Understanding Sontag: Let the Atrocious Images Haunt Us
This handout compares Susan Sontag’s arguments on looking at images of suffering in On Photography (1977) and Regarding the Pain of Others (2002).
PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON 5: HANDOUT 2A
1 class period (45-60 min)
- Art and Culture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
Themes > Culture
Themes > Politics and Citizenship
Themes > War and Foreign Policy
World > The Modern World
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Essay
Place > American
Place > Modern World
- Analysis
- Compare and contrast
- Critical analysis
- Critical thinking
- Cultural analysis
- Discussion
- Evaluating arguments
- Interpretation
- Literary analysis
- Media analysis
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Summarizing
- Synthesis
- Textual analysis
- Visual analysis
- ELA Reading: 1-4, 7, 10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-2
- ELA Language: 4, 6
- HSS Reading: 1-2, 4, 6-10
OR complete the lesson now with one of our Student Activity Options
- Assign “In Plato’s Cave” or the full text of Sontag’s On Photography and/or longer selections from Regarding the Pain of Others in advance, in place of handout excerpts.
- Reflection and concluding questions may also be assigned as short essays or response papers.