Rationale
In 2012, Ann Patchett stated in an opinion piece for the New York Times, "Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings. Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking, and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps." 1 This exemplifies what is happening to reading today. Students want instantaneous gratification that reading a long novel does not give them. It is my opinion that with that instantaneous gratification is where students lose their empathy. They are too busy trying to finish the job that they are not stopping to feel what others are feeling. They also believe that others do not feel for them.
By closely reading or viewing, analyzing, and writing about paintings and photography from bygone eras, students should be able to gain a better perspective of how humanity has either evolved or repeated itself. With this unit, students will explore the implied and subtle inhumanities of humans by analyzing paintings, photos, caricatures, and propaganda to learn how others were treated in other eras. They will see babies taken from mothers, families ripped apart by slavery, slaves disguised as soldiers, soldiers who thought they were doing right by their country only to be exploited during American atrocities of the 18 th and 19 th centuries—The American Revolution, The Slave Trades, The Civil War, World War I, and World War II.
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