James P. Brochin
A. Learning Objectives-The students will be able to:
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1. Evaluate the connection between the fear of heresy, which motivated the Medieval Inquisition, and the fear of world communist domination during the McCarthy Era and the Cold War.
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2. Define "Iron Curtain," Communism, and the "Cold War";
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3. Identify the Eastern European countries under Soviet domination on a map; and
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4. Describe and evaluate Soviet totalitarianism
B. Standards Addressed: National Standards "World History Across the Ages-Standard 1"; Connecticut Frameworks Content Standard 5 (United States Constitution and Government) and Content Standard 3 (Historical Themes)
C. Physical Arrangement: Modified V
D. Instructional Materials: 1) VCR 2) Student textbook, 3) chalkboard, 4) videotapes;
E. Student Groupings: individual and groups of five
F. Initiation Strategy: The teacher review the unit lessons so far: background and historical reasons for First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. The teacher explains their relationship to problems posed by Soviet totalitarianism and anti-Communist fear, and the McCarthy Era that we are to discuss in detail.
G. Lesson Strategy:
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1. The teacher plays a tape of Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech.
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2. The teacher shows about 15 minutes of
The Atomic Café.
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3. The teacher leads a discussion of the Iron Curtain speech and
The Atomic Cafe
.
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4. Teacher discusses the essential points about Soviet totalitarianism, including repression of dissent, outlawing of religion, persecution of the intelligentsia, labor camps in Siberia, forced collectivization and famine in the Ukraine.
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5. Closure: Teacher summarizes the plot of Ray Bradbury's
Fahrenheit 451
.
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6. Homework: Students are asked to read about 20 pages of Ray Bradbury's book
Fahrenheit 451
, and are asked to answer the following questions:
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a. Describe the society of runaways who are living in the woods.
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b. Describe the task they have chosen for themselves and the reasons for it.
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c. If you were among the outcasts, what book or other type of writing would you choose to "become" and why? Write a one-page essay, including a short segment of the book you'd want to become, and tell why you chose it and how you go about memorizing it. Memorize a full paragraph and be prepared to recite it for the class.
