The word "suburbia" evokes a wealth of imagery such as model homes, spacious yards, and minivans from movies, commercials, print advertisements, and television shows. These Utopian ideas of suburbia are partly truth and partly myth. Popular media's powerful portrayal of suburbia can be traced back to the wholesome 1950s' and 1960s' television programming of such classics as "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best." In these television worlds, surrealistically perfect settings portrayed an exaggerated sense of suburban happiness and security for their viewing audience. Suburban themes and settings still play a heavy role in contemporary films, such as "Edward Scissorhands," "Pleasantville," and popular teen horror movies like "Scream" and "The Faculty." This instructional resource suggests approaches to helping high-school students critically examine life in suburbia through three large black-and-white photographs by Nic Nicosia now in the collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Themes related to suburbia and narrative photography, explicitly and tacitly explored, include: the historical roots of suburbia, isolation versus community, Utopia versus reality, stereotypes and media depiction, fear and security, and mythology. Through this study, students will: (1) Identify and describe at least three themes reflected in America's suburbs through the photographs of Nic Nicosia; (2) Interpret photographic clues and apply them in creating original literary narratives based on photographs of and movies about suburbia; and (3) Create and photograph three-dimensional compositions connecting contemporary suburban life and Nic Nicosia's photographs. (Contains 2 notes.)