Author Description

This study guide has been developed to accompany the film "Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh." The guide is organized in two sections: Preview and Postview. In the Preview, students are introduced to Hannah Senesh. They learn the historical context of her story, and they begin to consider some of the main themes of the film. In the Postview, students will deepen their understanding of the main themes through a close examination of excerpts from Senesh's diary and letters, as well as her poetry. Each section of the guide includes classroom strategies and activities that will support students as they consider the significance of Senesh's life and the legacy that she leaves for young people today. This guide is intended to act as a menu of ideas for how to incorporate "Blessed Is the Match" into a middle or high school course. It provides suggested activities that can be chosen according to the focus subject area, age of students, and amount of time that can be allotted to the film. The author recommends that at least one class session be dedicated to the preview activities, then one session to watch the film, leaving at least one session for postview activities and debrief. Throughout this guide readers will see references to feature-length and classroom-cut versions of the film. The classroom version is 45 minutes long and has been edited so that it can be viewed in one class session. The feature-length film is 90 minutes and, as such, goes deeper into the story of Senesh's life. This study guide has been designed for use in classrooms where either version of the film has been seen. (Contains 2 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by Katahdin Productions and the Monica and Phil Rosenthal Family Trust.].