- What are the social roles and responsibilities of writers?
- What are the rights and responsibilities of citizens?
- Do we need activists? What role do activists play in society?
- What makes a writer an activist? How do writers create political or cultural change?
- What issues do students identify as most urgent in their own communities?
- How can students use writing to foster social change?
- Reflect on Sontag’s public role as a writer and activist
- Relate Sontag’s work and views to other writers and activists of her era
- Explore the work of historical and contemporary writer-activists
- Consider the political and social responsibilities of writers
- Develop civic voices and visions
- Use writing, art and activism to express complex ideas creatively
1-9 Class Periods
VIDEOS:
Writer As Activist Video and Transcript
HANDOUTS:
Unit Background
Unit Research
Handout 1
Handout 2
Handout 3
Handout 4
WORKSHEETS:
Panel Discussion Worksheet
Essay/Speech/Video/Recording Worksheet
Interview Worksheet
Creative Writing Worksheet
Fine Arts Worksheet
TEACHING PLANS:
Teach Handout 1
Teach Handout 2
Teach Handout 3
Teach Handout 4
Panel Discussion Activity
Essay/Speech/Video/Recording Activity
Interview Activity
Creative Writing Activity
Fine Arts Activity
Class Action Activity
- Art and Culture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Music
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
People > African American
People > Hispanic
People > LGBT
People > Native American
People > Other
People > Women
Place > The Americas
Place > Asia
Place > The Middle East
Themes > Civil Rights
Themes > Culture
Themes > Globalization
Themes > History of Science and Technology
Themes > Immigration/Migration
Themes > Politics and Citizenship
Themes > Religion
Themes > War and Foreign Policy
U.S. History
U.S. > Colonization and Settlement
World > The Modern World
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Biography
Genre > Drama
Genre > Essay
Genre > Fables, Fairy tales and Folklore
Genre > Novel
Genre > Poetry
Genre > Short Stories
Place > American
Place > Europe
Place > Modern World
- 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
- Investigating/journalistic writing
- Journal writing
- Letter writing
- Literary analysis
- Logical reasoning
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Media analysis
- Musical analysis
- Musical skills
- Online research
- Oral analysis
- Oral communication
- Oral presentation skills
- Painting
- Persuasive writing and speaking
- Photography
- Poetry writing
- Report writing
- Representing ideas and information orally, graphically and in writing
- Research
- Role-playing/Performance
- Summarizing
- Synthesis
- Technology
- Textual analysis
- Using primary sources
- Using secondary sources
- Visual art analysis
- Visual art skills
- Visual presentation skills
- Writing skills
- ELA Reading: 1, 3, 5-7, 10
- ELA Writing: 1-10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-6
- HSS Reading: 1-3, 5-10
- HSS Writing: 2, 4-10
Susan Sontag considered being a writer something of a sacred calling, one that came with certain moral obligations. She expected all writers to act in the face of injustice, prejudice, and other social ills, and to use their fame to speak out on issues of national importance. Sontag believed that the best and most interesting writers wrote in opposition to or dissent from the mainstream of their respective societies. In the late 1980s, as president of PEN America, the US branch of the international writers’ organization, she worked with a number of prominent international writers of conscience. At home, she occasionally raised the ire of conservatives, particularly after speaking out against racism, war, and other forms of social injustice. In the 1960s, she famously condemned the white race as the “cancer of human history.” Later, having survived a Stage IV cancer diagnosis, she spoke out against the social stigmas faced by people with cancer and AIDS.
This lesson investigates Sontag’s role as a writer-activist, her critiques of American society, and the work of similar writers in her era and our own, encouraging students to think, write, and act with conscience on the issues that matter most to them.
LESSON 1 HANDOUTS
LESSON 1 STUDENT ACTIVITY OPTIONS
- 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).
- Screen Regarding Susan Sontag and discuss with our Educational Screening Guide before beginning this lesson.
- Assign full texts or articles in place of handout excerpts.
- Assign supplementary texts or facilitate independent research with our War & Activism Unit Research handout, which includes:
- Online resources related to war and activism
- Reference texts on war and activism (unit citations and recommendations)
- Works of art included in the unit
- Allow additional time for discussion, group work, peer-review, editing, revision, or student evaluations and critiques of finished work.
- Coordinate presentations of student activities outside the classroom, such as a class blog, podcast or online gallery posts, school newspaper or literary/art journal publications, student radio or video broadcasts, or all-school exhibits, panel discussions, and screenings.
Teach this lesson with additional content from the curriculum guide. See our Interdisciplinary Diagram for help choosing related units and lessons.