against slavery, a tradition against segregation, a tradition against racism.

I mean, after all in the past 25 years, the United States of America has seen an African-American presence. As we speak, there is an African-American vice president. As we speak, there’s an African- American who is in charge of the Department of Defense. So we have a complicated situation. And I think the best way of addressing our race question is to just be straightforward, and be clear, and embrace the tensions, the contradictions, the complexities of race in American life. I think we need actually a new vocabulary.

So many of the terms we use, we use these terms over and over, starting with racism, structural racism, critical race theory. These words actually have been weaponized. They are vehicles for propaganda. I think we would be better off if we were more concrete, we talked about real problems, and we actually used a language that got us away from these overused terms that actually don’t mean that much.   From Fahreed Zakaria, Global Public Square, CNN, December 26, 2021

Give your students new perspectives on race relations, on the history of the American Revolution, and on the contribution of the Founding Fathers to the cause of representative democracy. Check out TWM’s Guide: TWO CONTRASTING TRADITIONS RELATING TO RACISM IN AMERICA and a Tragic Irony of the American Revolution: the Sacrifice of Freedom for the African-American Slaves on the Altar of Representative Democracy.

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