On Photographing Pain
In this activity, students will compose an essay on the ethical dilemmas of photographing pain and suffering.
PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON 5: ESSAY
1 class period (45-60 min) + written assignment
HANDOUTS:
Handout 1 (as needed)
Handout 2A (as needed)
Handout 2B (as needed)
Handout 3 (as needed)
Handout 4 (as needed)
Photography Lesson 3: Handout 2 (as needed)
WORKSHEET:
TEACHING PLAN:
- Art and Culture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
Themes > Culture
Themes > Politics and Citizenship
World > The Modern World
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Biography
Genre > Essay
Place > American
Place > Modern World
- Analysis
- Creative writing
- Critical thinking
- Cultural analysis
- Discussion
- Expository writing
- Interpretation
- Media analysis
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Persuasive writing and speaking
- Representing ideas and information in writing
- Synthesis
- Using archival documents
- Visual analysis
- Writing skills
- ELA Reading: 7
- ELA Writing: 1, 3-6, 10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-2
- HSS Reading: 7
- HSS Writing: 1, 4-6, 10
LESSON 5 HANDOUTS
- Allow additional time for peer-review, editing, and revision of work, or for students to evaluate the use of perspective, structure, style and tone in their finished pieces.
- Add a visual requirement, such as the use of images in the finished essays.
- Increase the minimum length requirement for the essays, asking students to relate their personal images and experiences to the work of professional photographers or contemporary theorists (see Photography Unit Research handout for related texts and resources).
- Post essays on a class blog, publish excerpts in the school newspaper or literary/art journal, or encourage students to submit their final pieces independently.