Farewell to Manzanar by James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (view)

Units included with this Open Author resource:

Source Set
Learning goals:
Evaluate historical context for writing using primary source documents, Read and understand visual media, Recognize and understand persuasive appeals, Compare and contrast texts, Use elements of persuasion to convey a message
Keywords:
primary source, memoir, rhetoric, historical context, Farewell to Manzanar, propaganda, SOAPSTone
Alignment:
VA.ELA.10.1.h, VA.ELA.10.2, VA.ELA.10.2.e, VA.ELA.10.5, VA.ELA.10.8.b
Discussion Questions

Summary

This lesson reimagines an existing instructional resource, "The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck" created by Franky Abbott, Digital Public Library of America. <https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-grapes-of-wrath-by-john-steinbeck>. In this remix, "The Grapes of Wrath" and the related primary source documents are exchanged for "Farewell to Manzanar" and related primary sources accessed through secondary open-source databases. Discussion questions ask students to consider the memoir in light of its historical context and students gain experience reading and evaluating visual sources including political cartoons and propaganda posters to understand how elements of rhetorical can shape and/or reflect cultural values.