Beauty and the Cultural Revolution - post is unfinished

Synopsis: Through a socratic discussion, students understand how the Cultural Revolution affected perceptions of beauty. Students apply their knowledge by creating a poster based on a magazine image of a woman.

Time Allotment: a 45-50 minute lesson

Supplies: pictures of women from fashion magazines

Questions for Socratic Discussion

Questions are numbered in the order they should be asked. Some questions have a follow-up question below them in case the main question does not produce the desired answer. These questions are labeled with a letter as well as a number. For example, if students can't give a good answer to question #3, try asking question 3a.

1. In America, what do we consider a beautiful woman?
2. If I ask different people, will I get different answers?
3. Why do you think we have so many different ideas about beauty in America?
3a. Do different cultures have different perceptions of beauty? How many cultures do we have in America?

*pause for explanation* During the Cultural Revolution, the government even made rules about what was

1. Which group of people were idolized during the Cultural Revolution?
1a. Which jobs did they have? What kind of work did they do?
ANSWER: Peasants, workers (mostly physical workers)

2. What kind of body did a peasant have?
ANSWERS: muscular, tough, thick

Cultural Revolution Simulation Game

Synopsis: Students will understand (1) the progressing chaos of the Cultural Revolution (2) how the Cultural Revolution changed every day social interactions in China. Students are assigned an identity as bourgeois or proletariat; proletariats try to form groups of only other proletariat while the bourgeois try to infiltrate proletariat groups.

This game can be used to introduce students to the Cultural Revolution, but I find it most effective if students have a bit of background already. At a minimum, students need to understand terms like "bourgeois" and "proletariat." You can also teach them the insults used during the Cultural Revolution, like "Capitalist Roadster," "Class Enemy," "Intellectual," and "Capitalist Running Dog."

Each round of the game grows progressively more chaotic and more dangerous for both proletariat and bourgeois. In the first two rounds, the bourgeois escape lightly, but in subsequent rounds, students are "jailed" for a variety of reasons: if they are accused at all, if they falsely accuse someone, or if they shelter (knowingly or not) a member of the bourgeois. Finally, students can band together to make accusations against anyone in the class, mirroring how the Cultural Revolution became a way for people to punish one another for private vendettas.

Time allotment: I used about 60 minutes for this game, but students would have been happy to continue playing.

Supplies: enough small squares of paper for each student, about 3/4 marked "P" and 1/4 marked "B"

Procedures

The Game

1. Tell students that they will each receive a small square of paper. The majority of papers are marked P for Proletariat. Students who receive this papers should attempt to make a group consisting only of other proletariats, however, they may not show anyone their paper or ask to see anyone else's. The other papers are marked B for Bourgeois. Students who receive these papers should attempt to infiltrate the Proletariat groups, again without showing their own paper or seeing anyone else's.
2. Play round 1: give students 5 minutes to create their groups. Listen for who they are accusing of being a bourgeois. When the 5 minutes are over, check the papers of the accused. If they are bourgeois, tell them they are under arrest and congratulate the proletariat who identified them. If they are in fact proletariat, tell their accusers that they are now under suspicion because they have accused loyal Communists. At the end, have any remaining bourgeois identify themselves. Criticize the class for not catching all of them. Then have the class return their pieces of paper and sit down so they can draw again.
3. Play round 2 with the same rules as before, but tell students they must make groups of at least 3. Anyone left out of a group will automatically be labeled bourgeois because spending time alone is a bourgeois habit.
4. In round 3, have students draw strips of paper again. Tell them that this time, accusations will be more formal: each group of 3 or more students may accuse 1 person of being bourgeios. Play the game as before, but when groups make their accusations, take the accused directly to jail without checking their paper. Tell them they must be guilty if their classmates have accused them. Anyone in jail must remain there for the next round.
5. In round 4, warn students that if they accept a bourgeois group member, they will be jailed for sheltering spies. While students play, tell those in jail to consider whether they have a grudge against anyone -- for example, the people who falsely accused them of being bourgeois.
6. In round 5, let everyone out of jail. Do not distribute papers. Tell students that any group of 3 students may accuse any person, and if a person is accused, they are automatically found guilty.

Wrap-up Questions

1. How did people decide whom to accuse in the beginning of the game? What factors made people suspicious?
2. If you were bourgeois in the first round, how difficult was it for you to find a group who trusted you in the second round?
3. Who was accused in later rounds, particularly the last one? Was it because they did something suspicious or because of their behavior before? How could the Cultural Revolution become a tool for people to get revenge on one another?
4. Do you think the government created an official list of prohibited bourgeois behaviors or did people have to figure it out for themselves? What problems did this pose for innocent people? Why would Chairman Mao want to keep things vague?
5. How would living in this atmosphere change the way you interacted with people? List some social behaviors that are safe and normal now that would have been very dangerous during the Cultural Revolution.

Confucius & Crouching Tiger

Synopsis: Students develop an understanding of Confucius' 5 basic relationships by analyzing how characters in the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" break or fulfill the roles established by Confucius in The Analects. This lesson plan has basic information about the 5 basic relationships.

Time Allotment: We used about 130 minutes of class time to view the film with breaks for discussion, plus 1 lesson to write questions and 1 lesson for a final wrap-up discussion.

Teacher notes: Although the film is rated PG-13, the one sexual scene seemed a bit racy for that rating. Consider fast forwarding. The plot of this film is complex, so it's important to break in between chapters to review the action and discuss how the Confucian relationships are playing out. Without these breaks, I found that students got lost and then tuned out.

Procedures:

1. Show film with breaks for discussion as described above. Highlight areas where Confucian relationships come into conflict with one another or when characters break their Confucian obligations.
2. After the film is over, tell students they will have a student-led discussion for which they will write the questions. Divide students into groups of 3-4 and instruct each group to write 3 questions: one about the Confucian relationships in the film, one about the themes of the film and one free choice. Remind them that good discussion questions often start with "how" or "why."
3. Divide the board into 3 columns, one for each category listed above. Ask each group to write their questions on the board under the appropriate category. Add 3 of your own if you'd like.
4. Give groups time to read the questions. Tell each group to place a star by the 3 questions they would most like to discuss. The questions with the most stars will be used in your final discussion tomorrow.
5. Rank the questions in order of difficulty and put them on a powerpoint to keep students on track.
6. On the day of discussion, give each student 2 pennies. Each time they speak, they must surrender 1 penny. When all their pennies are gone, they may not speak again until each person has used up all their pennies. This ensures that everyone participates and no one dominates the discussion.

Extension Option: Director Ang Lee said "Crouching Tiger" is based on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Have students compare the two.

Discussion questions:

These are the questions my students generated. Although I was skeptical of a few of them, we had a fabulous discussion. I think students appreciated writing and selecting their own questions.

• How does Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien’s friend-friend relationship change throughout the movie?
• Given that it was normal to marry your brother’s fiance if he died, why didn’t Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien immediately marry?
• How does Shu Lien escape from Confucius’ expectations for women? What are the consequences?
• Would Confucius approve of any of the characters’ relationships?
• Was it okay for Jin to go against her parents’ wishes by running away? How would her decision affect her parents?
• Why didn’t Shu Lien kill Jin when she had the chance? How could Confucian responsibilities to students and younger siblings shape her decision?
• Was Jin true to any of those superior to her?
• Which characters best fit the theme?
• How would the film have differed if these rigid social molds didn’t exist?
• Do you think the ending was happy or sad? Why? Did it provide enough closure?
• What did the Green Destiny symbolize to each of the characters? How did it bring them together?
• Is it better to have too many rules or none at all?