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Title - Do Something about... Teen Voting/Civic Engagement
Lesson 9 - How can I use writing to lead others to action?
By - Do Something, Inc. / www.dosomething.org
Primary Subject - Social Studies
Secondary Subjects - Other
Grade Level - 9-12

The following lesson is the ninth lesson of a 10-lesson
Teen Voting/Civic Engagement Unit from Do Something, Inc.
Other lessons in this unit are as follows:

Lesson 9: How can I use writing to lead others to action?

Goal:

Students will learn how people have used the written word as a method of civic action.

Standards:

Language Arts Reading Standard 6

Process:
  1. Warm-up: On the board write the following quotations:

    2. "Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the sword."
    Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)

    "The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think."
    Edwin Schlossberg

    "There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argument is an undeniably good book."
     Saul Bellow (1915 - )

  2. Ask students to read all three quotes and pick one to explain. Tell students to provide examples of books or writers that support the ideas expressed in the quotation they have selected. Share and discuss what these quotes have in common. What type of power do words have?
  3. Discuss how writing can be a method of civic engagement. Discuss letter writing campaigns, journalism, and influential novels. Topics for discussion might include:

    4. Letter writing: What makes a letter effective? To whom do you write? Do letters change public policy? How does email impact politicians?

    Journalism: Are journalists objective in their writing? Should they be? Is the only place for opinions in op-eds. Who gets published? How does that affect what is reported?

    Novels: What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts? Do fictional stories influence the way society thinks? Can fictional books influence policy? What are examples of influential fictional texts?

  4. Discover: Split students into groups and give each an excerpt from the following influential writers. Tell them briefly about each writer. Harriet Beecher Stowe was called the "little woman who started the war" by Lincoln. John Adams said, "Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain." Upton Sinclair was an influential Muckraker whose books reformed the meat packing industry.

    5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe:

    The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

    Common Sense by Thomas Paine

  5. Have students create a quote poem from the excerpt(s) they read. To do this, they should piece together their favorite lines and add their own words sentences that talk about the impact these writers had on America.
  6. Share poems in an "active citizen" poetry slam or "Citizen Slam".
  7. Discuss the impact of fiction on politics. Why can making up a character or story grant an author more power? How does a writer build empathy? What is the power of empathy?
  8. Take Action: Write a poem or short story to build awareness and empathy for your take action group’s issue. Read or distribute this writing around school.

Other Activities

  1. Have students become Muckrakers. They can pick a political issue (current event, historical period they are studying in class) and write a short story that makes the reader empathize with a particular point of view.
  2. Discuss bloggers as journalists. Read http://www.microcontentnews.com/articles/bloggingjournalism.htm. What are the pros and cons to this type of civic engagement? Have students create their own blogs.

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