Teaching Holocaust Literature

by Totten, Samuel

• ISBN13: 9780205274024
• ISBN10: 0205274021
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

Teaching Holocaust Literature is comprised of eleven essays in which noted Holocaust educators discuss how they have successfully taught poetry, novels, drama, and memoirs to their students at the secondary level. The text provides in-depth discussions of individual pieces of Holocaust literature and how to teach them in a pedagogically and historically sound manner. Among the literary works discussed in this book are Eli Wiesel's Night, Dan Pagis' "Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car," The Diary of Anne Frank, and Ida Fink's "The Key Game." In-depth discussions of literary works underscore the value and power of Holocaust literature through various genres such as short stories, novels, memoirs, poetry and drama.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Dr. Israel W. Charny
About the Contributors	xi
Introduction	1	(8)
Samuel Totten
PART ONE Rationales, Issues, Caveats, and Suggestions	9	(62)
Teaching Holocaust Literature: Issues, Caveats, and Suggestions	11	(13)
Margaret A. Drew
Incorporating Fiction and Poetry into a Study of the Holocaust (with a Select Annotated Bibliography)	24	(39)
Samuel Totten
The Diary of Anne Frank: Why I Don't Teach It	63	(8)
Elaine Culbertson
PART TWO Lessons/Units of Study	71	(172)
Novels
Face to Face: The Study of Friedrich, A Novel about the Holocaust	73	(30)
Rebecca G. Aupperle
Virtual Community, Real-Life Connections: A Study of The Island on Bird Street via an International Reading Project	103	(22)
Karen Shawn
Short Stories
Analyzing Stories about the Holocaust via a Multiple Intelligences and Reader-Response Approach	125	(18)
Samuel Totten
Poetry
``Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car'': Incorporating Poetry into the Study of the Holocaust via a Reader Response Theory Activity	143	(18)
Samuel Totten
The Babi Yar Massacre: Seeking Understanding Using a Multimedia Approach	161	(16)
William R. Fernekes
Tapping the Sensibilities of Teens	177	(20)
Beth Dutton
Drama
Choiceless Choices and Illusions of Power: A Study of Throne of Straw in the Lodz Ghetto in an Advanced Placement English Class	197	(18)
Carol Danks
Memoirs/First-Person Accounts
Encountering the ``Night'' of the Holocaust: Studying Elie Wiesel's Night	215	(28)
Samuel Totten
Appendix: Diminishing the Complexity and Horror of the Holocaust: Using Simulations in an Attempt to Convey Historical Experience	243	(10)
Samuel Totten
Index	253