Complicating and Uncomplicating: World War II and Literature

I’m bringing these texts together with the tentative idea of Grade nine or ten students in mind in an urban setting (Milwaukee, for the purposes of this activity/geographic convenience).  I’m assuming these students have a basic knowledge of World War II from a history course, but am I am interested in adding both a human and a literary element to that.  My print texts are all books, and would serve as the “main activity.”  My other texts are of a variety of sorts and work to make the work more engaging and relevant to a young modern audience, as well as to fill in any gaps that may not have stuck from a history class.

Print Texts

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1993. Print.

In Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl the reader is privy to the story and personal thoughts of Anne Frank during the time that here parents were in hiding from the Gestapo in Amsterdam.  Her writing begins a few months before their family has to go into hiding.  At this point, Anne describes school and daily life, but this has already been marred by the German occupation.  From here, she recounts leaving her life behind and her family’s disappearance without a trace to go into hiding.  Anne describes the adjustment they and the others hidden in the secret Annex face over the course of the next two years.  Anne also describes her relationships with the other members of her family, as well as the others in the Annex. 

Using StoryToolz to analyze a section of the text, it was on average scored to meet anywhere from a fifth grade up to an eighth grade quantitative level.  These numbers averaged out to about a seventh grade recommended level, which makes sense given the original text was written by a young girl. 

Vocabulary (definitions from Merriam-Webster):

•          Rebuke: to criticize sharply
•          Venom: a spiteful malicious feeling or state of mind
•          Golden Mean: the medium between two extremes
•          Seize: to take ownership of something (both physically and metaphorically)
•        Allies: to unite or form a connection or relation between

On a qualitative level, I definitely agree that the text is well suited for the middle school aged reader (perhaps I’m a bit biased because I read it as a middle schooler myself).  The themes do make me hesitant to go as young as fifth grade as a generalization.  On an individual basis, there are likely younger students who could engage with the text, but it would depend a lot on maturity and prior knowledge.  By seventh and eighth grade, however, it is safer to make the assumption that students are more knowledgeable about the Holocaust and this text, as well as others both fictional and nonfictional, can be used to further explore that area. 

•          Text Structure: Moderately complex.  The text is presented in chronological order, but it is a diary which is a format many students may not be as familiar with.  As such, it doesn’t fit into the typical arc that we expect of fiction work.  Also, in a fictional text, the story ends when the text ends.  In the case of Anne, the story did not end when she stopped writing.  We have a summary of her final months, but that is not the end on the authors terms that a typical text would have. 
•          Language Features: Moderately-very complex.  Language is rather conventional, as text is explicit.  Deeper meaning is mostly reliant on the context we read it in.  Vocabulary is familiar and conversational, my translation also adapts several phrases to make them more contemporary.  Sentence structure tends towards the more complex end.  
•          Meaning: Very complex.  The surface meaning, and Anne’s own intention, is to share what life was like living as a young Jewish girl in hiding under the Third Reich.  The second meaning stems from this, and it’s the meaning we apply due to our historical proximity to the text.  We know how Anne’s life ends and how close she was to liberation, we know far more detail about the actions of Hitler and the Nazis, and we know that this is only a piece of the whole that is World War II.  The meaning we apply is the piece Anne was of this horrific whole in ways she both understood and was in no way near understanding.
•          Knowledge Demands: Very complex, and this overlaps with my argument for making meaning.  Students need background knowledge of World War II, and the Holocaust specifically, to understand the larger implications of what happened to Anne and her family. 

The purpose of using this text is to, I hope, create more interest in historical events.  The Diary of a Young Girl is a firsthand account of this horrible event that happened to someone the same age as these students.  It shows how her life changed because of this event, how she was forced to grow up, how she felt she was perceived by adults, and how in spite of all of this she was still a teenage girl.  This text is permeated with fear, but it also shows the mundane sides of life.  My hope is that Anne brings both humanity and youth to what may have previously been dates and words in a text book. 

These texts also fit under the "print category."  My intention would be to present these three texts as options and allow students to choose among them. 

Spiegelman, Art. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1986. Print.

Nakazawa, Keiji. Barefoot Gen. Trans. Project Gen. Vol. 1. San Francisco, CA: Last Gasp of San Francisco, 2004. Print.

Multimedia Texts

“World War II: Crash Course World History #38.” YouTube. Uploaded by CrashCourse, 11 October 2012, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78COTwT7nE&t=212s>

This video, presented by John Green via the Crash Course World History series, is a very brief summary of World War II from a global perspective, meaning it aims to cover both the European and Pacific Theatres.  Obviously, because it is only ten minutes long, it does not have the opportunity to go into a great amount of depth.  What it does do, however, is illustrate just how complicated this war was and what a global affect it had and that is why I love it for the purpose of this assignment. 

This text is fairly straight forward in nature, as it is largely informational and aims to present information in the simplest way possible.  However, the events being presented are what add complexity.

•          Text Structure:  Moderately complex.  The events are presented and explained chronologically.  However, because so many events overlapped and were both connected and disjointed in a lot of ways.  
•          Language Features: Slightly complex.  The language itself is straightforward and literal and vocabulary is simple.  This is the entire point of the Crash Course channel, to present topics that may be intimidating in the most digestible way possible while also being true to the subject matter (can you tell I’m a fan?).
•          Meaning: Moderately complex.  There are two meanings, presenting the events and presenting the way that these events are perceived.  These two meanings are clearly distinguished from one another.  
•          Knowledge Demands: Moderately complex.  Explicitly explores history as human and complex, not just the dates.  A willingness to let history be this is needed and a basic knowledge of how World War II happened, even if it is not detailed. 

Task complexity: the purpose of this video is meant to be introductory.  I’m assuming some knowledge of both theaters from history classes, regardless of how the history teacher chooses to present it, but this is my way of ensuring students share the same base of knowledge and activate previous knowledge.  I would also like this to open up room for questions and discussions for students who feel hesitant about their level of knowledge. 

This text would function to shed a little more light on the Pacific theater, as this is the side of the war many students are less familiar with

        Hoffman, Bernard. "Hiroshima." Time 2016. Web.

Culturally Relevant Texts

Taylor, Allan. "London During the Blitz: Then and Now Photos." The Atlantic. 9 May 2016. Web. <https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/05/london-during-the-blitz-then-and-now-photographs/481851/>

I may be reaching for cultural relevance because I like this article and project so much, but hear me out!  This article shows a series of digital composition images which overlay images of modern day London with images from the Blitz in the same location.  The hope is that the connection to the modern city of London helps connect these events to the larger picture of the modern world.  That this wasn’t just something that happened in London, but something that happened in Germany and Japan.  That these aren’t just dates on a page, but real people who had real lives.  That this city could have been their city (an idea that is meant to work in tandem with the piece on the effect of the war in Milwaukee).  The images I would want to focus on especially for this are the ones containing modern people walking on the scene and the one containing a Burger King. 

Running the text through StoryToolz, the text of the article received a medium quantitative rating of grade 14.7.  I don’t disagree with this, and this is far and above the quantitative measures given to every other text I’m using.  The reason I choose to disregard this is that I am not interested in the written text, but just the images.  I think that, especially with teacher guidance, these images would still be useful to my ends.

Vocabulary

·         Blitz/Blitzkrieg – intensive or sudden military attack.  The London Blitz refers to the WWII period from 1940-1941 in which London was regularly air raided by the Germans.

Because this is my goal of using the text, I am going to continue into the qualitative portion of my analysis as such. 

·         Text Structure: Moderately complex.  Organization and juxtaposition of the images is more implicit in some images than others (I find the images containing better known landmarks to be more explicit then the lesser known). 

·         Purpose: Slightly/Moderately complex.  While the purpose of the text is clearly stated, this is in the portion of the text that was also given a higher reading level than what we are intended to work with here.

·         Knowledge Demands: Moderately complex.  The discipline specific knowledge required is discipline specific, but basic enough that it is covered in the brief historical introduction.  Otherwise, a general knowledge of what London looks like is enough to make the image connections, and a large number of people have gained this through popular culture.

The purpose of this task is to motivate interest by making connections between historical events, literary texts, and modern life.  I would have the intention of viewing these images as a quick activity following the article to be discussed as a class.  

Jones, Meg. "World War II pilot's family finds his plane's nose art." Milwaukee Journal Sentinal December 19, 2016.  Web.