Dealing with Tradegy

Coping with the Tragedy

Lesson 1

Aim: What can we (personally and our government) do to contribute to creating a cycle of peace rather than a cycle of violence in the world?

Do Now: Respond to this provocative proposition in writing-

The hijackers were able to do what they did because they had, in their minds, denied the humanity of the people they set out to kill.

You may agree with or disagree with the proposition, please explain your thoughts. If you agree with the proposition, please respond to the following question:

How does the process of dehumanization occur? How do people come to see other people as less than human or their lives as unimportant?

Procedure:
1. Share our thoughts on the Do Now Question

2. Discuss:

What can we (personally and our government) do to contribute to creating a cycle of peace rather than a cycle of violence in the world?
Are there ways that we (personally and our government) dehumanize other people?
What can we do in our response to this event that will increase the possibility that more people on this planet will see one another as fellow human beings? What actions might work in the reverse?

Lesson 2 : Listening and Responding to William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Speech

Lesson 3:

Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900.

I Hear America Singing

I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;	5
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.	10

Lesson 4 : Task III: Reading and Writing for Literary Response and Expression

Lesson 5 : Tolerance in Times of Trial

Lesson 6 : Taming Terrorism

What do you know about Arab Americans?

Read the site.

KATHARINE LEE BATES (1859-1929)

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

1     O beautiful for spacious skies,
2         For amber waves of grain,
3     For purple mountain majesties
4         Above the fruited plain!
5             America! America!
6         God shed His grace on thee
7     And crown thy good with brotherhood
8         From sea to shining sea!

9     O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
10       Whose stern, impassioned stress
11 A thoroughfare for freedom beat
12       Across the wilderness!
13           America! America!
14       God mend thine every flaw,
15 Confirm thy soul in self-control,
16       Thy liberty in law!

17 O beautiful for heroes proved
18       In liberating strife,
19 Who more than self their country loved,
20       And mercy more than life!
21           America! America!
22       May God thy gold refine,
23 Till all success be nobleness,
24       And every gain divine!

25 O beautiful for patriot dream
26       That sees beyond the years
27 Thine alabaster cities gleam
28       Undimmed by human tears!
29           America! America!
30       God shed His grace on thee
31 And crown thy good with brotherhood
32       From sea to shining sea!