The Shining, The Miniseries: Precognition, Premonition, Prophecies and Predictions

I am Stephen King's greatest fan. The Shining is a classic and the movie with Jack Nicholson is really scary, However, this mini-series is more faithful to the original story in the book, so I liked it a lot as well. I even prefer it. Please, show this scene, which is not really scary, only to adult students. Mind your audience, please.

Inspired by:

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/p/precognition.html

http://www.dreamdictionary.org/types/psychic-dreams/

I. Many people confuse Premonition, Precognition, Prophecy and Prediction. Read the definition of each of them and match with their description.

1 – Precognition

2 – Premonition

3 – Prophecy

4 - Prediction

(     ) The source of the information is attributed to God or some other supernatural source. It is generally concern serious events on a grand scale.

(     ) A form of extrasensory perception in which the target is some future event that cannot be deduced from normally known data in the present. It  presents itself in dreams by using types of symbols, events or odd feelings.

(     )  A feeling or impression that something is about to happen, especially something ominous or dire, yet about which no normal information is available. They  are mixtures of sounds, random images or feelings that flash involuntary in your mind at any given time. 

(     ) It is an announcement regarding a future event. It can be in the form of horoscopes, which are based on the movement of the planets, or a form of divination, such as a tarot card reading. In ancient times people used to go to oracles or temples to get advice. They don’t have religious connections.

Key:

3, 1, 2, 4

II. Work in pairs.

Watch the movie segment and discuss the following questions:

1.       So what exactly is precognition? 

It’s basically the ability to have a vision of a future event that could not otherwise be anticipated through any known process. It’s the influence of a future event that has yet to take place on an individual’s responses. How does precognition take place in the segment?

2.       Why isn't his  behavior a premonition, a prophecy or a prediction. Explain it.

3.       Do you believe precognition is actually possible? What about premonitions, prophecies - the bible has many of them -  and predictions? Do you know anyone with those abilities? Talk about it.

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE SHINING