Abuse+of+Power+ELA+Assignment+2

Violence and Abuse of Power

Adapt from a lesson by: [|Sarah Kavanagh, The New York Times Learning Network] [|Andrea Perelman, The Bank Street College of Education in New York City]

1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: When students arrive in class, show them the black and white photographs found online at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/07/08/nyregion/20070708RIOT_SLIDESHOW_1.html. Once students have viewed the pictures, have them respond to the following prompt written on the board prior to class: “How might you be able to tell when these photographs were taken? What do you think is happening? How do these photographs make you feel?” Once students are done writing, have them share their thoughts. How do students’ interpretations of these historical documents differ? What might account for these differences in interpretation? 2. As a class, read and discuss the article "With 40-Year Prism, Newark Surveys Deadly Riot" (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20070709monday.html), focusing on the following questions: 3. Inform your students that in order to explore the many points of view illustrated in the article, they are going to create a fictional short story, taking the place of one of the “participants”.
 * Time Needed:** One 90 minute project block
 * Procedures:**
 * What sparked the violence on July 12, 1967?
 * When is violence justified? Do you think that the violence during the 1967 Newark riot was justified? Why or why not?
 * Is there anything that violent rebellion can accomplish that non-violent resistance cannot and if so, what and if not, why not?