- Understand the main arguments of key works by Susan Sontag
- Connect Sontag’s arguments to those of historical writers and thinkers
- Relate Sontag’s ideas to contemporary events and perspectives
- Assess the impact of Sontag’s writing and activism across disciplines, and identify her most effective strategies
- Investigate the social responsibilities of writers, artists, public intellectuals, and activists
- Use writing, art, and activism to express complex ideas creatively
- High School Grades 11-12
- College or University
- Art and Culture
Medium > Architecture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Music
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
People > African American
People > Latinx
People > LGBTQ
People > Native American
People > Other
People > Women
Place > Africa
Place > The Americas
Place > Asia
Place > Europe
Place > The Middle East
Themes > Civil Rights
Themes > Culture
Themes > Exploration and Discovery
Themes > Globalization
Themes > History of Science and Technology
Themes > Immigration/Migration
Themes > Politics and Citizenship
Themes > Religion
Themes > War and Foreign Policy
U.S. > Civil War
U.S. > Colonization and Settlement
U.S. > The Great Depression
U.S. > World War II
U.S. > U. S. History
World > The Modern World (1500 CE-Present)
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Biography
Genre > Drama
Genre > Essay
Genre > Fable, Fairy Tales and Folklore
Genre > Novels
Genre > Poetry
Genre > Short Stories
Place > Africa
Place > The Americas
Place > Ancient World
Place > Britain
Place > Europe
Place > Modern World
- Analysis
- Architectural analysis
- Auditory analysis
- Compare and contrast
- Creative writing
- Critical analysis
- Critical thinking
- Cultural analysis
- Data analysis
- Debate skills
- Discussion
- Evaluating arguments
- Expository writing
- Film editing
- Gathering, classifying and interpreting written, oral and visual information
- Historical analysis
- Internet skills
- Interpretation
- Interview/survey skills
- Investigating/journalistic writing
- Journal writing
- Letter writing
- Literary analysis
- Logical reasoning
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Map skills
- Media analysis
- Musical analysis
- Online research
- Oral analysis
- Oral communication
- Oral presentation skills
- Painting
- Persuasive writing and speaking
- Photography
- Poetry analysis
- Poetry writing
- Report writing
- Representing ideas and information orally, graphically and in writing
- Research
- Role-playing/Performance
- Summarizing
- Synthesis
- Technology
- Textual analysis
- Using archival documents
- Using primary sources
- Using secondary sources
- Visual analysis
- Visual art analysis
- Visual art skills
- Visual presentation skills
- Vocabulary
- Writing skills
- ELA Reading: 1- 7, 10
- ELA Writing: 1-10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-6
- ELA Language: 3-6
- HSS Reading: 1-10
- HSS Writing: 2, 4-10
- Why is Susan Sontag important today?
- What are the contemporary roles of writers, thinkers, and artists?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of activists?
- What do students want to change or inspire in their own communities?
- How can students use writing, art, and activism to deepen understanding and create change?
ADAPTING THE CURRICULUM
This guide will assist you in adapting Regarding Susan Sontag’s curriculum materials for your group, including extracurricular organizations, community groups, and book clubs.
AFTER-SCHOOL or EXTRACURRICULAR GROUPS:
- Select a curriculum unit or lesson related to your group’s area of interest, then adapt its activities to your needs (see above table for recommendations).
- Introduce the film with the Educational Screening Guide or a related unit’s Background Handout.
- Screen Regarding Susan Sontag and discuss.
- Discuss your related lesson Video with Handout 1.
- Choose an activity to take on individually or as a group—be creative!
Film Clubs
We recommend any lesson from the Film Unit. Film/Video activities from other lessons may also be of interest.
- Adapt Film/Video activities for individual or group work
- Adapt Essay/Review activities for group publications or screenings
GSAs
We recommend any lesson from the Identity Unit, as well as the Notes on Camp, LGBTQ Artists, or AIDS and Its Metaphors lessons, or other lessons of interest.
- Adapt Panel Discussion, Class Challenge, and/or Exhibit/Presentation activities for group work or exhibits
- Adapt Essay/Speech, Review, and/or Fine Arts/Creative Writing activities for individual or group work
Literary/Art Journals
We recommend any lesson from the Art & Literature Unit, Photography Unit, Film Unit, or other lessons of interest.
- Adapt Essay, Review, and/or Creative Writing activities for writers
- Adapt Fine Arts or Photography activities for artists
Student Newspapers
We recommend any lesson of interest.
- Adapt Essay, Review, or Creative Writing activities for staff writers
- Adapt Photography or Fine Arts activities for staff photographers and artists
- Publish a Sontag-inspired edition by adapting multiple Essay, Review, Photography, and Fine Arts activities
Student Radio or Television
We recommend any lesson of interest.
- Adapt Film/Video/Recording, Essay/Speech, Review, Interview, Creative Writing, and/or Fine Arts activities for staff contributors
- Document Fine Arts, Exhibit/Presentation, Class Exhibit, or Class Action activities, or arrange Panel Discussion, Class Debate, or Class Challenge activities for featured groups
COMMUNITY GROUPS:
- Select a curriculum unit or lesson related to your group’s area of interest (see above table for recommendations).
- Introduce the film using the Educational Screening Guide or a related unit’s Background Handout.
- Screen Regarding Susan Sontag and discuss.
- Discuss your related Video with Handout 1.
- Explore group interests further with lesson Handouts 2-4.
- Choose an activity to take on individually or as a group—be creative!
Health and Wellness Groups
We recommend any lesson from the Illness Unit.
Identity Groups
We recommend any lesson from the Identity Unit as well as the LGBTQ Artists and AIDS and Its Metaphors lessons.
Film Clubs
We recommend any lesson from the Film Unit. Fine Arts activities from other lessons may also be of interest.
Photography Clubs
We recommend any lesson from the Photography Unit. Fine Arts activities from other lessons may also be of interest.
Social Justice Groups
We recommend any lesson from the War & Activism Unit as well as the Regarding the Pain of Others lesson.
Lessons from the Illness Unit or Identity Unit may also be relevant.
Writing Clubs
We recommend the On Literature, The Art of the Essay, or Writer as Activist lessons. Essay/Speech, Review, Interview, and/or Creative Writing activities from other lessons of interest may also be relevant.
BOOK CLUBS:
- Introduce the film using the Educational Screening Guide.
- Screen Regarding Susan Sontag and discuss.
- Select one of Sontag’s books or essays to read for your next book group.
- Discuss the chosen book or essay, then screen the Video from a related lesson and discuss with Handout 1 (see table below for recommendations).
- Explore group interests further with lesson Handouts 2-4.
Pair Sontag’s Against Interpretation (1966) with the Against Interpretation, Notes on Camp, The Imagination of Disaster, and/or The Art of the Essay video modules.
Pair Styles of Radical Will (1969) with the Writer as Activist, A Culture of War, The Art of the Essay, or On Cinema video modules.
Pair Sontag’s On Photography (1977) with any video module from the Photography Unit.
Pair Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor (1978) with the Illness as Metaphor video module.
Pair Sontag’s Under the Sign of Saturn (1980) with the On Literature, The Art of the Essay, and/or A Culture of War video modules.
Pair Sontag’s AIDS and Its Metaphors (1988) with the AIDS and Its Metaphors video module.
Pair Sontag’s Where the Stress Falls (2001) with the On Literature, LGBTQ Artists, On Cinema, or A Culture of War video modules.
Pair Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others (2003) with the Regarding the Pain of Others and/or On Photography video modules.
Pair Sontag’s At The Same Time (2007) with the On Literature, Writer as Activist, or A Culture of War video modules.
Pair Sontag’s journals, Reborn (2008) and/or As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh (2012), with the Queer Identity and the Closet, Feminist Icon, Writer as Activist, On Literature, and/or Illness as Metaphor video modules.
