The Marines of the The Mosquito Bowl
23:45
Grades: 9 - 12
Video Description: Pulitzer Prize author Buzz Bissinger talks about “The Mosquito Bowl,” an account of World War II in the Pacific via histories of college football players. Even though college football players, their backgrounds, and a Big Game played on Guadalcanal before the battle of Okinawa is part of the setting, this book is very much a profile of how the US entered and prosecuted WWII in the Pacific Ocean. Bissinger speaks passionately about football, the Navy, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, and 19 year old’s who got to be boys one more time before they became men by necessity.
Type of Video: Interview*
Unique Video ID: Literature-290**
Quick Ideas for Using the Video:
- Once the video has been viewed, present this writing prompt to your class; Write a short story based on one aspect of Bissinger’s talk, be it the nature of youth, the horrors of war, a sport as officer training, or an idea of their own.
- Provide the video to students doing group or independent projects on World War II.
*Interviews feature extended conversation exploring fascinating topics with fascinating people in the area of study.
**The unique Video ID can be used to quickly locate a single video in the ET collection. This search function is designed to let teachers assign students to watch a specific video and have only that video appear as a search result. Just click on Search and choose “By Video ID.” Then type in the Video ID as it appears above. Be sure to include the dash.
