Unit plan for ages 15-18 in Language & Literature: The Depiction of Refugee Experience in Literature

Teaching and training materials

Unit plan for ages 15-18 in Language & Literature: The Depiction of Refugee Experience in Literature
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13 March 2007

UNHCR

Soviet military retaliation against the uprising in Hungary in 1956 caused 180,000 Hungarians, including this young couple to seek safety in Austria.

Knowledge

To understand refugees' sense of alienation
To be briefly informed about refugee situations around the world, with particular reference to Ethiopia
To understand the living conditions of African refugees

Skills

Early refugees: Some of the first people helped by UNHCR being processed by Germany in 1953 for resettlement in other countries.

To practise reading and interpreting a poem
To practise sharing one's thoughts and feelings with the class
To practise analysing the ways in which a writer conveys strong feelings in prose
To analyse:
a) emotional response
b) fluency of expression
c) evocative use of language

To practise effective prose writing

Values

To encourage the students to enter into the feelings of exile and alienation which refugees experience
To encourage the students to relate to the poet's experience to their own, or to that of someone they know
To empathise with refugees' sense of alienation
To reflect upon the response of a host community to refugees, particularly their own community response
To provide a personal response to literary works on refugee themes

CONTENT	TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING STRATEGIES
The Depiction of Refugee Experience in Poetry: Bertolt Brecht, Concerning the Label Emigrant	Preparation The day before the lesson, ask the students to read about Bertolt Brecht's life and work in an encyclopaedia. Reading Seat students in a large circle, if possible. The teacher, or a talented reader among the students, should read aloud the poem. Comprehension questions Can be answered verbally or in writing. Discussion questions Bring out the poet's sense of alienation. Encourage the students to relate that feeling to their own experience, or to that of someone known to them.
RESOURCES
Kakuma refugee camp. © UNHCR/A.Webster BRECHT, Bertolt, "Concerning the Label Emigrant" in Refugees: An Anthology of Poems and Songs. Edited by Brian Coleman. Ottawa, 1988, p. 21. Distributed by the Editor, 44 Caroline Avenue, Ottawa, K1Y OS7, Canada.

CONTENT	TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING STRATEGIES
The Depiction of Refugee Experience in Prose: Misganaw Worknehe, All tomorrows are the same.	Preparation Library research questions for homework: Give some examples of host countries who have opened their doors to refugees. Where did the refugees come from, and when did this happen? Follow up of library research Teacher builds up blackboard summary, with discussion under these headings: HOST COUNTRY REFUGEES' COUNTRY OF ORIGIN DATE OR PERIOD
RESOURCES
WORKNEHE, Misganaw, "All tomorrows are the same" in Tilting Cages: An Anthology of Refugee Writings. Edited by Naomi Flutter and Carl Solomon. Sydney, 1995, pp. 77-81. Distributed by the Editors, PO Box 223, Pyrmont, NSW, 2009, Australia. Also available from Public Information Section, UNHCR, Geneva.

CONTENT	TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING STRATEGIES
Critical analysis of Brecht's poem and Worknehe's short story.	Writing task Questions requiring the students to analyse the literary qualities of the two works.
RESOURCES
Further readings for the teacher John Simpson, ed. The Oxford Book of Exile (Oxford, OUP, 1995)