- What are our contemporary myths and metaphors about cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other illnesses?
- How do metaphors about specific diseases influence their treatments?
- In what ways—directly and implicitly—are people blamed for their illnesses?
- How does the language of disease influence our global and political discourse?
- Why is metaphoric thinking about illness problematic?
- How can students help demythologize illnesses in their own lives or communities?
- Understand Sontag’s key arguments about illness and its metaphors
- Consider the relationship between Sontag’s own experiences with cancer and AIDS and her writings on illness
- Reflect on historical myths and metaphors of cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other illnesses
- Assess the impact of metaphors on our contemporary treatments of specific diseases and their patients
- Relate students’ own experiences of illness to Sontag’s key ideas
- Consider the contemporary experiences of living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other illnesses
- Explore civic and political actions that challenge stigmas or fears about illness
- Use writing and art creatively to express complex issues
- High School Grades 11-12
- College or University
- Art and Culture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
People > LGBT
Themes > Civil Rights
Themes > Culture
Themes > History of Science and Technology
Themes > Politics and Citizenship
Themes > War and Foreign Policy
World > Modern World (1500CE-Present)
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Biography
Genre > Drama
Genre > Essay
Genre > Fables, Fairytales and Folklore
Genre > Novels
Genre > Poetry
Genre > Short Stories
Place > American
Place > Modern World
- Analysis
- Compare and contrast
- Creative writing
- Critical thinking
- Cultural analysis
- Debate skills
- Discussion
- Evaluating arguments
- Expository writing
- Gathering, classifying and interpreting written and visual information
- Historical analysis
- Internet skills
- Interpretation
- Journal writing
- Letter writing
- Literary analysis
- Logical reasoning
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Media analysis
- Online research
- Oral communication
- Oral presentation skills
- Painting
- Persuasive writing and speaking
- Photography
- Poetry 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 art analysis
- Visual art skills
- Visual presentation skills
- Writing skills
- ELA Reading: 1, 3-4, 7, 10
- ELA Writing: 1-7, 9-10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-2, 4-6
- ELA Language: 4-6
- HSS Reading: 1-4, 6-10
- HSS Writing: 1-2, 4-7, 9-10
ILLNESS UNIT
Susan Sontag was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer in 1975, when she was forty-three, and published her groundbreaking book Illness as Metaphor two years later, immediately following the end of her treatment. Although many writers have described their cancer journeys in memoirs, very few have used their personal experiences with the disease as a springboard to examine the culture of cancer. One of Sontag’s most noteworthy achievements was unpacking the metaphors used to talk about illness, and the misguided thinking that such language reflects. Her work helped change the conversation about cancer in the United States and Europe, and was part of a slow, ongoing transformation of the way illness is perceived. Ten years later, at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, she published AIDS and Its Metaphors, a work with similar aims, intended to analyze and destigmatize a disease that in its early days had a devastating impact on gay men in the United States. Today, in the US, AIDS disproportionately affects African-American and Latino men.
Together, Sontag’s books had a profound impact on how Americans think about illness, how it is treated and talked about, and how communities can work against the stigmas associated with serious diseases. This unit provides opportunities for students to reflect on the metaphors of illness, explore the history of cancer and HIV/AIDS, debate Sontag’s ideas about the language of illness, and create written and artistic responses to diseases in art projects, exhibits, presentations, and essays. The lessons will also give students the opportunity to write and speak out personally about the impact of illness in their own lives, families, and communities, and to look at the myths and realities of contemporary diseases.
- Watch Regarding Susan Sontag and reflect on its relevance to your students and subject area. For extracurricular organizations, community groups, and book clubs, consult our guide on adapting the curriculum.
- Review our curriculum units and lessons below, then choose the individual lesson(s) most aligned to your needs. See our interdisciplinary diagram for more help choosing an appropriate lesson and unit.
- Select the handout(s) and student activity you will use with each lesson.
- Begin the lesson by watching and discussing the lesson video module with Handout 1
- Continue the lesson with Handouts 2-4 to deepen learning (optional)
- Complete the lesson with a student activity: options include writing, presentation, and creative assignments as well as class projects or debates
- Download or print all related resources for your lesson at our resource center (video module, handouts, worksheets, teaching plans), and prepare for classroom use. Preview the lesson video module, familiarizing yourself with the content and any potential areas of sensitivity for your students (see viewing and discussing sensitive materials).
