Howard Zinn, in my opinion, is utterly brilliant. The 8th graders laughed at me when I showed them the task, stating that I was officially doomed and that I would never bounce back. Now the jokes on them. Howard Zinn is a historian who recounts historic events through the point of view of those being afflicted. He takes very complex historic accounts and breaks them down in manner so comprehensible that even I understand them. He claims that our war in Iraq is "Terrorism to end Terrorism". I searched through the packet on Howard Zinn for hours searching for the exact quote where Zinn states that the American Revolution was "Half a revolution". Yes, I know, Very ST of me, but I seriously thought he said it. It turns out that the phrase is a general term that Zinn implied which basically means that Who held power changed after the revolution, but power itself did not. America now had their own government and they were technically free from British rule, but "America" back then was a synonym for "Free White Males". Women and African American slaves were still being oppressed by "America", and Howard Zinn explains this very well in his works. Here's a list of of links that will take you to what other people feel about Howard Zinn:
http://americancreation.blogspot.com/2009/03/howard-zinn-liar.html
http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/howard-zinns-fairy-tale-3751
http://kasamaproject.org/2010/01/03/michael-kazin-a-critique-of-zinns-history/
Yes, I know that most of them do criticize Zinn's works, but they do offer different responses.
Greetings-
ReplyDeleteI hope this message finds you well. I like what you got here. Two points to be made:
1) I would need you to discuss what is present in these links on Zinn. Discuss what you feel about the anti- Zinn feelings out there in the sites. Is it valid? Where is it coherent? Where is it not as strong in your own mind? Discuss the content on these sites.
2) Extra Credit option. When you start your Constitution unit, each weekly word should get the following treatment:
A) Definition of the word- Very ST, what is in the lectures or what is in the textbook.
B) What does the word mean in modern American government? Discuss its implications in the modern political setting of American government? This might involve web searches and exploring what is out there on the web.
C) How does the word apply to Julian? This one might be reflective in your own experience and objective in terms of what you see at Julian.
D) What video/ song/ film could connect to the word or what video/ song/ film could be the opposite of the word? This will give you latitude in being able to link up the song to art.
Your call on how you want this to roll and we can come up with a compensation method that is satisfactory to both of us if this works out well and is continual.
All best.
Mr. Kannan