By Paul Weilacker

• Grade Level: High School, 9th and 10th grade
• Time: Fifteen Days
• Objectives: After this lesson, students should be able to:
  1. Write an essay which expresses an opinion as to whether or not the United States should have used nuclear weapons against Japan at the end of World War II.
  2. Make inferences about the political, economic, and social changes that occurred in China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia after World War II.
  3. Label a map which identifies the significant political place names and physical characteristics of Asia. (To be done from memory)
  4. Prepare and deliver a three-minute oral report about topics related to Asian history.
  5. Optional: Perform a dance which indicates the significant political, economic, and social changes which occurred in Asia since World War II.

Day One

1. Lecture: "Hiroshima: The atomic bomb then and now." 20 minutes
2. Reading: Students read aloud from handout which lists the particulars about the United States' decision to use the atomic bomb at the end or World War II. Teacher leads discussion of handout. 30 minutes
3. Silent Sustained Reading: Students assigned John Hersey's "Hiroshima". Reading to be finished by day ten of the unit. 40 minutes

Day Two

1. Video: Students watch documentary "The Atomic Caf*." Teacher leads discussion of documentary. 90 minutes

Day Three

1. Note Taking: Students take notes outlining the positions for and against the decision to use the atomic bombs against Japan. Teacher leads discussion of notes. 30 minutes
2. Debate: Teacher leads an informal debate among the students about the decision to use the atomic bomb. 30 minutes
3. Essay Writing: Teacher assigns essay question which asks students to argue for or against the United States' use of the atomic bomb against Japan. Essay due by day ten of the unit. 20 minutes

Day Four

1. Study Guide: Using the World History textbook, students answer questions from a teacher-prepared study guide. Note: The study guide will be the basis for a 50-question objective test to be taken on the final day of the unit. 45 minutes
2. Confucian-Socratic method: Teacher asks questions of students related to the study guide. Teacher shames students who give wrong answers. 45 minutes

Day Five

1. Geography: Using colored pencils, students label and color a map of Asia indicating points of political and physical significance. Note: Students will need to memorize points of geographical significance for test to be given at the end of unit. 45 minutes
2. Oral Reports: Students given topics related to modern Asian history on which they are to prepare oral reports to be delivered on day 14 of unit. Teacher leads demonstration of public-speaking techniques. 20 minutes
3. Current Events: Students read from periodicals relating to current events in Asia. Teacher leads informal discussion of articles. 25 minutes

Day Six

1. Lecture: "What is communism, and why I once might be fired for teaching you this." 20 minutes
2. Reading: Students read from Marx's "Das Kapital" and Mao's "Little Red Book." Teacher leads discussion of books. 40 minutes
3. Study Guide: Students continue working on study guide. Note: Students who do not finish study guide in class are to do for homework. 30 minutes

Day Seven

1. Cooperative Learning: Students are to divide into five groups. Students are to make inferences from a list of teacher-prepared questions about the history of China after 1949. Students are to choose spokesperson to present answers. Note: Many of these inferences can be based on information gleaned from the text or from lectures.
   
   Questions
   • After Mao took power in China in 1949, he set up government institutions similar to those of the Soviet Union. Make inferences about Mao's views on Communism.
   • In the late 1950s, Chinese people resisted communal living and complained about long hours and hard work that did little to increase productivity. Make an inference about the success of the "Great Leap Forward." 45 minutes
2. Rote Memorization: Students are given a list of dates relevant to modern Asian history. Students are given 20 minutes to memorize dates. Teacher leads drill and practice of dates. Note: Some students will complain that history is boring. 45 minutes

Day Eight

1. Movie: Students watch movie "The Last Emperor." 90 minutes.

Day Nine

1. Movie: Students finish watching movie "The Last Emperor." Teacher leads discussion of movie. 90 minutes

Day Ten

1. Book Chat: Arrange desks in a semi-circle. Discuss book "Hiroshima." Have students read from essays written about the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing. 45minutes
2. Cooperative Learning: Teacher writes the following title on the chalkboard: "Changes in Postwar Japan." Also, draw a five-column chart with these headings: Military, Social, Political, Economic, Foreign Policy. Divide the class into five groups and assign one topic for each group. Have groups work through textbook noting changes that occurred in Japan pertaining to their topics. When groups are finished, have a spokesperson from each group report orally to class. 45 minutes

Day Eleven

1. Lecture: "The Cold War and the conflicts in Korea and Southeast Asia." 20 minutes
2. Cooperative Learning: List the following countries on the chalkboard: Vietnam, Cambodian, Philippines, and Korea. Divide class into groups of four or five students each. Have students use information from text to compare the political conflicts and social turmoil that occurred in these countries after World War II. Suggest that students make written comparisons in such categories as: Movements for independence, leaders, conflicts between communists and Western influences. Report to class. 45 minutes
3. Oral Report Practice: Students practice delivering oral reports. 25 minutes

Day Twelve

1. Readings: Students read aloud from Ronald Takaki's "Stranger from a Different Shore." Teacher leads a discussion of Asian immigration to the United States. 45 minutes.
2. Lecture: " The Differences Among Various Asian Cultures." Using information gained from the TASSI Fellowship, teacher discusses variance in the language, religion, writing, and practices of various Asian cultures. 45 minutes

Day Thirteen

1. Video: Students watch "Frontline" documentary "China." Teacher leads discussion of documentary. 60 minutes.
2. Review: Teacher leads a review of information to be found on the 50-question objective test to be taken on day 15 of the unit. 30 minutes

Day Fourteen

1. Oral Reports: Each student delivers a three-minute oral report on a topic related to Asian History. Other students ask questions of student who delivers report. 90 minutes

Day Fifteen

1. Oral Reports: Students finish oral reports. 30 minutes
2. Test: Students take 50-question objective test as well as a geography test. 60 minutes

"The Last Emperor" Discussion Questions

1. In what two places does the opening of the "Last Emperor" take place?
2. Why does the Dowager Empress desire to see Pu Yi (The eventual child emperor) before her death?
3. Where is the "Forbidden City" located?
4. What activities are happening outside of the Forbidden City as Pu yi gets older?
5. Why is the older Pu Yi imprisoned by the Communist in 1950?
6. What are the communists attempting to do to Pu Yi and the other prisoners?
7. What power does Pu Yi have as the child emperor?
8. Define: kowtow, queue, eunuch?
9. Why is Pu Yi not allowed to leave the forbidden city?
10. What impact does Pu Yi's tutor Johnston have on Pu Yi and the Forbidden City?
11. Why does Pu Yi eventually leave the Forbidden City?
12. What do the Japanese want with Pu Yi?
13. Why does Pu Yi want to become Emperor of Manchuria (Manchukuo)?
14. What happens to Pu Yi's wife?
15. Why is Pu Yi eventually released from prison?
16. What happens in the movie during the time of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

Hiroshima Essay Question

On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan.

On August 9, 1945 the United States dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki Japan. A few days later, Japan surrendered, effectively ending World War II. Presidents Truman's decision to use the Atomic bombs against Japan remains controversial.

In an essay state whether or not you believe the United States should have used atomic weapons against Japan at the end of World War Two. What alternatives, if any, did the United States have besides using atomic weapons.

In writing your essay, assume that your reader knows nothing about this historical event, so include all pertinent information relating to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. Essays must be at least three pages in length and devoid of spelling and grammatical mistakes. ATTEMPT TO DO A GOOD JOB.

Arguments For

1. The use of the bombs ended the war with Japan more quickly and, consequently, saved more lives. Had the atomic bombs not been used, a full-scale invasion of Japan would have been necessary, resulting in hundreds of thousands more lives being lost.
2. The Japanese military was fanatical and needed a strong message to indicate the futility of their cause.
3. The Atomic bomb has become mystified because of the latter-day dilemma surrounding nuclear weapons. Before the atomic bombs, thousands of people in Europe and Asia had been killed using conventional weapons, and yet there seems to be no remorse over the use of these weapons.
4. The use of the bomb was just retribution against Japan for its role in World in World II. The atomic bombs ended a conflict which the Japanese were largely responsible for starting. After the Allies defeated the Japan, a democratic government was established in that nation. Today Japan is an economic and democratic success story largely because of American altruism. Would the story still be the same if Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany had found atomic weapons first and defeated the Allied nations?

Arguments Against

1. The bombing of a civilian population is morally reprehensible and against the Geneva Conventions of war. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had almost no military value, and were chosen largely because they were relatively unscathed by previous conventional bombing. The U.S. military wanted clean targets to measure the impact of atomic weapons. In effect, some 250,000+ people lost their lives so the U.S. could conduct a test, which is an atrocity.
2. That the Japanese would lose the war was a foregone conclusion, so arguments suggesting that the atomic bombs ended the war are fallacious. The United States made little effort in attempting to warn the Japanese of the potential power of atomic weapons as a method of convincing the Japanese to surrender.
3. In using the bomb, the United States could have chosen an uninhabited or military target. Such a show of force would have forced the Japanese to surrender.
4. Why the Nagasaki bomb. Even if one could argue that by bombing Hiroshima the United States forced a Japanese surrender, what possible explanation was there for the use of the second bomb on Nagasaki? Bombing Nagasaki was simply gratuitous genocide.

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