Activity One: The Creation of Superman The Creation of Superman Activity Two: Stand By Me: Story-relaying Stand By Me BACK

The Creation of Superman: a hero for troubled times and a reflection of his era

Background of the birth of Superman There was a time when people were troubled by: –The Great Depression 經濟大蕭條 –The worst drought ever in the Great Plains states 美國有史以來最大的旱災 –Hitler and his Nazi war machine 希特勒與其納粹戰爭機器

Sources:

Creators of Superman Image: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Creators of Superman The “Man of Steel” was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster when both young men were still in high school. They lived at a time when over a quarter of a million U.S. teenagers lived on the road hoping to find work to send money back home, or simply because they felt they’d become a financial burden on their families.

Jerome Siegel Jerome Siegel is one of the most important figures in the development and creation of costumed comic heroes. An avid reader with a great interest in science fiction & fantasy, he published his own fanzine in 1929.

Joe Shuster In 1931 he met and befriended Joe Shuster. They became fast friends, in part due to Joe's interest in science fiction novels and also because Joe was a competent artist and Jerome loved his work. Together they created Superman.

The Setback "Superman" was put together in comic strip form as early as 1932, and then as a comic book in Unfortunately, when the comic book was rejected, Shuster destroyed the artwork. Fortunately, Siegel had rescued some of the works.

The Success Finally the big break came. In 1938, Superman became a smash hit with issues of Action selling out at the newsstands every month. By 1941, the Saturday Evening Post reported the pair as making upwards of $75,000 each per year. They had certainly hit the bigtime.

The Contributions of Superman Did Superman change this bad conditions? Of course not. Neither did he stop Hitler or ended poverty, however...

Superman proved to be –something of an overnight success –the “champion of the oppressed” –a comfort, particularly to children during the hard economic times and the gathering storm clouds of World War II. –the light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.

Stand By Me: Story-relaying A friend in need is a friend indeed. -Latin Proverb A good friend is my nearest relation. The best mirror is an old friend. The only unsinkable ship is Friendship.

Stand By Me (artist: Ben E. King) When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we see No, I won’t be afraid Oh, I won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand Stand by me, so

Darling darling stand by me Oh, stand by me Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon Should tumble and fall Or the mountain Should crumble to the sea I won’t cry, I won’t cry No, I won’t shed a tear Just as long as you stand Stand by me, and

Darling darling stand by me Oh, stand by me Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me Whenever you’re in trouble Won't you stand by me, oh stand by me

Story-relaying 故事接龍 We have learned in this unit about the extraordinary willpower of Christopher Reeve. Now, form a group of 12 and each one answered one of the questions in the following slides. In particularly, please highlight the precious friendship between Christopher and his close friend Robin Williams.

1.Briefly introduce Christopher. 2.Tell us how he got hurt. 3.What impact did the accident have on him?

4.Who came to visit him in the hospital after the accident? 5.Tell us how the two came to know each other so well. 6.What did Robin promise to do to help Christopher? 7.How did Christopher react to the offer?

8.Christopher and Robin appeared at a dinner meeting of the Creative Coalition together. What do you think Robin would say about his close friend? 9.Christopher was out in public and was interviewed on TV as well. What did he tell people about his resolutions?

10.How is Christopher now? Was he defeated by the accident or has he conquered the tough time? 11.What do you learn from the story?

Now Share your story with the class.