Lesson Plan
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Title: History,
Literature,
Creator:
Subject: Social Studies Course:
American History
Grade Level: 11th grade
Unit Plan: This lesson is designed to have
students consider how works of art can help them make connections between
history and literature. They will compare a literary work to an artwork, based
on the assumption that they have done some preliminary reading.
Standards: NC SCOS COMPETENCY GOAL
10: World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War (1930s – 1963) – The learner
will analyze the
Lesson Goals:
10.01 Elaborate on the
causes of World War II and reasons for
10.02 Identify
military, political, and diplomatic turning points of the war and determine
their significance to the outcome and aftermath of the conflict.
10.03 Describe and
analyze the effects of the war on American economic, social, political and
cultural life.
Differentiation: Students will work in
small, heterogeneous groups to complete this lesson.
Duration: This can be done
as a single 50-minute lesson, or broken down into shorter, discrete, lessons if
the classroom teacher would like to:
o
incorporate
additional images or readings
o
have
everyone work on the same image and reading selection simultaneously
Teacher Materials:
·
Access
to relevant online images of works in the Ackland collection (see Attachment 1)
·
Questions
for students to consider about the images (see Procedures, below)
·
Additional
notes about some of the artists and/or their work (see Attachment 2)
·
Website
links that will provide additional information about artists and/or images (see
Supplemental Resources, below)
Student Materials:
·
Access
to relevant online images of works in the Ackland collection (see Attachment 1)
·
Questions
to consider about the images (see Procedures, below)
·
Website
links that will provide additional information about artists and/or images (see
Supplemental Resources below)
Preparation: Students will have read one or
more of the following, either in their history or literature class, as an
assignment or as extra credit:
o
The
Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
by Randall Jarrell (see Attachment 2)
o
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
o
Procedures:
·
Small groups of 3-5 students will be given:
o
information about a particular work of art
o
a set of questions to consider that relate
the work to one of their readings (see works above, and questions below)
·
Students should rely on visual and written
material and be prepared to share their findings.
Still Life with Hunting Trophies by Jan Weenix, and
The
Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell
1.
How is the imagery similar in the painting
and the poem?
2.
Is this painting more about being a hero or
being a victim? What evidence do you find to support your choice?
3.
Is the poem more about being a hero or
being a victim? What evidence do you find to support your choice?
4.
What is a contemporary issue for which the
painting or the poem could serve as a metaphor?
Christ before Caiaphas
by Mattias Stom, and
The
Crucible by Arthur Miller
1. In
the painting, what kinds of power or strength are represented in each of the
two central figures? What visual evidence supports your observations?
2. For
each of the two central figures, identify one character in the play who
possesses similar qualities of strength or power. How can you tell?
3. How
do the roles of the background figures in the painting remind you of supporting
characters in the play?
4. How
does history repeat itself? What is a contemporary issue that the painting
and/or play could represent?
Project for a Monument to the Defense of
1. War
is often spoken of in terms of “heroic” and “tragic.” Tragedy is generally
easier to see. What about this sculpture is tragic?
2. What
about it is heroic?
3. What
parallels can you find in what you’ve read or what you know about
4. If
this sculpture was changed to commemorate what happened at
5. What
would it look like if it were made by a Japanese?
Students
can extend this experience by considering a more current problem or event and
then (as a possible culminating activity):
·
drawing or constructing a monument to the
victims
·
writing a poem or song in memory of the
event or victims
·
composing a piece of music to commemorate
the event
·
writing a short story or journal entry from
the point of view of someone who has lived through one of these problems.
·
Etc.
Culminating Activities: Students can
(individually, with a partner, or in a small group):
- research different war monuments and
draw or make one that reflects a war in their recent memory.
- read more (of Randall Jarrell’s)
poetry about war, then write their own poem about a war in their recent
memory.
- research the House Un-American
Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings of 1947. Draw comparisons with The
Crucible and then
o
select
one of the characters in the play
o
determine
a modern counterpart (1950 – present)
o
write
a defense of your actions as you would present it to the HUAC, if the Committee
were still in place
- Create a
PowerPoint “slide show” of images that either:
o
compare
visual and verbal images of wo/man as “hero” and/or “victim”
o
compare
visual and verbal images of “power”
o
compare
visual and verbal images of war as “heroic” and/or “tragic”
Assessment:
- Quality of project or paper as
determined by a rubric written by the classroom teacher
Supplemental Resources:
about
discrimination:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/education/lesson30_overview.html
about
Arthur Miller:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/miller_a.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller
about
John Hersey and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hersey
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/page/10166.html?detoured=1
about
Caiaphas:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/jesuskeyfigures.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiaphas
about
Rodin’s sculpture and its relevance to democracy (originally developed for 8th
grade social studies, it can be adapted for application in 11th
grade American History):
http://www.learnnc.org/lessons/KarenWagoner5232002115
Technology Integration:
Computers
with internet access
(PowerPoint)
Relevant Websites:
Jan Weenix:
http://www.ackland.org/tours/classes/weenix.html
Auguste Rodin and Mattias Stom:
http://www.ackland.org/tours/classes/index.html
(scroll down the left screen to find Rodin and Stom; also read “Issues to
consider” following each article)
Key Focusing Questions: See “Procedure” above
File Attachments:
- Images in the Ackland collection
- Copy of The Death of the Ball
Turret Gunner
This lesson plan
and its distribution were made possible by a grant from the Wyeth Foundation,
the William Hayes Ackland Trust, and the
Attachment
1
Images
|
|
Weenix, Jan Dutch, 1642?-1719 Still Life with Hunting
Trophies, 1680s-1690s? oil on canvas Ackland Fund 84.43.1 |
|
|
Stom, follower of, Matthias Dutch, active in Christ Before Caiaphas, early 1630s oil on canvas Ackland Fund 79.58.1 |
|
|
Rodin, Rene-Francois Auguste French, 1840-1917 Project for a Monument to the
Defense of bronze Ackland Fund 73.35.1 |
Attachment 2
Notes
The Biblical passage on which Stom based
his painting may be Matthew, 26:57 – 68.
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell
From my mother's sleep I
fell into the State,
And I hunched in its
belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth,
loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and
the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed
me out of the turret with a hose.