The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Lesson Plan

What does Oz do for the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion? How does this help them?

Oz gives them each some sort of physical manifestation of their desire. For the Scarecrow, he fills his head with bran, pins, and needles (giving him "bran-new brains"), for the Tin Woodman he makes a heart out of silk and sawdust and cuts open his tin chest to house it, and he gives the Lion a liquid because he must "swallow his courage." These are all placebos, of course, because each character already possessed the traits he thought he lacked. However, it was important for them to receive something, at least symbolically. Ask students to think about why this matters: have they...