An Examination of Revenge and Forgiveness
In this project, students read multiple pieces that represented either forgiveness or revenge. They started by reading a full play from Shakespeare, The Tempest. After reading it and analyzing specific examples from the play, they moved on to reading modern examples of real life examples of revenge and forgiveness.
One not so modern article that we got to read was "Vengeance at Dachau" that focused on taking revenge against the Nazi soldiers. A major quote that accurately represented this act on revenge was, "after what we saw, we shot any German guards we saw on sight." This basically says that they took action against the soldiers who hadn't affected them. They were taking revenge on something they didn't even fully know. Sure those Nazi soldiers had killed millions of Jews but just killing them is still killing more human beings.
The second article we read was the "Holocaust Survivor". This article has a huge contrast from the first one. The "Vengeance at Dachau" mentioned taking revenge on someone who had wronged someone else. In this article, the actual victim was able to forgive. One quote that stood out was, "stop looking at things as race but realize we're all one." This article was definitely my favorite. I've had an interest in learning about the doctors from the holocaust, especially Dr.Mengele. It's amazing how someone could actually forgive a person who had literally and emotionally scarred them.
Right after, we got to read about the L.A. Riots which was another solid example of revenge. It started with white police officers beating a black man, Rodney King. Closely following that, two black teenagers attacked a white truck driver. However, the strongest point taken from this article was, "who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killing? The killers are to blame."
We ended the article reading with "A Mother Moves Past Tragedy" which was about this mother who was able to forgive and even hug the man that had murdered her son. In the end, she had gained a son (the murderer) and they now go around talking about their story.
After reading and analyzing the play and articles, students came together and discussed their views of both revenge and forgiveness in a Socratic Seminar. Prior to the seminar, students got into groups with others who had a common or supported the same claim as them. They gathered evidence together that they would defend during the seminar. Honestly, my favorite part was the Socratic Seminar. I love talking about my views and being able to hear other opinions and bounce between each other's perspectives. Every student has their own perspective and seeing those different ideas can make you really either support your idea more or be more flexible. I enjoyed it most when students used logic. Evidence did enhance but others would seem to go over it. When everyday challenges were mentioned, everyone could relate and really bring out their own experience. However, I do understand it is more efficient if everyone stayed on clear and common backgrounds.
One not so modern article that we got to read was "Vengeance at Dachau" that focused on taking revenge against the Nazi soldiers. A major quote that accurately represented this act on revenge was, "after what we saw, we shot any German guards we saw on sight." This basically says that they took action against the soldiers who hadn't affected them. They were taking revenge on something they didn't even fully know. Sure those Nazi soldiers had killed millions of Jews but just killing them is still killing more human beings.
The second article we read was the "Holocaust Survivor". This article has a huge contrast from the first one. The "Vengeance at Dachau" mentioned taking revenge on someone who had wronged someone else. In this article, the actual victim was able to forgive. One quote that stood out was, "stop looking at things as race but realize we're all one." This article was definitely my favorite. I've had an interest in learning about the doctors from the holocaust, especially Dr.Mengele. It's amazing how someone could actually forgive a person who had literally and emotionally scarred them.
Right after, we got to read about the L.A. Riots which was another solid example of revenge. It started with white police officers beating a black man, Rodney King. Closely following that, two black teenagers attacked a white truck driver. However, the strongest point taken from this article was, "who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killing? The killers are to blame."
We ended the article reading with "A Mother Moves Past Tragedy" which was about this mother who was able to forgive and even hug the man that had murdered her son. In the end, she had gained a son (the murderer) and they now go around talking about their story.
After reading and analyzing the play and articles, students came together and discussed their views of both revenge and forgiveness in a Socratic Seminar. Prior to the seminar, students got into groups with others who had a common or supported the same claim as them. They gathered evidence together that they would defend during the seminar. Honestly, my favorite part was the Socratic Seminar. I love talking about my views and being able to hear other opinions and bounce between each other's perspectives. Every student has their own perspective and seeing those different ideas can make you really either support your idea more or be more flexible. I enjoyed it most when students used logic. Evidence did enhance but others would seem to go over it. When everyday challenges were mentioned, everyone could relate and really bring out their own experience. However, I do understand it is more efficient if everyone stayed on clear and common backgrounds.