Name ______________________
A Class Divided/GAWM
Notes/Handouts
English 9/Fall 2015
General Reactions: A Class Divided
Due: 11/3/2015 (Tuesday)
DIRECTIONS: After viewing the video, respond to the questions below. For each
question, I am expecting a MINIMUM of 3 complete sentences to receive credit. Take
time to really think about these so that we can have an active and lively discussion on
Tuesday.
All answers should be recorded in your Writer’s Notebook.
40 points (this is a large homework assignment)
1) What did you learn? What scene or scenes do you think you'll still remember a
month from now and why those scenes?
2) How was the exercise that Mrs. Elliott designed a response to the children's
question, "Why would anyone want to murder Martin Luther King?" Did the film
provide an answer to the question? Can you answer the question?
3) What did the children's body language indicate about the impact of
discrimination?
4) Both Mrs. Elliott and her former students talk about whether or not this exercise
should be done with all children. What do you think? If the exercise could be
harmful to children, as Elliott suggests, what do you think actual discrimination
might do?
5) What features did Mrs. Elliott give to the superior and inferior groups and how did
those characteristics mimic stereotypes about blacks and whites?
6) It's easy to understand why third-graders would obey their teacher, but when the
exercise is done with the prison guards, why don't any of the adults protest?
7) Which group, in your opinion, was more powerful to witness? The adults or the
children? Why?
8) What connections can you draw between this video and your current reading of
Getting Away with Murder? What connections can you draw between this and your
“Deep Thoughts” on Getting Away with Murder? Make at least 3 specific
connections!