Multiple Perspectives

Writing the Story: Multiple Perspectives

Vocabulary: Corroboration; Primary source; Secondary source; Objective; Subjective

Harness Activity:

1) Write - Offer students a prompt “Write about a time when you stood up for yourself or fought for something you believed in.” This should help them think about a moment in their own lives when they chose to resist something or someone, or perhaps a time when they were resisted. Students should include as much detail as possible. This can be timed writing.

2) Pair Share - Students will share out their stories in pairs. One student will have exactly 1 minute to share out their story while the other does nothing but listen. Only the student who is sharing is able to talk. Then second student will share for exactly 1 minute. If a student is done talking before the minute it up, they must remain silent until the time is up. After both students have shared out, then they will have one more minute to ask clarifying questions.

3) Whole Class Share - Students will be asked to retell each other’s stories.

4) Reflect - Students will then reflect on the process, and whether or not they felt as though their story was accurately represented through the secondary source.

For Homework: Students will write out their own story of resistance. They will also need to find corroboration in the form of a witness. Students should ask someone else who was a witness or a participant to write their version of the same story. Can introduce the homework assignment by playing a selection of Drake’s The Search, where he raps about multiple sides of a story. (Adapted from A Archer’s Zine Project)

Class discussion for the following class:  Students will share out findings after conducting interviews. Then a class discussion can take plan on what is “the truth”. How can one work to find out what “really” happened in the past? Is it possible? What do you need? How might a person’s personal opinions and motivations affect how they represent a story? The teacher can choose to introduce the historical use of corroboration as a means of helping to verify the validity and truth of certain historical documents.

Final Assessment: Zine Project Production. 

The Search: Where does the truth lie? 

Drake raps in “The Search”, “They say there's two sides to every story and three when the truth get told”. What do you think he means by this? How can there be multiple versions of the same story? In an effort to explore stories from our own lives follow the steps for this research assignment.

• Expand on the account you wrote in class of a time when you stood up for yourself or fought for something you believed in. (150-300 words) 

• Conduct an interview with a witness who remembers the event you wrote about (i.e. parents, siblings, or friends). Ask them to tell you their version of the story. Make sure that you are asking them open-ended questions in order to get their version of the story. Don’t try to change their account of the story. Take careful notes during the interview, and take note on which parts of the story differ. 

• Write a reflection on the similarities and the differences between your story and your interview. What did your witness’s account add to the story? What do you make of the differences in your accounts? After conducting you interview is there a “third story” that arises like Drake claims?