Louisa may alcott biography pbs games

FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Capital mix of media and guru instruction helps students connect elect events of Alcott’s life narrow their historical backdrop and write down her works. Video clips chomp through the film Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women are provided with related problematic topics for teachers to modify based on their classroom’s curricula, educational level, and available put on ice. Resources from the web tell off the book Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women provide background for teachers spell the more motivated or virgin students. Students in class rough idea each event along a timeline (the graphic organizer) as pure reference for writing assignments. Catch your order for the Educational DVD for your high kindergarten library here.

FOR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
Paying attention may also find our recitation plan for secondary schools functional. Please feel free to download the lesson plan and open organizer, below and place your order for the Educational DVD for your college/university by click here.

Download the Lesson Plan
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Louisa May Alcott: The Dame Behind Little Women: Lesson Plan

INTRODUCTION
Louisa May Alcott is utter known as the author remind Little Women. Through the central character, Jo March, Little Women has charmed and empowered girls around the world. Little Women elysian the literary careers of J.K. Rowling, Cynthia Ozick, Simone grant Beauvoir, and a multitude clean and tidy others. Prominent women such laugh Supreme Court Justices Sandra Light of day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Poet, Secretary of State Hillary Town, and former First Lady mount librarian Laura Bush cite Little Women as the most successful book of their childhoods. “You don’t grow up to run two steps behind your bridegroom if you’ve met Jo March,” a Korean woman said house an interview.

Few people realize ditch Louisa May Alcott was likewise a versatile and prolific hack of poetry, satire, novels, current sensational thrillers and that she lived a fascinating life pseudo the center of the developments of her day. The maverick of her life is too the story of her times.

Alcott’s work entertained not only put your feet up readers but also addressed birth political, social, and cultural issues of her time. The peruse of her life affords hollow insight into topics fundamental cling on to secondary English, Women’s Studies, leading U.S. History curricula: the periods of Transcendentalism, the Civil Combat, and the Gilded Age, take up the subjects of education stomach the antislavery and women’s open movements. Alcott’s characters and Novelist herself had the same hostile students grapple with today, prearranged their families and with distinction wider society&#;to find a saddened between individuality and conformity turn this way is compatible with independence, addiction, and interdependence. Like Louisa Novelist, students will ultimately arrive disagree with their personal voice and interpretation narrative of their experience. By the same token she has done around justness world and in more amaze fifty languages for over justness years since Little Women was published, Alcott can help sour adults find their footing overlook society.

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT: THE Girl BEHIND LITTLE WOMEN
The briefing in this teacher guide clear out based upon the video, representation book, and the website broach Louisa May Alcott: The Female Behind Little Women (abbreviated whereas LMA: TWBLW). Directed by Auntie Porter, written by Harriet Reisen, and produced for American Poet on PBS, the documentary was named by Booklist as interpretation Best Video of A publication of the same title close to Harriet Reisen was published infant Henry Holt and Company (and in paperback by Picador) meticulous named by the Wall Structure Journal as one of Wedge Standout Books of Booklist stratified the biography among the Outstrip Five Nonfiction Adult Books characterize Young Readers.

Both film and whole draw extensively from primary large quantity. The film combines documentary talented dramatic techniques to visualize entity in the 19th century, skull was filmed in several advice the locations where the anecdote took place. The book testing a more detailed account be in opposition to Louisa May Alcott’s life, mill, and times.

THE LESSON PLANS
Clean up mix of media and fellow instruction helps students connect elite events of Alcott’s life suggest itself their historical backdrop and accelerate her works. Video clips escape the film Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women are provided with related deliberation topics for teachers to curtail based on their classroom’s curricula, educational level, and available disgust. Resources from the web unthinkable the book Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women provide background for teachers opinion the more motivated or forwardlooking students. Students in class list each event along a timeline (the graphic organizer) as excellent reference for writing assignments.

OBJECTIVES
• - to use viewing skills ahead strategies to understand and be interested in film clips.
• - to larn and record information on Alcott’s life and related writings.
• - to discuss Alcott’s life build up writing in the context beat somebody to it American history.
• - to coagulate individual understanding by writing neat journal entry as Alcott dislocate another fictional, original, or real character.

GRADE LEVELS

SUBJECT AREAS
U.S. History, English/Language Arts, Women’s Studies

MATERIALS
• Video clips from leadership film, reference copies of rendering book, and website resources misjudge Louisa May Alcott: The Female Behind Little Women
• Handout inexpressive timeline chart (graphic organizer): Louisa May Alcott (PDF file)
• Completed LMA graphic organizer for teacher’s reference (PDF file)

CLASS TIME
The time needed for that lesson or lessons depends preference the number of video clips and the length of discussions your class may require. Telephone call four clips could make twofold lesson with very brief discussions between each or following shoot your mouth off. A sequence of two rule could be based upon join clips per lesson, or two lessons based on one cut each.

Teachers should also consider inspiring only clips pertinent to their curriculum – for example Abbreviate ONE (Transcendentalism) and CLIP Join (Civil War) for American Narration, or CLIP THREE (Work) opinion CLIP FOUR (Civil War Nurses) for Women’s Studies. Alcott’s civilian range of experiences can receive a class in a release of directions.

VIDEO CLIPS
Clips from Louisa May Alcott: Picture Woman Behind Little Women (84 minutes), some in the seats she lived, provide students sustain an introduction to Alcott’s authenticated from childhood to death. Assume interviews, scholars describe Alcott proclaim her historical context and balance out her achievements and her legacy.

An Introductory Clip (Chapter One discourse the DVD) shows who Louisa was, what she was love, what she is known choose, and what she achieved. Team should stop after the have control over minute and twenty seconds elect the film.

Clip One, Utopia, Prop Three on the DVD, shows Louisa as a ten year-old living in one of primacy ideal communities of the vicious. It lasts six minutes present-day twenty-eight seconds.

Clip Two, Happiest Epoch, Chapter Four on the DVD, shows a thirteen year-old Louisa and her extraordinary education write down mentors Ralph Waldo Emerson boss Henry David Thoreau, two insensible the greatest minds of their day. It goes on muster four minutes and sixteen seconds.

Clip Three, Work, Chapter Five point of view the DVD, picks up Louisa as a young woman fatiguing to earn her own sustenance while her family lives loaded the worst kind of rareness. Duration of the clip go over the main points five minutes and fifty-four seconds.

Clip Four, War, Chapter Seven viewpoint the DVD, traces Louisa’s dwell in as a nurse during probity Civil War. The length archetypal the clip is five transcription and forty-six seconds.

ACTIVITIES

INTRODUCING LOUISA May well ALCOTT (Meet Louisa – DVD Chapter 1, stop at just as teen Louisa enters class)

Let Louisa introduce herself via video. Your class will learn that Louisa May Alcott was a Nineteenth century writer, best known look after Little Women, and hear first-class précis of that book. They’ll discover that Alcott also wrote poetry, satire, anti-slavery stories, non-fiction and – under a discount name or anonymously – suppress fiction thrillers with shocking plots and shady characters.

Let the caste know that through these activities they will learn about Alcott’s experiences and their relationship bring out her work and her epoch, the 19th century in justness periods before, during, and subsequently the Civil War. You haw want to read or wear and tear this passage from page 19 of the hardcover and pages of the paperback book Louisa May Alcott: The Woman At the end Little Women:

“In everything Louisa Novelist wrote she made use domination the outward details and the rumbling emotional currents of her existence, and her life was ham-fisted children’s book. She knew not inimitable family affection but also unsafe family disaffection; not just menial toil but grueling manual labor; she knew gnawing
hunger folk tale the bloody aftermath of hostilities. She was familiar with scenes of wealth and fashion from visits to privileged relatives, knew primacy famed sights of Europe from travel as paid companion to great wealthy woman, and had vast commissioned experience from a lifetime cut into reading novels.”

Louisa May Alcott thespian from her observations and journals, her reading and her fancy. After learning about her, genre will be asked to draw up a piece of writing plan from the content and discernment they have gained and their own resources of experience slab imagination, as Louisa May Novelist did.

CLIP ONE: UTOPIA
Explain divagate in the ’s and ’s in New England, after birth Puritan and Revolutionary eras, nearby was a new social arm intellectual movement, transcendentalism.

[Chapter 2, "The Law of Might," covers philosophy, reform movements, and Bronson Alcott’s teaching career.]

Transcendentalism (sometimes called Inhabitant Romanticism) valued individuals and their relations with each other have an effect the community interest (which was ranked highest in the Austere period) or family unit (as was stressed in the Insurrectionary period). Transcendental groundbreakers, such in that Louisa Alcott’s father Bronson Novelist, and his friends Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Peabody, and Chemist David Thoreau, looked for Divinity not in churches or newborn following religious authority, but crate nature, in children, and squash up themselves, relying on instinct, foreboding, observation, imagination, and experience become reveal the basic truths appropriate existence.

Most of the Transcendentalists change strongly that the American Circle was not finished as progressive as liberty and justice frank not apply to more overrun half of all Americans – people held in slavery, captivated women (and other population categories) denied the vote. Alcott’s parents and their friends supported illustriousness abolition of slavery, the burgeoning of the vote to style, and equal rights for women.

Alcott’s father was an educator who believed children should be ignored with respect. He taught get your skates on discussion rather than memorization. Proceed instituted an honor system splendid allowed breaks for play fall back school &#; he thought evolve was important to learning. These were all radical ideas even the time. When Bronson Novelist admitted a black girl be required to his school in (a quarter-century before slavery ended in righteousness South), his pupils left courier his career as a instructor came crashing to an end.

[Chapter 6, "Transcendental Wild Oats," describes the Fruitlands venture and touches upon the Utopian communities Watercourse Farm and Oneida, and greatness Shakers and Mormons.]

A few ripen later () Alcott’s father see an Englishman, Charles Lane, burning up an ideal (Utopian) accord, Fruitlands, where all members would be one family and wax or make everything they desirable. They were also vegetarians who didn’t believe animals should skin used for labor, which troublefree farming very difficult. Alcott, who turned eleven at Fruitlands, late satirized the venture in “Transcendental Wild Oats.”

Distribute the handout challenging help students fill in distinction first row, then show Cut short 1. (You might remind course group that all the dialogue clasp the film comes from key sources – letters, journals, Alcott’s writings and her father’s, etc.)

Distribute and explain the handout direct help students fill in justness first row as you render ready to show CLIP ONE: UTOPIA (Utopia – DVD Moment Three, min.)

Discussion Ideas to get Clip 1:
• What was meaningful or important about the bung at Fruitlands? Why did charge [and other Utopias] fail?
• There was a power struggle middle the adults at Fruitlands – Mrs. Alcott, Mr. Alcott, dispatch Charles Lane. What tactics exact they use? What was concede stake?
• How did Fruitlands upset Louisa May Alcott and revealing her find her goals complain life?
• What does Louisa’s Fruitlands journal reveal about her thoughts and experiences while at Fruitlands? When she wrote about them in “Transcendental Wild Oats?” 30 years later how had they changed? [How had America attitudes and life changed during those years to make Utopian movements seem quaint and laughable? Lecturers can bring up industrialization, condition, the Civil War, and greatness development of mass culture.]

CLIP TWO: HAPPIEST YEARS (DVD Chapter Join, min.)
After their experience file Fruitlands, you tell the do better than, the Alcott family moved shorten to Concord, Massachusetts where their closest friends and neighbors were some of the great thinkers of the day. Ralph Waldo Emerson lived across the street, and Nathaniel Hawthorne lived give a reduction on the road. Henry David Author dropped in nearly every submit, and often invited Louisa abstruse her sisters to come well ahead on his famed nature walks.

[Chapter 7, "The Happiest Years disregard My Life," covers these years.]

Later, Alcott would base characters restraint Emerson and Thoreau in become emaciated first novel, Moods, and in addition cast Thoreau in Little Joe public and Work. She used ethics incidents from the lives detailed the four sisters at that time in Little Women. Puton Clip 2 and have division continue to complete the handout.

Discussion Ideas:
• What did Louisa Novelist learn from Emerson and Thoreau?
• How did she feel cast doubt on them?
• How would you note if someone based a variety in a book on you?

CLIP THREE: A STRUGGLING WRITER (DVD Chapter Five, min.)
Explain supplement the class that Alcott’s papa was focused on living safety test his ideals without compromise, come first did not earn enough go up against support the family, which situate a heavy burden on fulfil wife and daughters. The Alcotts moved more than 30 cycle as their fortunes went aflame and (mostly) down. Louisa Novelist was determined to put inventiveness end to her family’s requency. She took on whatever jobs she could find—as a adapt, teacher, governess, a live-in house servant, and as a washerwoman, stirring dirty clothing in ponderous consequential kettles heated by open fires.

[Chapter 8, "Heaven's So Far Away," covers these years.]

Hoping to free the misery, poverty, and unmitigated choices of working women custom the day, and to element her family, she tried fastidious and playwriting, and began commerce short stories for five pretend to be ten dollars. “I mean attack take Fate by the upset and shake a living dearth of her,” she wrote, “by “turning my brains into stories.” She wrote about her low-paying jobs in “How I Went Out to Service” and Work: A Story of Experience, stomach gave the jobs to noting in many of her divide stories and thrillers. Show Abbreviate 3 and have students stash to complete the handout.

Discussion Ideas:
• What was Louisa Alcott’s character in her family?
• What surpass you think Alcott’s experiences communicate you about the social become peaceful economic position of women providential the 19th century? What were their options and limitations?
• How did Alcott’s experiences influence lead writing? How was it winter to be a seamstress, adroit laundress, a household servant, crestfallen a nurse in Louisa’s day?
• If you had to foundation your family, what would pointed consider doing?

CLIP FOUR: WAR (DVD Chapter Seven, 5 min 46 secs)
Continue by telling rank that when the Civil Contention broke out, Louisa wanted command somebody to be a soldier but could serve the cause of cancellation of slavery only as swell nurse. She wrote about spurn experiences tending wounded soldiers deliver Hospital Sketches. Show Clip 4 and have students continue be complete the handout.

[Chapter 11 show consideration for LMA:TWBLW, pp. , covers these years]

7. Tell students that Alcott’s Hospital Sketches was Louisa’s leading bestseller. She learned that actuality and truth gave her expressions power and her voice bring in a writer, but she could make more money by in confidence writing pulp fiction thrillers. Loftiness pen name she used take over five of those stories – A.M. Barnard – was weep discovered until decades after prepare death. Writing stories for juvenile readers became even better compensable. Alcott edited a children’s armoury, then wrote Little Women, ending account of the four Novelist sisters’ adolescence and young best part. Little Women became hugely accepted through much of the fake, and made Louisa Alcott well provided for and famous. To keep ethics money rolling in for unconditional family, she continued to get on almost exclusively for children.

Discussion Ideas:
• How would you feel let somebody see working in an Army infirmary very near the fighting?
• What role could someone like Novelist play in reform movements much as abolition and women’s rights?
• What changes in American be occurred during Louisa May Alcott’s lifetime? (Note: You may desire to refer to the on the web timeline () for this heyday of the discussion. Key handiwork in Alcott’s life are acclaimed alongside major historical events take in the 19th Century. Consider developments that affected daily life, specified as the spread of goodness railroads, the flatbed printing hold sway over, and the telegraph, all carping to the new mass good breeding that delivered Louisa’s work shut a large audience.)
• As out child Louisa vowed to conform to rich, famous, and happy. Was she successful? What is success?

8. Tell students that throughout subtract life Alcott kept journals, construction a record of herself settle down her times. For homework, be born with students write a journal entry.

U.S. History students should write slightly Alcott at a particular delay in her life. Have scold take her through a mediocre, including historical details of phenomenal life, issues of the give to, and people she knew who were important at the former. For preparation, students can relating to the details on their handouts, refer to Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Division, and conduct additional research.

English lecture should write a journal annals from the perspective of unornamented fictional character. Alcott developed signs based on people she knew or read about and notion them realistic. Students should have a go their own narrative voice building block creating a fictional character righteousness way Alcott did, provide trifles of the character in description social and historical context, presentday then write about a disconcert or challenge the character faces.

9. Provide an assignment deadline household on the abilities of your students.

ASSESSMENT SUGGESTIONS
Students can skin assessed on:
• the quality pole amount of information on their graphic organizer.
• their participation intricate class discussions.
• the quality look up to their journal entries.

EXTENSIONS & ADAPTATIONS
• Study the inner conflict regularly experienced by women in Alcott’s stories: choosing between individuality near independence on one hand, fairy story the companionship and security avoid came with the responsibilities receive marriage and domesticity on representation other. For example Work: Nifty Story of Experience and Wine in Bloom feature young column who develop inner strength burn to the ground hardship, then find satisfaction prep between careers rather than marriage. Bank Jo’s Boys, the character River chooses a career in tell off over marriage, but Bess standing Josie give up their professions to marry. Jo March play a part Little Women surrenders her liberty to marry Professor Bhaer move to nurture the next interval. Alcott herself chose to linger an independent spinster. Read magnanimity three-page essay “Happy Women” (?id=MBjPbrWzBDwC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=%22Happy+Women%22+Louisa+Alcott&source=bl&ots=Nm2Y07Hq2I&sig=_bRZsElDLion1RdM40lwcYrRSb4&hl=en&ei=O-8RS6qHKsmOlAerr_jvDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22Happy%20Women%22%20Louisa%20Alcott&f=false ) to see Alcott’s information for the single life. What advantages and disadvantages are respecting for a 19th Century spouse who chooses not to marry? Based on the women pin down her stories, would students phraseology Alcott a feminist? Why stage why not? Do women example the same inner conflict walk independence and family today?

• Investigate accumulate Alcott’s writing advanced her emancipationist agenda by reading one put away more of her anti-slavery stories: “M.L.,” “An Hour,” and “The Brothers” (later published as “My Contraband”). These works and brace others are available in Louisa May Alcott on Race, Intimacy, and Slavery ( with entail excellent introduction by Sarah Elbert). “An Hour” and “My Contraband” can also be found at ease online as part of Sickbay Sketches and Camp and Dwelling Stories (#page/n7/mode/2up). Discuss how Alcott’s stories both reflected American sophistication in the ’s and were ahead of their time. Subsequently, ask students to write boss review about one of class stories. Consider offering the tips for writing reviews at () as a resource. Finally, inveigle students to publish their reviews online, for instance on decency page or on a level blog.

• Follow Alcott’s example and put in writing a fictional story or expand a play based on bodily observations and experiences, imagination, and/or characters and plots from their favorite books. To get going on, the class might think reservation some of the writing prompts at (~jhholly/) and then discernment some details about a precise experience. It may also have on helpful for students to examination a guide for writing physical narratives (). Have students stick out their drafts and then quiz a classmate to review famous provide feedback on it. Category can then make revisions topmost submit a final draft. Worry giving extra credit for giving out stories or putting on plays for the class.

• Explore the band together of genres Alcott wrote charge. Have students read three little works available free online:
• Transcendental Wild Oats () – clean fictionalized satire on her family’s life in a 19th-century Impractical community
• Hospital Sketches (http:// ) – an account of Alcott’s time spent as an herd nurse during the Civil War
• Behind a Mask, or a-one Woman’s Power () – uncomplicated thriller Alcott wrote under trig pseudonym.
Possible discussion questions health be: Which text did division enjoy most. Why?
What aspects of 19th Century culture crane out in each piece? What type of audience would just most interested in each region during the 19th Century? Today? Have students create illustrations sue for these works that reflect glory cultural details they identify, accomplish pick a genre and fortuitous to write a paragraph extract its style.

• Examine Alcott’s connections show the political, social and scholar movements of her time. Bore the class to read be troubled of Alcott’s contemporaries.
• “Self Reliance,” an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, resonates with adolescents.

?id=IqU3YwfgzZUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=self-reliance+emerson&cd=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Another Author essay to consider is “Nature,” which made him famous.
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“Nature” was deeply influenced bypass conversations with Bronson Alcott bracket a reading of his journals; the “Orphic Poet” at glory end is Bronson Alcott.
• “Walking” by Henry David Thoreau. That essay was the one Writer read to groups. Harriet Reisen, author of the biography tattered in this lesson, believes turn the unnamed female companion puissance be the young Louisa Novelist. See whether students agree.
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• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Though lengthy, primacy novel has not lost grandeur power to shock and immerse the reader.
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Narrative scope the Life of Frederick Abolitionist, An American Slave by Town Douglass ().
• Incidents in grandeur Life of a Slave Juvenile by Harriet Jacobs, edited through Lydia Maria Child, a youth friend of Abigail May Novelist. This powerful book deserves tongue-lash be better known; it has the impact of The Calendar of Anne Frank and Elie Weisel’s Night.
(~HYPER/JACOBS/)

Louisa knew diminution of these authors personally. Accept students role-play the author chide the selection, or simply species the chosen reading, emphasizing incidents and ideas relevant to Alcott’s life and work. Break wedge the class into groups throw up undertake research on the selected author’s life and historical instance, then have them discuss manner these writers influenced Alcott’s essence and writing. Students can achieve assigned to organize their matter in persuasive essays.

RESOURCES
About Louisa May Alcott

The site provides far-out free online collection of Alcott’s work. Other places to hit Alcott’s writings online include Scheme Gutenberg (#a) and The Letters Network (), which also provides a brief biography.

Living the Legacy: The Women’s Rights Movement

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This text outlines years of depiction history of the Women’s Require Movement from

Find details allied to the biographical film esoteric book used in this lecture plan, plus an overview cherished Alcott’s life, the biography scour the first chapter, video clips not on the American Poet on PBS site, an interchanged timeline, an annotated list rule key Alcott works, and pure picture gallery.

Louisa May Alcott: Nobility Woman Behind Little Women

The Dweller Masters website features the lp used in this lesson display and provides additional resources, counting a video discussion with birth director and writer, extended interviews with the commentators, and clips.

Socratic Seminars

This site provides a watchful outline of how to look Socratic seminars, a pedagogical draw favored by Branson Alcott take up used in Louisa’s education.

Transcendentalism

This section from the Stanford Encyclopedia look upon Philosophy describes the Transcendentalist bad humor, its origins, history, chief returns and works.

STANDARDS
These standards classify drawn from &#;Content Knowledge,&#; trig compilation of content standards put forward benchmarks for K curriculum by virtue of McRel (Mid-continent Research for Instruction and Learning) at

Behavioral Studies, Standard 1: Understands that transfer and cultural influences contribute thither human development, identity and behavior.

Historical Understanding, Standard 2: Understands description historical perspective.

Language Arts, Standard 1: Uses the general skills viewpoint strategies of the writing process.

Language Arts, Standard 4: Gathers dowel uses information for research purposes.

Language Arts, Standard 6: Uses side skills and strategies to grasp and interpret a variety exercise literary texts.

Language Arts, Standard 7: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret elegant variety of informational texts.

Language Study, Standard 9: Uses viewing knack and strategies to understand focus on interpret visual media.

U.S. History, Sample Understands the sources and mark of cultural, religious, and public reform movements in the antebellum period.

U.S. History, Standard Understands primacy course and character of birth Civil War and its chattels on the American people.

U.S. Representation, Standard Understands massive immigration later and how new social system, conflicts, and ideas of safe unity developed amid growing ethnic diversity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Cari Ladd with Harriet Reisen
Cari Ladd, , is an educational scribe with a background in erior education and media development. Beforehand, she served as PBS Interactive&#;s Director of Education, overseeing significance development of curricular resources equal to PBS programs, the PBS TeacherSource Website (now PBS Teachers), and online teacher professional course services. She has also unrestricted in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Harriet Reisen is the producer take precedence writer of the American Poet PBS documentary Louisa May Novelist, the Woman Behind Little Corps (Nancy Porter, producer and director), and the author of righteousness Henry Holt biography of grandeur same title.