JHA

“Do we send our kids to Canada, or should they go to college, get married and have kids? That was the mentality of my neighborhood at the time. People were trying to find anything that could get them out of the war.” Long before 1963, America had been fighting a two front war. It was a time of change. A revolution. The political turmoil created a social and cultural upheaval spinning America into a conflicted society: conformity and protest, constraint and [|experimentation]. As a 17-year-old 2009 high school graduate from sheltered suburbia, imaging the 1960’s, it seems like the adventure of a teenager’s greatest rebellious dreams.

All at once the memories of growing up Vietnam surged through a now time-weathered body. Fear. Anticipation. The excitement of a boy and the terror of a GI illuminated my dad’s face. My dad, only one year younger than I am now –way before he had the responsibilities of a dad– was as close to the tension as anyone else. At 16-years-old the unease of potential combat in the [|Vietnam War was as tangible] as the uproar it brought America. Of course the freedom of being a kid also existed. Lacrosse and basketball and the standard teenage ignorance were all part of growing up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. But with only two years of separation between the [|call of duty] and life as a he knew it, the Vietnam War was never out of sight. “It was certainly a common topic of discussion. Most people had older brothers or friends getting shipped off to Vietnam. This was more prominent in their lives, but it trickled down to everyone.” The accessibility of fear that the memories enticed made an air of apprehension linger throughout the room.

War had the ability to take the ground right from underneath you and shake it upside down. And with no control of the situation, no pivotal voice or disagreeing opinion, everyone was helpless. People were looking for any exclusion that could separate them from the war. But not every town in America had the opportunities and wealth that a white-collared town provides. Protests were not only the result of anti-war sentiment, but even more fury erupted because the people who had no escape were the ones being sent off to die. [|The poor neighborhoods]of any major city had kids being shipped off to Vietnam without any hesitation. “People were infuriated. Everyone that opposed the war was being sacrificed in a war that we didn’t know why we were fighting. American kids were dying for something –a lot of people believed– was a war Vietnamese kids should be fighting. This attitude influenced everyone in the protests.”

The constraint of the 1950’s played its own part in the cultural uprising of the 1960’s. The reinforced proper etiquette of the time backfired and created a counterculture. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Betty Friedan generated the confidence to enforce and employ the first amendment. Most [|musicians] opposed the war in Vietnam and had a [|prominent voice] in society’s youth. “Rock and roll made a statement. I still have my first LP: Steppenwolf Live. This music was something we had never heard before. And even the rock stars wanted political change. People used the freedom to express their voices.” Exhilarated, my dad revisited 1969 as he hymned the tunes of Steppenwolf perfectly to the rhythm of his air guitar. “It was rock and roll!”

The misunderstanding and confusion of the politics behind the war brewed anger within everyone. But it was the images and statistics of the war that instilled fear. The Vietnam War was the first war that had televised combat. media type="youtube" key="sL7N-aCtlLo" height="298" width="363"The barbaric and heinous acts of war were being brought right inside the living room. This made the war even more accessible. “[|The media] tried not to be biased about the war, but if anything it had a positive spin. It was the statistics and horror stories heard everyday that worried people. Any day when you receive that draft order, that statistic could turn into your reality. It had become a savage war.” The Vietnam War may be a dark spot on our country’s history, but it is still [|fresh in memory].

“I have to tell you more another time, Jake. It was an incredible time period. This was the 60’s.”

=__1984__= Book 1 Lesson 1

BOOK 1: 1984 in 1948

STANDARD 3.5 (Viewing and media literacy) A. Constructing Meaning from Media Understand that messages are representations of social reality and vary by historic time periods and parts of the world. Identify and evaluate how a media product expresses the values of the culture that produced it.

Expectations My group will understand the history of Utopian and Dystopian Societies and how the zeitgeist and upbringing of George Orwell influenced his novel “1984”. After reflecting about life in America and examining governments’ roles in different countries, my group will understand the importance of self-expression in a freethinking society. By creating a mock Utopia, students will know the difference between Utopia and Dystopia and how the two are very closely related.

Materials iTunes and lyrics Laptops and Pages program Handouts Freethinking brains

Opening Together as a group we will listen to David Bowie’s song “1984” and study compositional aspects similar to that of George Orwell’s novel “1984”. Then, we will examine the importance of self-expression in pop culture and society throughout history.

Middle The two students will create their own individual Utopias. Every aspect of their own Utopias will be planned out. Students will then make a propaganda poster to recruit people for the encouragement of the cause and then how the Utopia will be maintained. Then, students must plan out how they will get this accomplished. Each student will try to convince the other to join his own Utopian society.

Ending Who is the better dictator? Questions to consider: What makes a utopian society? Historically, have there been any? Is one person’s utopia the same as another person’s utopia? Utopia means “Nowhere” in Greek… Thoughts? Can a utopia turn into a dystopia?

=**HANDOUTS**= Insight into George Orwell and the Zeitgeist of His Writing

“First I spent five years in an unsuitable profession (the Indian Imperial Police, in Burma), and then I underwent poverty and the sense of failure. This increased my natural hatred of authority and made me for the first time fully aware of the existence of the working classes, and the job in Burma had given me some understanding of the nature of imperialism: but these experiences were not enough to give me an accurate political orientation. Then came Hitler, the Spanish Civil War, etc.” – George Orwell

How does George Orwell’s past and the zeitgeist of the time period, (the book was published in 1949), influence Orwell’s ideas and the themes of the novel? What, during the time period of the publication, is similar to Big Brother in 1984?

David Bowie - 1984

Someday they won't let you, so now you must agree The times they are a-telling, and the changing isn't free You've read it in the tealeaves, and the tracks are on TV Beware the savage jaw Of 1984

They'll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air And tell that you're eighty, but brother, you won't care You'll be shooting up on anything, tomorrow's never there Beware the savage jaw Of 1984

CHORUS Come see, come see, remember me? We played out an all night movie role You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled In 1984 (who could ask for more) 1984 (who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore) (Mor-or-or-or-ore)

I'm looking for a vehicle, I'm looking for a ride I'm looking for a party, I'm looking for a side I'm looking for the treason that I knew in '65 Beware the savage jaw Of 1984

CHORUS

1984 1984 1984 (more) 1984 1984 (more) 1984

What is the mood of this song? Why is the threat of tyranny, as in 1984, so feared in pop culture? Ex. Artists, musicians, writers



What would Big Brother say?

In what generations is the threat of tyranny and the fear of conformity most prevalent? • How does society react to this?

Self Expression



What are other examples of self-expression?

=__1984__= Book 2 Lesson 2

BOOK 1: by George Orwell When censorship interferes with the First Amendment

STANDARD 3.5 (Viewing and media literacy) A. Constructing Meaning from Media Understand that messages are representations of social reality and vary by historic time periods and parts of the world. Identify and evaluate how a media product expresses the values of the culture that produced it.

Expectations My group will explore deeper into the gray area of censorship and the First Amendment and its importance in maintaining a free-minded society. Students will weigh any motives that authority may sustain when considering censorship. After examining the art of self-expression, individuals should accept and appreciate the leeway an artist leaves for imagination and interpretation. More important than anything, individuals should be able to distinguish between the dangers of censorship and rebellious affirmatives. The freedom of speech should always be protected unless it endangers the well being of other people.

Materials iTunes and lyrics Laptops with Youtube Handouts Freethinking brains

Opening The debate of censorship and the First Amendment will be introduced. As a group we will listen to two songs, High and Dry by Radiohead, and Little Red Corvette, by Prince – both songs cannot be sold without an explicit Parental Control label. We will then examine the criticism and controversy created by pop culture and how the mediums of self-expression react by reading an article titled Is Explicit Music Sexing Your Kids Up? Middle As a group, we will analyze several books from the Band Books Collection and how the time period had an affect on each one. Here, it will be evident that the motives of authority have a direct correlation with censorship and how it can easily end up like 1984. Afterwards, we will discuss and compare the different types of censorship seen today all over the world. Together we will then read an article about the demise of the Dixie Chicks in America because of opinionated remarks about President George W. Bush, much like 1984. America will be compared and contrasted to other countries around the world.

Ending We will end with a youtube clip of Dee Snider vs. Parents Music Resource Center. In this clip we will see how music is used as self-expression and for each, there can always be a different interpretation.

=Video Clips=

media type="youtube" key="3pvmyNnepTk" height="295" width="480"

media type="youtube" key="lw0QJBfbWdk" height="344" width="425" HANDOUTS //Printed Out and Handed In//

=LESSON PLAN 3=

BOOK 3 Lesson Plan: The Government, The Media, and The Truth

Standard Media Literacy 3.C.3 - Recognize that creators of media use a number of forms, techniques, and technologies to convey their messages.

Expectations • Students will examine the roles governments play in the media and how the government influences and impacts the news and other media sources. • We will differentiate the government’s spin and the media’s perception from the actual sequence of events. • As a group, we will discuss a famous quote describing history and how its recorded.

Materials Laptop iMovie Newspaper Article Freethinking brains

Opening • Together we will examine, in discussion form, the US government’s contributions to the media’s coverage of global and domestic crises such as Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath in New Orleans, and the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Middle • By using iMovie, the students will independently create their own news program. The students will include a recent news story but put their own spin on it. The story will be exaggerated and manipulated to support the government, keep the people out of fear, put the people in fear, or support patriotism. • This lesson will be a continuation of my last lesson, which included the creation of a totalitarian Utopian nation. The news clip will relate to and encourage the students’ previous assignment. • Students will then compare their own news program to that of a similar one recently shown in the media.

Ending • After watching the movie Wag the Dog in class, we will discuss how realistic the movie is and then compare it to the present day media. We will then discuss how society reacts to the media and government.

//HANDOUTS ARE PRINTED//