This unit will focus on stereotypes, both racial and ethnic, in literature. The unit is an outgrowth of the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute seminar entitled "Diversity and Resistance."

As an English teacher I have noted that there are many stereotypes in the literature that I teach to the tenth grade Pittsburgh Scholars students. The selections that I will focus upon are Gordon Parks’ semi-autobiographical novel, The Learning Tree; the great anti-war novel of World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque; and the eloquent novella written by Holocaust survivor, Elie Weisel entitled Night. Therefore the stereotypes will revolve around the African-American, the German, and the Jew. However, for those who wish to use this unit, substitutions can be made in both the literary selection and in the ethnic group. There is much to choose from.

We live in a hate-filled world. One does not need to quote statistics to support this premise, as news articles and the media cry aloud each day with horrific stories about groups being harassed, beaten, fired-upon---the list is endless. Are high school students able to confront their own biases? I believe so. And at what better age can one start to allow young people to look inward! Will the unit cure our hate-filled prejudices? Perhaps not, but it certainly is a start.

The organization of this unit is flexible. One can teach it after reading all three literary selections, or one can teach it after each novel is read and discussed. However, my personal preference is to make this into a separate unit culminating after all works are read and discussed. Therefore, the time element will probably take place in the spring of the school year, and will last approximately six to nine weeks.

To begin the unit, one must start with a working definition of the term "stereotype." The text of the class seminar, Diversity and Resistance, is Dr. James Jones’ Prejudice and Racism. Jones writes:

A stereotype is a positive or negative set of beliefs held by an individual about the characteristics of a group of people. It varies in its accuracy, the extent to which it captures the degree to which the stereotyped group members possess these traits, and the extent to which the set of beliefs is shared by others…Stereotyping is the process by which an individual employs a stereotypical belief in the evaluation of or behavior toward a member of a stereotyped group (170).

In summary, Jones explains: "Stereotypes are thought by many to be the engine that drives prejudice…Stereotypes are prejudicial because they involve generalization (201)."

Milton Kleg, in his book, Hate Prejudice and Racism, explains "…when tied to prejudiced attitudes, stereotypes help create a number of behaviors ranging from avoidance to violence. Our review of stereotypes indicates that one’s perceived reality is not reality itself, but is a mixture of fact and fiction (155)."

Certainly it is difficult to explain the root causes of prejudice and stereotyping.

The Rogers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific, gives an almost simplistic reason in the song that Lt. Cable sings. These lyrics state: "You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear…You’ve got to be taught to be afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made, and people whose skin is a diff’rent shade…You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late before you are six or seven or eight, to hate all the people your relatives hate."

Children are born innocent. Their behaviors, it seems to me, as they grow older, are a reflection of the attitudes and belief in stereotypes found in the home. The above lyrics attest to this, as do countless commercials sponsored by various and sundry organizations, pushing this same idea.

Interestingly enough, in class discussions, many of my students have alluded to being discriminated against in one way or another. I often share a personal story, when these discussions come up, about an incident which happened to me when I was a newly-minted college graduate pursuing teaching employment. Obviously the times were different, and employers could say just about anything to prospective employees.

I was interviewing for a teaching position in a district outside the city of Pittsburgh. My looks had a faint suggestion of being exotic---Italian or perhaps Jewish. My name was a common and rather "safe" name, with no great ethnic connotations. The interviewer commented upon that fact, and asked me pointedly where my ancestors came from. Knowing that this person was fishing to see if I was Jewish, which I was and am, I proudly answered the question by saying that my ancestors came from America, and that I was Jewish. Obviously, I did not take that position nor was it offered me. But the incident has remained with me for my entire teaching career. Today, that question would be prohibited. But then, Jews faced a number of discriminatory practices in the employment field.

I first began to think of writing this unit on stereotypes in literature when my scholars’ class read the novel, The Learning Tree. There are many examples of stereotypical comments about the African-American Winger family in that book, and the focus is on the young Newt Winger’s desire to attend college. But it was during the discussion of All Quiet on the Western Front that the idea hit home with an impact. As a preliminary activity to reading the novel, I asked the students to jot down some information about what they knew of the Germans and of the country of Germany. Most responded that they knew little of Germany, and were frightened to visit there, and a majority said that they believed that the country was filled with Nazis and skinheads. As the unit progressed, students were able to see that their views were based on pre-judged stereotypes, and that the German soldiers fighting in World War I, were similar to most fighting men across the world.

I would want the students through this unit, to understand that certain feelings and actions are universal. The German soldiers experienced fear, horror, the desire to live----in short, all the emotions that fighting men would experience. Paul Baumer, Remarque’s spokesman, experiences a similar awakening, when he finds that the Russian prisoners of war are very similar to the German soldiers. And my students should also experience an epiphany in reading about the German experience, which is, of course, parallel to the experience of any universal soldier.

I would begin this unit with a study of certain vocabulary terms that apply to the general area of prejudice and stereotyping. Students will keep a notebook and the definitions of these terms will be part of the notebook requirements. The terms are as follows:

1.anti-semitism

2. civil rights

3. ethnocentrism

4. ghetto

5. holocaust

6. Ku Klux Klan

7. stereotype

8. skin-head

9. racism

10. scapegoat

11. propaganda

12. pogroms

13. lynching

14. demagogues

15. bigotry

Another early activity which should cause the students to examine their own stereotypical beliefs would be the distribution of several questionnaires. The first would cover the following, and students would be asked to jot down their feelings about these groups:

1. vegetarians

2. people who wear dashikis (brightly colored loose fitting pullover garments)

3. people who wear yarmulkes (skullcaps)

4. students who sport punk-style haircuts

5. students with skin-head haircuts

6. students who wear gold chains around their necks

7. students who carry large stereo radios

8. students with orange hair

9. skateboard users

10. boys who wear an earring

 

After these questionnaires are turned in, there will ensue a class discussion as to what the students really believe, and what they know from factual experience. It will be interesting to see whether these students employ any of the classic stereotypical terms to describe these groups. It will also be interesting to see their awareness of how easy it is to make stereotypical comments.

I would then move on to another questionnaire which pinpoints more specific ethnic groups. Students would be asked to jot down characteristics of these particular groups. The end result would be similar to the former—class discussions, etc.

1. African-Americans

2. Jews

3. Rich people, or people perceived as being rich

4. Japanese, or any other Asian group

5. Hispanics

6. Athletes

7. Obese people

8. Homosexuals

9. Politicians

10. Teachers

As a follow-up to these class discussions, I would turn to the required notebook which will serve as a depository of the student writings. I call this a journal. Students would then write out in detail, their answers to these questions.

1. Is there an African-American section of Pittsburgh? If so---where is this located?

a. Is there a white area of Pittsburgh? If so, where is this located?

b. Is there an area which is "restricted" to one race, religion, or national origin? If so---where is this located?

c. What would be the consequences for someone of the "wrong" race, religion, or ethnic make-up to reside in that restricted area?

2. Why do some people join groups such as the KKK?

3. Discuss how prejudice and discrimination are not only harmful to the victim, but also to those who practice these beliefs.

4. Is it possible to grow to adulthood without harboring at least some prejudice towards minorities?

5. What can you do to fight prejudice in your neighborhood or school?

This novel is an accounting of the formative years of Newt Winger, the young hero of the story. Newt is, in reality, Gordon Parks, a prolific writer and photographer still alive as of today. The story is set in Cherokee Flats, Kansas, during the 1920’s. The setting is not in the Deep South nor in the so-called "free" North, but rather in a frontier town. The color lines in this town are very distinctly drawn.

There are a number of stereotypes present in this story. Newt, in particular, is surprised at the friendliness of the white students and their over-all acceptance of him as a person and not as a negative stereotype, and his counselor, Miss McClinock, is surprised that the Black Boy wishes to go to college.

As Newt begins high school--- a mixed one, at that, we are told: "The white students were friendlier than Newt expected them to be." From this statement we can see that Newt comes to the realization that not every white person is out to "get" a member of the minority. This ties in with what the author, Milton Kleg, elucidates in his text, Hate Prejudice and Racism, about racial and ethnic prejudice. He defines prejudice as a "…readiness to act, stemming from a negative feeling, often predicated upon a fixed over-generalization or totally false belief and directed toward a group or individual members of that group (114)."

Certainly Newt is guilty of this, as are white students toward minorities. But we see more stereotypical behavior in this novel in the actions of Newt’s guidance counselor, Miss McClinock. Newt admits to her, under pressure, that he would like to go to college. She becomes horrified and asks him "Who put such notions in your head?" She then launches into a diatribe about that very idea. She tells Newt: "…ninety-nine percent of the Negro students don’t go to college. They aren’t college material…The few who are---and are lucky enough to get the money---usually wind up as cooks or porters anyway."

Newt eventually tells his counselor that she is prejudiced. "You don’t like me or any of the rest of the colored kids…you been tellin’ all the other colored kids the same thing for years and years."

When the principal gets involved in what Miss McClinock calls "insubordination", we find that Miss McClinock tells this principal, Mr. Hall, that: "What I’ve said to them I’ve been instructed to say to them." Apparently, past principals have espoused those beliefs and passed them down to their staff.

Mr. Hall, after this meeting with the counselor, tells Newt: Although she must share this blame for this awful wrong, Miss McClinock is somewhat a victim herself---having been eased into this wrong channel of thought many years ago, not only because she thought it to be right but because it was a truth that existed during those same years (148)."

We see Mr. Hall admitting to Newt that prejudice and segregation are wrong. "…I feel badly about the school board’s keeping you boys off our football and basketball teams…our white basketball team hasn’t made the state championships in the last ten years. The colored team has not only done this, but it’s held the championship of Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri four times during the same period. Believe me---if it were left to me…this would stop, but we are powerless(149)."

In Joe Feagin’s book, Racist America, he quotes Harvard researchers as saying: "We may be deciding to bet the future of the country once more on separate but equal. There is no evidence that separate but equal works any better than it did a century ago (169)." He goes on to state that: "Discrimination, blatant and subtle, is commonplace at most stages of education at historically white universities (169)."

According to this text, our country will once again be polarized, if it isn’t already.

Hate apparently seems the victor according to Mr. Feagin.

Students need to be made aware of the difficulties minorities have to experience in today’s world, and what they had to experience in the years from the 1920’s to now. Therefore, I would have the students answer the following in their journals.

1. Give four examples of discriminatory practices against African Americans in the United States in the past and now.

2. Describe a stereotyped minority character from a television show or from a movie.

3. Name several strategies majorities have used to isolate minorities.

4. What were the Jim Crow laws---as we see them in The Learning Tree, and what purpose did they have?

5. Do you think African Americans have made strides both economically and financially in today’s world?

6. What economic and social barriers still exist?

7. Why is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday celebrated as a national holiday?

8. What contributions did Dr. King make to the civil rights movement?

9. What is the greatest problem that you see today among African-Americans?

 

Following this journal activity, I would have a class discussion asking the students to share any personal experience they may have had with racism. For an outside project, I would have the students research Dr. King’s "I Have a Dream" speech, and determine whether any progress has been made on the issues raised by his speech.

Other readings would certainly be appropriate in the English classroom. All of these describe the Black experience, and the level of the student reading ability would be key in discussing particular readings. Some of these selections are:

1. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird

2. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon

3. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple

4. Wright, Richard. Native Son

There are many other possibilities as well ranging from the poetry of Langston Hughes, to the wonderful drama, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry.

As a concluding activity I would ask a speaker representing the African-American experience come and talk to the classes. A question and answer period would also take place.

This novel is interesting to the students because it is told from a German perspective, and it is set in pre-Nazi Germany. To the students who have been inundated by stories of World War II battles, always told from an American point of view, this novel is unique. Students are able to see that these young German soldiers are no different than American ones, especially as evidenced by the current movie blockbuster Saving Private Ryan.

Paul Baumer speaks eloquently of the basic needs of the universal soldier. He tells us: "To no man does earth mean so much as to the soldier…when he buries his face and his limbs deep in her from the fear of death by shell-fire, then she is his only friend, his brother, his mother; he stifles his terror and he cries in her silence and her security; she shelters him and releases him for ten seconds to live, to run, ten seconds of life; receives him again and often forever (55)."

Paul continues to tell us: "We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling our bombs, what do we know of men in this moment when Death is hunting us down…(113)."

At the end of the novel, Paul expresses his numbness in returning to his former life: "Now if we go back we will be weary, broken, burnt out, rootless and without hope. We will not be able to find our way anymore…Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more…(295)."

For all returning veterans---does this not echo similar sentiments? Those that returned from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam conflict, all shared in these feelings. While governments rise and fall on the outcomes of war, it is the individual soldier who bears the heavy price of disillusionment. I would want the students to understand this fact; that the German soldier was no different than the American. Both returned home with lost hopes and dreams.

In terms of ethnic stereotypes within the text, we have two examples of the surprise of the German soldier in meeting their opponents who are the same as they are. The first revolves around the horrifying experience that Paul has when the French printer, Gerard Duval, falls into his trench. Paul tells Duval: "Comrade, I did not want to kill you. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed. But now, for the first time you are a man like me…Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying, and the same agony---Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? (223)"

The second example is the experience Paul has in meeting Russian prisoners of war in a large Russian prison camp. It is separated from the German camp only by a barbed wire. Paul tells us: "It is strange to see these enemies of ours so close up…They ought to be put to threshing, reaping, and apple-picking. They look just as kindly as our own peasants in Friesland (190)." Paul continues to muse: "I know nothing of them except that they are prisoners; and that is exactly what troubles me. Their life is obscure and guiltless; if I could know more of them…(193)."

Certainly nothing can take away the German transformation twenty-five years into the future, resulting in the mass genocide of the Jewish people. But this novel is a focus on that period of time when Germany was not manipulated by the criminals who became high ranking Nazis. And the idea here is to show that Germans are realizing that other ethnic groups, such as the French and the Russian, were really not so different over-all than they are.

I would return again to the journal writing activity and have the students answer the following about ethnic stereotypes:

1. What are your feelings about certain ethnic groups such as the Germans, the Irish, the Italians and the Russians?

2. Have you had any negative experience with any ethnic group? If so, would you write about that experience?

3. What might you suggest as a way to get to know people who are different from you---who have different ethnicities than you do?

4. Would you visit the home countries of certain ethnic groups? Why/ why not?

5. Would you buy any goods at stores which sell products made by ethnic groups that you may dislike? Elaborate.

I would also design a library visit for the students in which they may do research about an ethnic group which interests them. This research could revolve about customs, holiday celebrations, specific clothing that may be symbolic, or foods which are native to the country. Following this research, an oral round-table would take place in which the students would present their facts. Other students who may not have had an opportunity to do the research might then compile a list of similarities and differences between customs or foods or celebrations of the groups identified. The class should find this information revealing and may explain why they perceive many groups to be "different" from what they are used to.

As a culminating experience---I would invite a foreign student to speak to the class. Pittsburgh is blessed with many foreign students who come to the area to study at the two large universities here---The University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie-Mellon University. I would perhaps try hardest to have a German student speak to the class, as students are highly preoccupied with the notion that present-day Germany is only a few inches away from Nazi Germany.

 

Night

This novella is an eloquent re-telling of the Holocaust experience that resulted in six million Jews being murdered for no reason other then their religious affiliation. Elie Weisel is the author of the book, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a survivor of the experiences he tells about, and a person still speaking out on the injustices of man against man.

Klaus P. Fischer, in his book, The History of an Obsession, explains:
"The state-sponsored murder of six million Jews, commonly referred to as the Holocaust, was the greatest crime of the twentieth century, and given the vicious and calculated brutality that was inflicted on its innocent victims, historians of the future could well label it the greatest crime in history(1)."

The Holocaust and its underlying methodical strangling of the freedoms of the Jews, have been well documented in the schools of America through sensitive teaching, visitations to the many Holocaust Museums found in the large urban centers of America, and in such notable films as Schindler’s List and Life is Beautiful. Therefore, the focus of this curriculum unit is not to emphasize the political aspects of the Holocaust. What this unit would emphasize would be the humanistic aspect of the experience—what torment and agony Weisel and others experienced simply because they were victims of a hatred so profound, that nothing like it has ever been experienced by a group of people since. And the students should be moved by this book, and impelled to make sure that this persecution will never happen again in their lifetime.

Before the unit begins I would engage the students in role-playing. I would choose several students to be allowed to do extra-credit assignment, and refuse others with no explanation. I would also then choose four or five students to be excused to go to the library, and the others would be refused to be allowed to go, again without explanation. I would then ask those who were refused extra-credit work and permission to go to the library, to come to class and sit in the corner with a star pinned to their clothing. The students would face dire punishment if they did not adhere to these rules. After this experiment is completed—a day or so—I would then ask the entire class to write in their journals commenting on the feelings they experienced during that role-playing scenario.

I would then ask the students to separate on the basis of hair color and skin color. If one is African-American, or if has dark hair or skin color, one would be separated from those students who have fair skin and blonde hair and/or blue eyes. The Germans believed that the Aryan race was superior, and its members had the fair skin and blue eyes. I would have the students answer the following questions in their journals:

1. What does it feel like to be an outsider?

2. What does it feel like to be an insider?

3. What does it feel like to be thought of as "less worth" because of one’s skin and/or hair color?

4. How important is it for you to look right?

5. How important is it for you to be a part of the crowd?

6. How do you feel when you don’t belong?

After the students have completed the reading of Night, I would ask them to respond to the text through journal entries. These entries should be substantial and cover several paragraphs.

1. If you were suddenly given a day notice to leave your home and take only belongings that you are able to carry---what would you take with you?

2. Elie Weisel tells us: "The street was like a marketplace that had suddenly been abandoned. Everything could be found there: suitcases, portfolios, briefcases, knives, plates, banknotes, papers, faded portraits. All those things that people had thought of taking with them, and which in the end they had left behind. They had lost all "value." Explain what the author means by this. Do you agree with him as well? Why/ why not?

3. Weisel questions the existence of God after witnessing the unspeakable treatment of the prisoners by the Nazis. Do you think that you could remain a believing person and pray, if you witnessed these atrocities?

4. When Weisel gets to Buchenwald, the last stopping place for him, and simultaneously, the war ends here, he writes: "Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves into the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread." How do you think you might have felt if you experienced and witnessed what Weisel did?

5. Why do you think Elie Weisel continues to speak about the Holocaust, even though the war has been over for almost sixty years?

6. Has this novella changed your viewpoint on your perception and understanding of the Jewish people? If so, how?

There are a number of concluding activities that would serve this study well.

1. A trip to a Holocaust Museum is important. Many Jewish based organizations have been encouraging visits and will underwrite expenses. In Pittsburgh there is a Holocaust Center, and this organization has been very supportive of teachers in a number of ways.

2. There are a number of survivors who willingly come to schools and speak to students about their wartime experiences in the camps.

3. Students should be encouraged to read outside writings of the Holocaust experiences. A list of some of these readings can be found under the student reading list.

4. Poetry and art projects are suitable.

5. Speakers from various Jewish groups---such as representatives from the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform levels of observance, may help students understand some of the traditions that Jewish people follow. Some of these traditions may make some Jews appear alien to the general population.

As a final writing activity, I would again have the students turn to their journals and answer the following questions. Again—these answers should be substantial in the student response.

1. What have you learned by a study of racial and ethnic stereotypes in this unit?

2. Do you think that you will be less judgmental of those who are "different " than you after experiencing this unit? Why/ why not?

3. What obligation do you have to speak out against bigotry and hatred?

4. Should students continue to study the Holocaust in schools today? Give specific reasons for your response.

5. Since this unit deals with stereotypes—how do you feel when you hear adults say that all adolescents are irresponsible, unintelligent, lazy, disrespectful, and uncaring?

6. What can you do to defeat this biased and negative attitude?

7. What are other ethnic conflicts that are occurring in the world today? Perhaps this may lend itself into a separate activity requiring research in comparing similarities and differences between these conflicts and that of the Holocaust.

 

This unit is very malleable. One could focus on one particular stereotype or on others not listed here---The American Indian, or the Hispanic student. The literary selections could be substituted as well. But it is important for students to be aware of some of the biases they most likely carry around within. Hate crimes are alive and well in this country. Ignoring stereotypes allows deception and falsehoods to fester. Scapegoats should be absolutely unacceptable. We live in the greatest country in the world with untold opportunities for our citizens. Students, at the very least, are the future of this world. Hopefully, this unit will make them think a little about the role they may play in striking prejudice and hatred from their young lives.

Milton Kleg, writes in his previously mentioned novel: "As educators, we alone may not be able to prevent the next riot, the next race war. We may not be able to succeed in reaching all our charges, but for every school child and young adult that we can and do reach, we shall be influencing a world beyond our own (260)."

 

Class textbooks:

1. Parks, Gordon. The Learning Tree. New York: Fawcett Cress, 1963.

2. Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1929.

3. Weisel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books, 1960.

Readings on the Black Experience:

1. Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Bantam Books, 1969.

2. Haley, Alex. Roots. New York: Doubleday, 1976.

3. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and Language. Evanston, Illinois:      MacDougal,Littell and Company, 1992.

4. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott, 1960.

          5. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Pocket Books, 1985.

Pittsburgh is a very diverse ethnic community, known for its many immigrant neighborhoods. An interesting book which can be utilized in this particular unit dealing with ethnic stereotypes is the following:

Bell, Thomas. Out of This Furnace. Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976.

Readings on the Holocaust

1. Blatter, Janet and Sybil Milton. Art of the Holocaust. New York: Rutledge Press, 1981.

2. Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Pocket Books, Simon And Schuster Inc. 1958.

3. Leitner, Isabella. Fragments of Isabella. New York: Dell Publishing,1980.

4. Meltzer, Milton. Never to Forget. New York: Harper and Row, 1976.

5. Sendyk, Helen. The End of Days: A Memoir of the Holocaust. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.

          6.…I never saw another butterfly: Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp             1942—1944. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976.

1.Chatton, Barbara. Using Poetry Across the Curriculum: A Whole Language Approach. Phoenix, Arizona: The Oryx Press, 1993.
Creative in integrating poetry into the body of literature.

2. Diaz, Carlos, Ed. Multicultural Education for the 21^st Century.   Washington, D.C. NEA Professional Library, 1992.

3. Egendorf, Laura K., Ed. Anti-Semitism. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Complete. Excellent for background.

4. Feagin, Joe R. Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations. New York: Routledge Press, 2000.
This is an excellent summation of racist policies.

5. Fischer, Klaus P. The History of an Obsession: German Judeophobia and The Holocaust. New York: Continuum Publishing, 1996.
Excellent as a background text for an understanding of how the Holocaust was able to flourish in Germany. Thorough.

6. Ford, Clyde W. We Can All Get Along. New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1994. Somewhat dated and not terribly helpful.

7. Gochenour, Theodore, Ed. Beyond Experience: The Experiential Approach to Cross-Cultural Education. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, 1993.

8. Jones, James. Prejudice and Racism. New York: McGraw-Hill, Co., 1997. Class text. Gives good solid background on the roots of prejudice.

9. Joshi, S.T., Ed. Documents of American Prejudice: An Anthology of Writings on Race from Thomas Jefferson to Davis Duke. New York: Basic Books, 1999. The title says it all. Informative.

10. Kleg, Milton. Hate Prejudice and Racism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Clear, thoughtful and comprehensive.

11. McLemore, S. Dale. Racial and Ethnic Relations in America. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Third Edition, 1991.

12. Myrdal, Gunnar. The American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. Vol. II. New York: Harper and Row, 1944.
The classic text, used as a basis for all future discussions.

13. Prager, Dennis and Joseph Telushkin. Why the Jews?: The Reason For Anti-Semitism. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
Two respected Jewish writers discuss the above issue in depth. Good source.

14. Wachtel, Paul L. Race in the Mind of America. New York: Routledge Press, 1999.

15. Zakim, Leonard P. Confronting Anti-Semitism: A Practical Guide. Hoboken New Jersey: Ktav Publishing, 2000. Current issues covered in depth.

1. All students use effective research and information management skills, including locating primary and secondary sources of information with traditional and emerging library technologies.

2. All students read and use a variety of methods to make sense of various kinds of complex texts.

3. All students respond orally and in writing to information and ideas gained by reading narrative and informational texts and use the information and ideas to make decisions and solve problems.

4. All students write for a variety of purposes, including to narrate, inform, and persuade in all subject areas.

5. All students analyze and make critical judgments about all forms of communication, separating fact from fiction, recognizing propaganda, stereotypes and statements of bias, recognizing inconsistencies and judging the validity of evidence.

6. All students exchange information orally, including understanding and giving spoken instructions, asking and answering questions appropriately, and promoting effective group communications.

7. All students listen to and understand complex oral messages and identify the purpose, structure and use.

8. All students compose and make oral presentations for each academic area of study that are designed to persuade, inform, or describe.

9. All students communicate appropriately in business, work, and other applied situations.

 

 

The following standards have been met in this unit.

Standard #1 and Standard #8

Students do research in various assignments, and then orally present their findings to the class.

Standard #2 and Standard #5

Class readings of the texts and other readings.

Standard #3

Class discussions in response to journal/notebook writings.

 

Standard #4

Notebook / journal writings and /or creative writings such as poetry

Standard #6

Class discussions and / or role playing