Okay, so this is one of those times I really dislike online teaching. Giving it a 'go':
1. So, I assume as Americans or informed global citizens, you're at least aware of the Salem Witch Trials.
If not:
Really, REALLY thin Introduction to the Salem Witch Trials:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/?no-ist
Much more academic site:
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
Watered-down version:
http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/
For serious students:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/salem.htm
2. Plus, you were probably made to read The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Taking
the back-door entry to the Salem Witch Trials (very unconventional way
of teaching, you're welcome), I'd like to introduce you to The West Memphis Three:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html
What's
pertinent here for this class is that the prisoners traded freedom for a
(false) confession. That is a very modern thing to do.
Back to the Crucible.
Watch
this scene. Notice how John Procter choses to die rather than lie.
What does that mean about who we are today in the modern age and our
relationship to personal integrity?
(skip ahead to 2 minutes 50 seconds)
http://youtu.be/8Eel02K-WPo
It has been a dream of mine to go to Salem. I have always been obsessed with this topic. Its something about the mass hysteria that makes me so interested. This event really showed that if fear is instilled, people have no problem killing those who are innocent. History would repeat itself centuries later with one man killing 6 million people throughout Europe.
ReplyDeleteI was actually one of the few who liked the Crucible. In my sophomore year of high school we read the play and watched the movie. I now want to watch it again.
After reading all the information again, my desire for going to Salem grew even more.
I watched it this year again while observing in AC High with the education program. If you thought your classmates were uninterested x years ago you have no idea how uninterested students are now. I believe we've stepped so far away from the importance of history and literature that students no longer have any desire to learn about events, regardless of how fascinating they may be. It was definitely sad to see. My teacher in high school did an amazing job of preparing our class for reading the play and getting us interested in the topic. In addition there were supplementary assignments to the play were we acted out scenes instead of reading them. It made things fun, memorable, and most of all I learned something historical.
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