We plan to cover the steps that lead to genocide (dehumanizing language, etc.), concepts like eugenics and social Darwinism and the ethics of them (including discussion of ethos/rhetoric), some history of the Holocaust itself, origins of Antisemitism (connecting back to Merchant of Venice and the Black Plague briefly), hate speech laws in modern Germany (banning certain speech and expression), and literature from several different 20th century genocides (Holocaust, Darfur, Serbia, Rwanda, etc.). We plan to have students evaluate the current rhetoric of the United States and the rising number of hate crimes and anti-Semitic incidents, then argue whether there is cause for concern and what should be done about it.
Priority Standards
We are learning to...
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3: Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- SS.H.5.9-12. Analyze the factors and historical context that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
- SS.H.12.9-12. Analyze the geographic and cultural forces that have resulted in conflict and cooperation.
We are learning to...
- Understand the complex political, economic, and historical factors that led to the Holocaust.
- Engage in sustained research and synthesize multiple information in order to gain a complex understanding of a topic.
- Write a focused research paper.
- Draw connections between literary texts and historical research.
- Understand how the continuity of human nature leads to patterns throughout history.
VocabularyGenocide
Dehumanizing language Eugenics Social Darwinism Ethos Rhetoric Anti-Semitism Moralism Historicism |
assessments
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