Lesson plan:

1. Exposition

As a whole class

The opening sequence of this episode which features Bronson, dressed as a gunslinger, drawing feet from his holsters is unusual in that it conveys what the show is about symbolically. The scene never actually appears in the episode.

Play these opening scenes before viewing the entire episode and ask students to generate expectations about the nature and plot of the episode to follow.

View the episode then replay the opening scenes and discuss how they differ from many opening scenes which show events which actually occur. Use the scene to expand students' understanding of how exposition can work symbolically as well as literally.

2. Most narratives are based on a problem-solution structure

exposition --->- conflict or problem posed ---> climax ---> resolution

A problem is established early in the story and interest lies in how it will be solved. This episode, like some other narratives, makes use of this structure in a more sophisticated way by posing a double inter-related problem: How will Bronson save the turtle and get to the party at the same time?

As a whole class

Revise or teach the problem-solution structure of narratives and ask students to apply it to this episode and discuss how it differs from some other narratives.

3. Narrative techniques

The frequent cutaways from the storyline to the shots of the turtle swimming provide a useful way to study some of the narrative techniques used in film and television. A cutaway is a shot, unrelated to the main action, inserted into footage of the main action. Cut aways serve various functions - to signal the passage of time, to signal relationships between characters or actions, to create suspense through the prolonging of the main narrative, to create contrasts in mood or pace.

As a whole class

View the sequence and ask students to suggest the function of the cutaways in this episode. (The cutaways enhance suspense and contrast the peacefulness of the turtle's environment with that of the humans.)

The title Smelly Feat is a play on words or a pun (the use of words that are alike, or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning).
Draw attention to this and discuss other examples from film and literature. If the class has students from non-English speaking backgrounds it would be an opportunity to demonstrate the cultural specificity of puns - they never work in translation!