BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 CRITICAL CHALLENGE: THE BLACK DEATH AND HIV/AIDS: WHICH IS THE WORSE PLAGUE? by Clay McLeod Subject: Social Studies 8/ English 8 Grade level: Grade 8—This lesson can be used for students in Grades 8– 12, although it is designed to meet Grade 8 curricular outcomes. Lesson title: Critical Challenge: The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the Worse Plague? Brief overview: This lesson is a critical challenge, designed to engage students in a process of thinking critically about an issue while researching and writing a persuasive essay. The idea of critical challenges has been taken from the work of TC², or the Critical Thinking Consortium. One can read about critical thinking at public.sd38.bc.ca:8004/~TC2/abt, and public.sd38.bc.ca:8004/~TC2/IntroTC2. (In that regard, the first part of this particular critical challenge is very similar to one which was developed independently from and previous to this one and can found in Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years’ War published by the Critical Thinking Consortium.) Moreover, it embodies an approach to learning history that poses two important questions: What does history have to do with the present? How will studying history help us to shape our future? The activities in this lesson plan have been designed to help students to learn to be knowledgeable, understanding, thoughtful, responsible, and active citizens. Such citizens are able to contribute positively to the various communities that they are a part of, including the global village. This lesson plan involves studying aspects of the history of various civilizations in different parts of the world during the period from 500 CE (Common Era)—1600 CE, with a view to understanding what that history has to do with the present and what lessons this period offers us as we develop our understanding of our world, our The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 1 relationships with other people, places, and times, and the impact that we can have on the future. This approach resonates with what Graham Pike and David Selby call the “temporal dimension” of global education which stresses that the past, present, and future are interactive and embedded within one another. They argue, “Our present thoughts and actions are shaped not only by our experiences and understandings of the past but also by our visions and aspirations for the future… In our view, a temporal dimension – integrating past, present, and future – is necessary for a profound understanding of any curriculum topic or subject” (See Pike & Selby, In the Global Classroom 2. Toronto: Pippin Publishing:2000, pp 13–14). CIDA development theme: • Health BC Ministry of Education prescribed learning outcomes: It is expected that students will: • explore the learning outcomes found in the BC Social Studies 8-10 Integrated Resource Package 1997 and the BC English Language Arts 8-10 Integrated Resource Package 1996 as listed below. Social Studies It is expected that students will: • assess a variety of positions on controversial issues (Applications of Social Studies; Grade 8) • identify and clarify a problem, an issue, or an inquiry (Applications of Social Studies; Grade 8) • plan, revise, and deliver written and oral presentations (Applications of Social Studies; Grade 8) • identify factors that influence the development and decline of world civilizations (Society and Culture: Civilizations from 500 to 1600; Grade 8) • assess the impact of contact, conflict, and conquest on civilizations (Politics and Law: Civilizations from 500 to 1600; Grade 8) • locate and describe current and historical events on maps (Environment: Civilizations from 500 to 1600; Grade 8). English Language Arts It is expected that students will: • locate, access, and select relevant information from a variety of sources (including technological sources) for defined purposes (Communicate Ideas and Information, Composing and Creating; Grade 8) • compose or create works of communication for specific audiences and purposes, including to entertain, persuade, or inform (Communicate Ideas and Information, Composing and Creating; Grade 8) The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 2 Time required: For the first part: four–five hours or four 70-minute classes. The time required for the second part will depend on how deep you and your students want to go down the rabbit hole. Required materials: • copies of the Black Death and AIDS handout (Appendix one), one for each student • copies of the Website Evaluation handout (Appendix two), one for each student • copies of the Bibliography handout (Appendix three), one for each student) • copies of the Critical Challenge Rubric handout (Appendix four), one for each student • ideally, access to the library and the Internet for students to do some research of their own. Lesson Resources: • Roland Case and LeRoi Daniels, Introduction to the TC² Conception of Critical Thinking. public.sd38.bc.ca:8004/~TC2/IntroTC2 • Required materials, as listed above Procedure: 1. Part I: The critical challenge Explain that the students will be learning about how to conduct research and then will write a critical challenge comparing the Black Death (the historical Black Plague) to HIV/AIDS. Review the information sheets in the “Black Death and HIV/AIDS” handout that contain summary information about the Black Death and HIV/AIDS. Allow the students to discuss similarities and differences between the Black Death and HIV/AIDS. If students do not have background knowledge about these topics, you may wish to allow them to conduct some independent research before proceeding. You may wish to pose these questions to the students: • What makes a plague or epidemic bad? • What aspects make an epidemic worse:? The number of people who die, the symptoms, the social impacts of the disease, or the lack of cure? • How is the current spread of HIV/AIDS similar to the Black Death in the midfourteenth century? • Would you rather have HIV now, or the bubonic plague 650 years ago? • Would you rather be the family member of someone with HIV now, or of someone with the bubonic plague 650 years ago? • Are there places in the world that have been impacted more severely by either of these plagues? • How does the number of people who died from the Black Death and the number of people who have died from AIDS compare to the overall population The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 3 • • • • • Are the effects of HIV/AIDS likely to get better or worse? What is life like for patients suffering from both of these diseases? What are the symptoms? How long does the disease last? How do people treat those who are contracted with the disease? Explain that students are going to write an essay answering the critical question: Which is the worse plague, the current spread of HIV/AIDS or the Black Death (Black Plague) in the mid-fourteenth century? It is crucial for students to develop some background knowledge about the history of the Black Death and the current context of HIV/AIDS in order to consider this question. Perhaps even more crucial for students, is the notion and process of developing criteria for a bad epidemic. They won’t be able to decide which plague was worse unless they develop a clear idea of what constitutes a bad plague. By making notes about each topic (the Black Death and HIV/AIDS), either by using the web diagram in the “Black Death and HIV/AIDS” handout or by some other method, students can start to develop background knowledge. This note-taking process, as well as some whole-class discussion, can help students start to see some of the similarities between these two plagues and start to discern what elements might make justifiable criteria for a bad plague. Then, they can take their individual notions of a bad epidemic and use that to support the argument that they make in order to answer the critical question. Because of the nature of much of the information on the Internet about HIV/AIDS in particular, before allowing students to do Internet research, you may wish to conduct a lesson teaching them how to evaluate the trustworthiness of web sites. You can use the “Web site Evaluation” handout (Appendix two) to facilitate this discussion and then, use the questions that it poses to evaluate a specific web site as a class. The Media Awareness Network has written a lesson plan entitled “Deconstructing web pages” that can be found on-line at www.mediaawareness.ca/english/resources/educational/lessons/secondary/Internet/deconstruct _web_pages.cfm. You may wish to teach the students how to record information about their sources of information and how to write a bibliography, using the “Bibliography” handout (Appendix three) as a guide. Allow the students time to read about the topics of the Black Death and HIV/AIDS, conduct some research, complete the “Black Death and HIV/AIDS” handout pages (appendix one), and work through the writing process in relation to an essay answering the critical question. The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 4 2. Part II: Taking action today: Addressing the global scourge of HIV/AIDS Now that your students have learned about the Black Death and HIV/AIDS, you may wish to take that knowledge and use it to address contemporary issues related to HIV/AIDS. This activity is designed to get students involved in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in today’s world. In the process of doing so, they will learn about conditions experienced by people in other parts of the world, practice research, write documents for authentic purposes, and experience the practical reward of getting involved in their community. Discuss with your students the nature of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. • Where is it most widespread? Why? • What factors lead to its spread? • What can be done to improve this situation? • Who needs to take action to improve this situation? • How are people living with HIV treated differently in different parts of the • world? Why? • Are there medicines that can help people living with HIV/AIDS? • Are these medicines available to everyone equally? Why or why not? • What can be done to improve this situation? • Who needs to take this action? Here are links to the Stephen Lewis Foundation web site and to a description of some of the projects that it is engaged in: Stephen Lewis Foundation: Easing the Pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa: www.stephenlewisfoundation.org Projects: www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/what_projects.htm. Discuss with your students some of the facts about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly how it relates to conditions in the global South, the continent of Africa, and in Asian countries. You may wish to provide them with some information or have them do some research using the following web sites (or web sites in the BCTF’s Global Education Webliography in the “Reports and Studies on Global Issues” and “United Nations Global Issues Resources” sections): Stephen Lewis talking about hospital conditions in Lesotho: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYI2__TYtzA Stephen Lewis talking about food and nutrition: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7FEuy4ygHA An informational video about HIV/AIDS: The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 5 www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaKzWARCLYQ UN AIDS epidemic update December 2005: www.unaids.org/epi/2005/doc/EPIupdate2005_pdf_en/epi-update2005_en.pdf The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS: www.unaids.org/en The UN Millennium Development Goals: www.un.org/millenniumgoals. Have your students discuss possible ways of raising awareness about issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the global South or influencing government policy and spending in relation to HIV/AIDS. Encourage your students to make a plan and put it into action. Some of the things that you may want to consider doing include: • Writing a letter to the editor of the local paper with information about HIV/AIDS issues in Africa, Asia, and the world • Creating informational posters advocating action addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic • Writing articles for school or community newspapers about HIV/AIDS and its impacts in the global South and its relationship to poverty and government policy in the global North • Creating print ads for school or church/temple/mosque/synagogue newsletters informing people about what you have learned about the HIV/AIDS pandemic • Producing a video about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and actions that people can take to improve the situation in places like Africa and Asia Your imagination, and that of your students, is the limit when it comes to taking effective action. The important thing is to do something and to remember that no action is too small. A great print resource to use when facilitating youth action is Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger, Take Action! A Guide to Active Citizenship, Toronto, Gage Learning Corporation, 2002. Assessment strategies: Criteria for written work responding to the critical challenge, see the critical challenge rubric (Appendix four) for more detail. • Essays should clearly answer the question and consist of several paragraphs supporting the student’s position. • Writing should be clear, use a variety of sentences, use appropriate language to describe the concepts discussed, spell words correctly, and be grammatically correct. • Essays should describe and explain the student’s argument by providing reasons, describing details that support the student’s position, and explaining connections and conclusions that the student has drawn as he or she considered the question. • The argument articulated by the essay should represent a good understanding of the topics addressed by the question and should be supported and justified by the student’s writing. The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 6 Appendix one Name _________________ The Critical Challenge: The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? Task: You are going to write a short essay (a multi-paragraph composition) that answers the question: Which is the worse plague, the current spread of HIV/AIDS or the Black Death (Black Plague) in the mid-fourteenth century? Plague: a highly-infectious, usually fatal, rapidly-spreading disease (also called pestilence) Steps: To do this, you are going to have to perform several steps. • Review and read information about the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century (also called, the Black Plague or the bubonic plague) and HIV/AIDS. See also the following web site: webmd.com/content/article/16/1624_50365.htm . • Use a graphic organizer to organize the information that you gather and to help you compare and contrast the Black Death with HIV/AIDS. • Create a list of criteria for a terrible epidemic or plague. (What factors make an epidemic bad?) • Apply the criteria for a bad epidemic to the Black Death and then to HIV/AIDS. • Decide what you think (which was worse), and then write a rough draft of your essay. • Revise and edit your essay. • Publish a final copy of your essay. Criteria: • You will be marked in relation to the following criteria. • Your essays clearly answers the question. You are encouraged to answer the question using a thesis statement. A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove • Your essay consists of at least four paragraphs, including an introduction, a conclusion, and at least two paragraphs in the body of the essay. • The paragraphs in the body of the essay describe and explain your argument. This means that they provide reasons, describe supporting details, and explain connections and conclusions that you have drawn as you considered the question. • Your writing is clear, uses a variety of sentences, contains appropriate language to describe the concepts being discussed, and adheres to correct grammar and spelling for all words and terms used. • Your argument represents a good understanding of the topics addressed by the question and that it is supported and justified by your writing. The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 7 The Black Death of 1347-1351 In October, 1347, some Genoese trading ships returned from the Black Sea to Sicily. The ships were filled with sailors, who were dead or dying, and they had black swellings in their groins and armpits. Although there is some doubt, most historians think that they carried the bubonic plague, and from that ship, whatever disease they had, had spread across Europe and killed between one third and one half of Europe’s population at the time. It is estimated that 34 million died in Europe over the next four years, and plague epidemics hit Asia and the Middle East at the same time period, killing more people there and making the plague a multi-regional pandemic; it is estimated that up to two-thirds of China’s population may have died—approximately 25 million deaths. In Europe, the plague started in shipping-port cities and traveled along both land and sea trading routes to other centres. Although it had its most massive impact between 1347 and 1351 (the mid-14th century), the plague returned to Europe periodically until the last major outbreaks in the 17th and 18th centuries. In total, the Black Death is thought to have killed 237 million victims. The plague came to be called the “Black Death” because patients’ skin turned black from bruising. It is thought that fleas feeding on black rats had the disease, and when the rats died off, the fleas transferred to human hosts, passing the disease on to them. The disease spread rapidly. The patients experiences fever, diarrhea, headaches, and the formation of buboes, or swollen lymph nodes that ooze pus and blood. It can also proceed to the bloodstream and the lungs, after which point, it can be spread by coughing. Death was rapid, with most people dying within 4–7 days. Sometimes, people died died within 24 hours of contracting the disease. Many people thought that the plague was punishment from God. The Pope had said that God had sent the pestilence to affect the Christian people. During the infectious period of the Black Death, people persecuted Jewish people and lepers, blaming them for the spread of the disease. Jewish people were forced out of cities by anti-Semitic rioters. Many Jewish communities were destroyed; many Jewish people were massacred. Before the Black Death struck, Europe had already suffered from famine, so many people were susceptible to disease because of malnutrition and a weakened immune system. Once the Black Death struck, the impact was disastrous. Entire villages were abandoned, and with fewer people left to labour, Europeans experiences crop failures and further food shortages. As a result, prices rose, and the economy changed, along with social structures and the role of the church. For instance, with fewer people left to labour in fields, landowners had to offer the remaining peasants greater wages and freedoms, leading some to argue that the Black Death improved conditions for the surviving peasants. Another result of the Black Death was a turn towards morbidity in European culture. Much artwork and literature depicted death, and there was a sense of pessimism among the people. The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 8 Resources consulted include web sites relating to the Black Death: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_death www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture29b.html The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 9 HIV/AIDS in Africa and the rest of the world HIV stands for Human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS stands for Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, the end stage of the infection. HIV is spread when there is contact between the mucous membrane or the bloodstream of an uninfected person and the blood, or other bodily fluids (semen, vaginal fluid, or breast milk) from a person infected with HIV. Such contact can occur through sexual contact, blood transfusion, the sharing of contaminated needles, or exchanges between mother and child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. HIV damages the immune system, making a person susceptible to “opportunistic infections.” An uninfected person’s immune system would be able to fight off these infections. These infections, and not AIDS itself, are what lead to the deaths of AIDS patients. The transmission of HIV can be prevented, but studies show that many people around the world continue to engage in high-risk activities that enable the transmission of the HIV virus. Reasons are varied, and they range from ignorance about the ways that HIV can be transmitted and what methods can be used to prevent its transmission, to religious and cultural rules related to methods of reducing the chances of becoming infected (i.e. condom use), to myths about the transmission of HIV. Some people mistakenly believe that only gay people can get HIV and AIDS. Since the discovery of the AIDS in 1981, myths and stigma have become associated with the disease. When it was first discovered, it was called GRID (Gayrelated immunodeficiency disease). This was because it was first identified in a group of gay men. Even though scientists later discovered that anybody could get HIV, some people continue to believe that only gay people and intravenous drug users could contract the disease. This has led to stigmatization (mistreatment, discrimination against, and rejection) of gay people and those living with HIV. Some people mistakenly believed that gay people were the source of HIV, just by virtue of being gay, and people living with HIV had done something wrong in order to contract the virus. AIDS is thought to have started in sub-Saharan Africa sometime in the twentieth century, and now it is considered to be a pandemic. Since the discovery of AIDS in 1981, it is thought to have killed more than 25 million people; this does not include the 40 million people (as of the end of 2003) that currently have HIV, 26 million of these people live in Africa. In 2005 alone, AIDS killed between 2.8 million and 3.6 million, more than 570,00 of those were children. Africa has been particularly hard hit by AIDS. In 2003, 2.3 million people died in sub-Saharan Africa; that’s one person every 13.7 seconds, 263 people every hour, and over 6000 people per day. AIDS is the number one cause of death in Africa, number four worldwide. AIDS has impacted people in Africa in many ways including increased costs (i.e. health care for society and families with patients), decreased food production (i.e. farmers stop working as much because of illness as to care for a sick family member), and the decimation of families and the creation of AIDS orphans (i.e. parents, wives, husbands, or children die from the disease). The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 10 Resources consulted include web sites relating to HIV/AIDS: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS www.avert.org www.aidsinafrica.net/ www.unaids.org/en/default.asp The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 11 The Black Death Numbers Others Spread Impacts The Black Death of 1347–1351 Symptoms Social The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 12 HIV/AIDS Numbers Others Spread HIV/AIDS (particularly in present-day Africa) Impacts Symptoms Social The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 13 Just Black Death Both Black Death and HIV/Aids Just HIV/AIDS ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 14 Appendix two Web site evaluation Questions to ask regarding the 5 “W”’s of online sources of information (including emails and web sites): 1. Who sent or posted the information? • Is this person or organization clearly identified? • Is there contact information for the person or organization? • Is there information about the background of the person or organization? • Does the person or organization have the credentials, background, knowledge, and experience to be qualified to make claims about the topic? 2. When did they send or post it? • Is this information recent? • Is there time-sensitive information in the e-mail or on the website? • Are times and facts that are mentioned consistent with things you know to be true? 3. What is the nature and tone of the information in the e-mail or on the website? • Does the writer or organization use emotional language to try to persuade you of the truth of his, her, or their claims? • Does the e-mail or website seem hateful or discriminatory? • What kinds of images are associated with the piece of writing that you are evaluating? 4. Where does the website exist in cyberspace? • What is the nature of other websites or pages associated with the same domain name? 5. Why has this information been sent to you or posted on the Internet? • What does the person or organization hope to gain by writing, distributing, or posting the information that you are evaluating? • Does the person or organization have an agenda that might motivate him, her, or them to try to mislead people or overstate their case? Once you have analyzed the information in relation to the above questions, consider how it compares to things that you know or think already and items that you can read on other websites, or that you can learn about in books and other sources of information. No single one of the above factors should lead you to discount the reliability and trustworthiness of an information source. In the end, whether, and to what extent, you will choose to trust the information that you read in an e-mail or on the Internet is a matter of judgement. Consider all the above factors, as well as any others you might think of. Appendix three The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 15 Bibliography Books: James Cross Giblin and David Frampton, When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS. New York, Harpercollins, 1995. Don Nardo, ed. The Black Death. Turning Points in World History series, San Diego, Greenhaven Press, 1999. Barbara Taylor. Everything You Need to Know About AIDS, New York, The Rosen Publishing Group, 1988. Web sites: The Black Death: 1347–1350 www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/index.html The Black Death: Bubonic Plague www.themiddleages.net/plague.html Encyclopedia Resources: Black Death. Medieval World. Vol. 1: 2001. p. 56 Plague. World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 15: 2002. p. 505 The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 16 Appendix four Name ______________________ Critical challenge rubric Essay format: Your essay clearly answers the question, and it consists of several paragraphs supporting your position. Writing: Your writing is clear, uses a variety of sentences, uses appropriate language to describe the concepts discussed, uses words that are spelled correctly, and is grammatically correct. Unsatisfactory 1/4 Your essay fails to answer the question, and it may not be divided into paragraphs correctly, or the paragraphs may not serve a clear purpose. Satisfactory 2/4 Your essay attempts to answer the question, and it consists of a number of paragraphs, which may include an introductory paragraph, one or two paragraphs in the body, and a conclusion. Very good 3/4 Your essay clearly answers the question, and it consists of at least four paragraphs, including an introductory paragraph, at least two paragraphs in the body that support your position, and a conclusion. Excellent 4/4 Your essay clearly answers the question in a thesis statement that explains your position, and it consists of five or more paragraphs, including an introductory paragraph that introduces the topic, at least three paragraphs in the body that clearly support the thesis, and a conclusion. Your writing is difficult to understand and repeats simple sentence structures. It does not use appropriate language to describe the concepts discussed, and it includes serious errors in spelling and grammar. Your writing can be understood, but it sometimes repeats simple sentence structures. Your writing attempts to use appropriate language to describe the concepts discussed. It includes some errors in spelling and grammar. Your writing is clear, uses a variety of sentence structure, and appropriate language to describe the concepts discussed. Most words are spelled correctly, and your writing is usually grammatically correct. Your writing is extremely clear, uses a wide variety of sentence structures, and appropriate and sophisticated language to describe the concepts discussed. Most words are spelled correctly and your writing is grammatically correct. The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 17 Argument: Your essay describes and explains your argument by providing reasons, describing details that support your position, and defines connections and conclusions that you have drawn as you considered the question. Your argument represents a good understanding of the topic addressed by the question and is supported and justified by your writing. Marks Unsatisfactory 1/4 Your essay fails to explain your argument. Your writing provides no clear reasons for your position, or it fails to describe supporting details for your argument, or it contains several factual errors. Your essay demonstrates that you have not yet understood the topics addressed by the question. Satisfactory 2/4 Your essay explains your argument. Your writing provides reasons for your position and may describe supporting details or explain connections and conclusions that you have drawn as you considered the question, but it may contain some factual inaccuracies. Your argument represents a satisfactory understanding of the topics addressed by the question. Very good 3/4 The paragraphs of your essay work together to describe and explain your argument. Your writing provides reasons, describes supporting details, and explains connections and conclusions that you have drawn as you considered the question. Your argument represents a very good understanding of the topics addressed by the question and is supported by your writing. Excellent 4/4 The introduction, paragraphs in the body of your essay, and your conclusion work together smoothly to describe and explain your argument. Your writing provides sound reasons, describes relevant supporting details, and explains insightful connections and conclusions that you have drawn as you considered the question. Your argument represents an excellent understanding of the topics addressed by the question and is supported and justified by your writing. Essay format: Writing: Argument: Total: ____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 12 Something you did well. Something you may want to try improving next time. la:sdrive/Glob Ed lessons fldr.09 PC:mh/la:tfeu The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the worse plague? BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2006 18