Problem Statements in Coming Attractions

Problem statement (as story)
Identify/Generate the principle
Time: 10-15 minutes

This activity is best used as review (after you've done Problem Statement Fairy Tales, Fairy Tales, Building a Fairy Tale, and Mad Libs).
 
Show some movie previews (available at the beginning of most movies released for home video, or online, or on "Coming Attractions" on E!). Ask students to identify the four parts (or as many as they can; bad previews often show all four parts). For example:

Status Quo: Dorothy, Toto, and Auntie Em live relatively peacefully in Kansas.

Destabilizing Moment: A tornado strikes.

Consequences: Dorothy gets blown to Oz and she can't get home until she finds the Wizard.

Resolution: Dorothy finds the Wizard and wakes up.
 
(In addition to a few obvious examples, it can be interesting to show a preview for a highbrow movie that purposely reveals as little as possible of the actual plot, never mind the parts of a problem, then talk about why marketers might be interested in revealing a lot or a little about the story. Who are they trying to appeal to? How?)