Using Language Arts to teach about Issues in International Education

Presented by:

Andrea Scaturo, Teacher of Language Arts

West Windsor Plainsboro High School South

ScaturoWWP@aol.com

New Jersey Regional International Education

Discussion and Awareness Forums

The A-bomb DomeWhen the atomic bomb exploded, it ravaged the building instantly. Heat blazing from above consumed the entire building, killing everyone in it. Because the blast attacked the building from virtually straight overhead, some walls escaped total collapse. Along with the wire framework of the

dome, these form the shape that has become a symbol, known as the "A-bomb Dome."

Fierce heat rays and radiation burst out in every direction, expanding the air around the fireball and creating a super-high pressure blast. These three

factors interacted in complex ways to inflict tremendous damage. The damage inflicted by the atomic bomb was characterized by instant and

massive destruction, indiscriminate mass slaughter, and radiation. Radiation damage led to decades of human suffering.

Photograph, School Badge, Company Badge, Sheet of Tickets, Work Pants – Chugoku Regional Military Headquarters

Kimiko Nishimaru (then 15), a third-year student at Hijiyama Girls High School, was exposed while mobilized to do telegraph work. Burned over her

entire body, she managed to make it home to Ushita-machi, where she received care from her parents but died on the 10th.

Tricycle – 1,500m from the hypocenterShinichi Tetsutani (then 3 years and 11 months old) was exposed while riding his tricycle in front of his house and died the same day. Because Shinichi’s father felt that laying a 3-year-old alone in a distant grave was too pitiful, he

buried this tricycle in the back yard along with his son. In the summer of 1985, 40 years later, his bones were dug up and placed in a formal grave.

A Schoolgirl with Burns – Photographed at Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, Aug 10, 1945

It is estimated that approximately 50% of those exposed 1.2 kilometers of the hypocenter died on the 6th, and 80 to 100% of those close to the hypocenter

died. The likelihood of death for those who escaped initially varied according to their proximity to the hypocenter.

A Man With Burns Over His Entire Body – Photographed at the Army Transport Quarantine Station on Ninoshima Island, Aug 7, 1945

This man was exposed within 1 kilometer of the hypocenter. Only the area covered by his waist band escaped burns.

November 13, 1945, Photo by US Army Keloids appeared on her face, back, and the joints of her arms and legs.

Keloids hindered the movement of joints and caused tremendous physical and psychological suffering.

Nails and Skin Left by a Junior High Student – 600m from the hypocenter

Noriaki Teshima, a first-year student at Second Hiroshima Prefectural Junior High School, was exposed while engaged in building demolition. Burned so

severely that skin hung loose from his whole body, he was rescued and taken home by a friend. Unable to bear his thirst, he reportedly sucked the pus

from the ends of his fingers, from which the nails had peeled off. He died in agony on the next day.

Kimono Pattern Burned into Skin – Photographed at Ujina Branch of Hiroshima First Army Hospital Aug 15, 1945

The heat rays burned the dark parts of the kimono pattern into this woman’s skin.

Shadow of a Soldier and Ladder on a Wooden Wall – 4,400m from the hypocenter, early Sept 1945

A soldier was directly exposed to the heat rays as he descended from the roof. The coal tar melted off where it was exposed, but remained its original

black where it was in the shadows of the soldier and ladder.

Protesting Nuclear Weapons TestingLetters of protest displayed in the East Building of the Peace memorial

Museum. They are permanently affixed to the walls of the A-bomb Dome replica.

Other Works to Use:Full Length Texts:

Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (poverty)Antigone, Sophocles (non-traditional gender roles)First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung (genocide)

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (cloning)Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (labor laws)Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad (colonialism) Julius Caesar, Shakespeare (Hitler, genocide) Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare (prejudice)

Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare (non-traditional gender roles)The Odyssey, Homer (non-traditional gender roles)

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck (environmental issues, euthanasia) Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, (prejudice)

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe (colonialization, euthanasia)To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (prejudice)

Shorter Works:“Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell (societal pressures)

“Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut (cloning, equality)

Resources:

Hiroshima by John Hersey

NY Times Articles from http://www.freerepublic.com

The Official Homepage of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/

The Spirit of Hiroshima: An Introduction to the Atomic Bomb Tragedy by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum