Photo Essay: Examining the Effects of China’s Rapid Growth
Directions: Your assignment is to investigate one issue relating to China’ rapid economic growth and to
create and present a photo essay revealing your perspective (position) about your topic. You can pick a
topic from the list provided or select your own with teacher approval.
Requirements:
1. Conduct research to deepen your knowledge of the issue. You should look for:
a. A description of the issue, including why it is an issue and what is being done to address
it.
b. Stories from people who are affected by the issue. Think about who gains and who loses
and why. How has life changed for that person?
c. Statistics to help explain the issue.
d. Social, Economic, or Political consequences of the issue. Things to consider include, but
are not limited to, wages, job descriptions, job opportunities, working conditions, living
conditions, family relationships, political rules/participation, and education. Has life
gotten better or worse?
e. What obstacles make it difficult to address the issue?
2. Generate a thesis that clearly identifies the issue and your position.
3. Generate ideas to support the thesis.
4. Use the graphic organizer to plan the evidence you will use to introduce your topic and to assert
and support your thesis.
5. Select photos (at least 10) to use for your essay. Your photos should help you tell your story.
Try to select photos that relate to stories you read during your research. This adds a human
element to your issue presentation.
6. Provide a rationale to explain the connection between each photograph and your thesis.
7. Organize your photos to describe your topic, introduce your thesis, provide supporting evidence
and details, and provide a conclusion.
8. Add descriptive captions for each photo to clarify your description of the issue or your argument
for your viewers. The captions should be descriptive and typed in complete sentences.
9. Create a title for your essay that best captures the essence of your essay.
10. Assemble your final photo essay. The essay can be assembled and displayed using PowerPoint,
Prezi, a poster, accordion book, or video slideshow with music and verbal reflection.
11. Your graphic organizer with thesis, description of supporting evidence, and rationale attached to
the back of your photo essay.
12. Review the Scoring Guide. Use that guide to review your photo essay and make sure you have
created a strong presentation.
13. Be prepared to share your essay with the class.
Topics to Explore:
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Urbanization Plan: Urban centers and
resettlement of people
Consumerism, life of urban teenager,
materialism
Environmental Issues: pollution, water
concerns,
Issues for Rural Residents
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Issues for Urban Residents- Life in the
City
Migrant workers & their children
Social Media and Democratic Reform
Factory Workers
Chinese Dream
Web Resources for Students
Examples of Photo Essays
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/world/africa/index.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/03/a-look-inside-china/100269/
Websites for Research:
Overview of Current Issues:
 BBC Overview of Modern China
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/china_modern/html/1.stm
 New York Times Collection of Articles
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/china/index.html?8q
a
 China’s Economic Miracle- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20069627
 Too Much, Too Fast: China Sees Backlash From Massive Growthhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/08/12/211202243/too-much-too-fast-china-seesbacklash-from-massive-growth
 China The Dark Side of Growth- http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/china-dark-side-growth
 Chinese Industrialization- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june07/china_06-25.html
Great Migration, Migrant Workers, and Working Conditions:
 Leslie Chang, Author of Factory Girls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkFko3s99Y4
 Internal Migration Stories http://vimeo.com/4273757
 The Largest Migration in History
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/02/daily-chart-17
 Interview with Leslie Changhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/interviews/chan.html
 China’s Migrant workers seek a life back homehttp://www.cnn.com/2013/08/29/world/asia/china-village-silversmith/index.html
 The Great Migration, with charts and income chart
http://www.businessweek.com/datedtoc/2000/0050.htm
 China’s Rural Millions left behind- http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asiapacific/4782194.stm
 Reversal Migration- http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2013/03/21/sot-onchina-migrant-workers-reverse-migration.cnn.html
 New Generation of Migrant Workershttp://english.cntv.cn/program/storyboard/20110902/110565.shtml
 Migrant Children Beset by Growing Painhttp://www.unicef.cn/en/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=51&id=717
 China’s urbanization drive leaves migrants out in the coldhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/31/us-china-urbanisation-idUSBRE92U00520130331
 Shanty China- http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/even-slum-dwellers-in-china-areupbeat-about-progress/?pagewanted=print
Government Urbanization Plan
 China’s Great Uprooting, New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/world/asia/chinas-great-uprooting-moving-250-millioninto-cities.html?_r=0
 Pitfalls Abound in China’s Push from Farm to Cityhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/world/asia/pitfalls-abound-in-chinas-push-from-farm-tocity.html?slide=20130626-CHINAURBAN-slide-NH50&name=urban2&smid=pl-share
 Making Rural China, Urban- http://www.thechinastory.org/2013/06/making-rural-china-urban/
 This article includes a great video highlighting China’s Plan to move 250 million people to urban
areas http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/06/24/world/asia/100000002299410/chinasconsuming-billion.html
 http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:2181280
3~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382,00.html
 BBC News article- http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/urbanisation-in-china/8006.html
 Hukou Reform- http://thediplomat.com/2013/10/11/china-urbanization-and-hukou-reform/
 Energy Innovation article- http://energyinnovation.org/focus-areas/urbanization-in-china/
 Urbanization Stories- http://www.utne.com/politics/urbanization-in-chinaze0z1206zsie.aspx#axzz2jA9C2Lhl
 China’s Growth Leads to Problems Down the Roadhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/world/asia/28china.html
Consumerism
 China’s Consuming Billions – This video accompanies a New York Times article.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/06/24/world/asia/100000002299410/chinas-consumingbillion.html
 China’s Bling Dynasty- http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/05/27/chinabling-dynasty-mck.cnn.html
 Wild West Goes to Chinahttp://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/07/04/pkg-jiang-china-americandream.cnn.html
 Chinese Dream- http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/chinainsight/program_video/index.shtml
 Human zoos and disappearing languages- http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/28/world/asia/chinarural-minorities/index.html
 The mad, mad world of China e-commerce- http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/01/world/asia/lustout-china-e-commerce/
 Made in China Doesn’t Mean Cheap in China
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/23/142660716/made-in-china-doesnt-mean-cheap-in-china
 What the Chinese Want , The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303448404577412240579647310?ref=
SB10001424052702303360504577408493723814210
Social Media and Democratic Reform
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Is Freedom of Thought in China Just a Dream- http://english.caixin.com/2013-1017/100592840.html
Controlling the Web- http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/07/world/asia/china-internetmonitors/index.html
Chinese Voice Anger and Nostalgia over Urbanization on Weibohttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/16/world/asia/weibo-voices-landseizures.html?_r=0
Environmental Issues:
 http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/featured-water-stories/choke-point-china/
 Various articles about environmental issues-http://english.caixin.com/environment/
 Water issues in China- http://www.pbs.org/kqed/chinainside/nature/waterissues.html
 Vacuuming Beijing Skies- This article link contains several videos about smog in China.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/asia/china-smog-artist/index.html
Resources for Teachers:
 China’s Growth Strategy
 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/01exports.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
 http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/02/chinas-12th-five-year-plan-is-it-sowrong-to-plan-ahead/71245/
 http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110131RS400.html?chid=2#2
 http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/10/symptoms-hukou-system-roadmap-reform/
Videos:
The videos I have listed provide segments relating to some of the issues the students will research. They
can use the segments to get some first-hand accounts.
 Young and Restless in China:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/youngchina/view/#more
 Beijing’s Vanishing Hutong:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/blog/2008/08/china_beijings.html
 China in the Red: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/red/
 Koppel on Discovery: The People’s Republic of Capitalism. This series examines the downsides
of China’s economic growth, China’s economic relationship with the U.S., growth of Chinese
cities, and the Chinese automotive transformation. Each video in the series is available on
discovery streaming.
 China from the Inside: http://www.pbs.org/kqed/chinainside/
 China Insight Series on Migrant Workers: This series has great stories about the forces driving
China’s internal migration, the challenges that migrant workers have to overcome, and the
effects on those they leave behind.
http://english.cntv.cn/program/program/chinainsight/20111105/102052.shtml
Planning Your Photo Essay
Use this graphic organizer to develop a plan for your photo essay. First, write the thesis that you refined
in Step 2. Then list the supporting ideas you have generated. For each supporting idea, write a
description or draw a sketch of the image you think would communicate or represent that idea. Write a
rationale explaining how each image helps support the thesis. You must have at least 10 photos.
Thesis Statement:
Supporting Idea
Conclusion
Description/Photo
Rationale
Project Rubric:
Scoring Criteria
Ideas
Exemplary
At least 10 photo images
expertly convey and support
the essay’s thesis. Titles and
captions creatively convey a
clear perspective on the
issue. The thesis and
rationale graphic organizer is
thorough.
Proficient
At least 10 photo
images convey the
essay’s thesis.
Titles and captions
communicate a clear
perspective on the
issue. The thesis and
rationale graphic
organizer is complete
Organization
The layout and design of
the essay serves to expertly
advance the argument and
reflect thoughtful planning.
The layout and design
of the essay are
appropriate for the
argument and reflect
adequate planning.
Content
The essay demonstrates a
thorough and detailed
analysis of the issue being
presented. The photo essay
includes elements from all of
the required research areas.
Presentation of
Essay
The student is prepared and
is able to present the topic
without relying heavily on
notes. The student is able to
answer reasonable questions
about his/her topic.
The essay demonstrates
a thorough and detailed
analysis of the issue
being presented. The
photo essay includes
elements from 4 of the
5 required research
areas.
The student is
prepared, however,
relies heavily on notes.
The student is able to
answer reasonable
questions about his/her
topic.
Emerging
Fewer than 10 photo
images attempt to
convey the essay’s
thesis. At times the
thesis may be unclear. If
used, titles and captions
do little to provide a
clear perspective on the
issue. The thesis and
rationale graphic
organizer is incomplete.
The layout and design
of the essay attempts,
but does little, to
enhance the argument
and/or reflect advance
thought or planning.
The essay does not
demonstrate a
thorough and detailed
analysis of the issue
being presented. The
photo essay includes
fewer than 4 of the
required elements.
The student is not
prepared. The students
reads directly from a
prepared sheet and/or
is not able to answer
questions about his/her
topic.