Here are number of activities to help students explore the relationship between the historical Titanic and its cinematic representations:

Have students write a narrative describing their experiences on R.M.S. Titanic as if they were on board the ship in 1912. They may represent themselves as any one of the 2200 people who were actually on board the ship or they may choose to invent a fictional character. In either event, the narrative should be as accurate as possible and conform to the outline of chronological events portrayed in class resources. This is a similar challenge faced by James Cameron as his fictional characters needed to conform in their actions to known historical events.

A student may be a passenger or crew member of any age, class or gender. As much as possible, the narrative should describe the person without betraying the real identity as a middle-class Canadian young person of the 1990's.
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The initial reaction to the Titanic disaster had the White Star Line
trying to control and manipulate media coverage of the sinking. Students
can research this and compare these attempts with other media cover-ups in
recent history.
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The people of the Gilded Age believed that man could beat nature and
even "outdo" God. They thought that technology was going to be the
salvation of mankind. In their day, the competition between rival shipping
companies such as Cunard and White star to build the biggest, fastest and
most luxurious ships was equivalent to the "space race" between Russia and
the U.S. during the 1950's to the 1970's. Many have commented on the
striking similarities between the Titanic disaster and the Challenger
explosion. Students can prepare a research paper or an essay in which they
comment on the similarities.
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Students can enquire of their family and friends whether any of them or
their families traveled or immigrated to Canada by ocean liner. Or they can
visit the local library to read accounts of people who traveled or
immigrated by sea in their community. Students can present the results of
their research including the routes traveled, letters and any other primary
source materials.
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Edith Wharton called the period prior to the Titanic disaster the "Age of
Innocence" and wrote a novel depicting the complacent lives of upper-class
New Yorkers. This was recently turned into a film by Martin Scorsese.
Others referred to it as the "Gilded Age." Assign students to prepare
reports comparing lifestyles of first class passengers with those of second and
third class in the period from 1900 to 1912.

How did they live?

What sort of work would they have done?

What would they have eaten?

What would their living conditions be like?

 

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Compare the films A Night to Remember or Titanic with a factual account
of the disaster such as the book A Night to Remember or the A&E
documentary, Death of a Dream.

What changes were made by the filmmaker?

Why do you think these changes were made?

What do these changes tell us about what modern audiences expect from a historical recreation?

What do these changes tell us about the process of turning a book into a film?

 

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Find out which characters in the film are portrayals of real people.
Choose one of these characters and find out all you can about this person.
How fairly is the person portrayed in the movie?
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Find out what you can about the Titanic's band members. What kind of
music would they have played on board the ship? Why are the musicians and
their music such an important part of Titanic mythology?
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The people on board Titanic demonstrated a variety of reactions to the
danger, stress and tragedy that confronted them. While reading A Night to
Remember, note examples of the following themes: compassion, loyalty,
faith, physical courage, moral courage, moral indignation, sense of humour,
interdependence, fallibility, selfishness, cowardice.
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Research the changes made in shipping regulations as a consequence of
the Titanic disaster.
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Several controversies have erupted concerning various aspects of the
Titanic disaster. These include:

the competence of Captain Smith

the role of the Californian, a nearby ship that seemingly ignored Titanic's distress calls

discrimination against third class passengers, while the ship was sinking and afterwards at the official investigations

the retrieval of artifacts from the wreck site since 1985 -- whether they should be preserved as a shrine to the dead, or exploited for profit

using sub-standard materials to construct the ship, thus contributing to its sinking after the collision with the iceberg

compensation to victims of the disaster

the commercialization, exploitation and trivialization of the disaster, especially since the release of the Cameron movie

 

Investigate one or more of these controversies and prepare a balanced
report for the class giving both sides of the arguments. An alternative
would be to set up a debate with opposing sides of each controversy being
presented.
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Why is the Titanic story such a popular basis for filmmakers and
authors? Compare the Cameron film with another movie about the Titanic.
Given the fact that we know what happens to the ship, how does the film
manage to retain interest in the story?
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How well has the filmmaker captured, not just the look of the 1912
period, but the values, beliefs and ideas of this period?
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Have students investigate the sinking of the Empress of Ireland in
1914. How does this disaster compare with the Titanic? Why are so few
Canadians aware of this catstrophe?