Unit: Comparative Communism

Course: Asian Studies

Level: High School
STAGE 1- Desired Results
Content Standards: Students should be able to...
5.1.W.F: Evaluate the role of nationalism in uniting and dividing citizens.
5.2.W.B: Analyze strategies used to resolve conflicts in society and government.
6.1.W.A: Analyze how choices are made because of scarcity.
8.1.W.B: Evaluate the interpretation of historical events and sources, considering the use of fact versus
opinion, multiple perspectives, and cause and effect relationships.
Source: Pennsylvania State Standards for World History

Understandings:
Students will understand that...
-Structural injustice in the world exists, and in
an attempt to fix it people will go to drastic
measures to meet their basic needs.
-Communism in all places was an attempt to
destroy the individual nature of a person and
thus their God-given identity. (Psalm8, 139)
-Asian families faced major challenges in
family loyalty, sacrifice, and personal
restrictions during communist revolutions in
their countries.

Essential Questions:
-What can leaders do to keep peace in their
countries? How should we view the
differences in wealth between different
groups of people?
- What is an individual life worth? What
would you do if you were told you could
not think or create for yourself anymore?
- Why does communism look really
different in different countries?
- How might it feel to be separated from
your family forever on purpose?

Students will know...

Students will be able to...

-practical and theoretical gaps between Asian

communists, Marxs theory, and nationalism.
-experiences of individuals and families during
Asian communist movements.
-major leaders such as Ho Chi Minh, Mao Tze
Dong, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jung Il, Pol Pot, and
Deng Xiao Ping.
-the economic goals of the communist
movements and examples of how those goals
were pursued in different ways in different
countries.
-key facts about the life of the common person
in Asia prior to the communist revolutions.

-compare/contrast different types of

communism in North Korea, China, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos and Mongolia.
-construct and evaluate the development of
communism in one Asian country.
-evaluate the affects of communism on Asia
today, including analyzing the current role of
China and North Korea in Asia.
-critique propaganda and its usage by
communist revolutionaries.
-create perspective stories based on
photographs taken during the communist
revolution in various countries.
-create an allegory for a communist movement
in Asia
-judge the attempts of communists to restructure the minds of the people and weigh
whether they were effective or not.
-analyze the extent to which government
corruption, injustice, and economic
manipulation led people to accept communism.

Performance Tasks:

STAGE 2: Assessment Evidence

Other Evidence:

-You are doing research for an art museum

in Seoul, Korea. You need to pick one
propaganda poster from one Asian
communist revolution and write an essay as
an art historian explaining the significance
of that poster for an audience in Korea.
The essay should connect the propaganda
art to nationalism- including what the arts
message says unites the people, divides the
people, and how the message appeals to
that posters audiences sense of justice.
- Our class is trying to construct a broad
picture of Asian Communist movements.
Your group will choose one revolution to
research and put together a coherent story
for what the Revolution was like in that
country using solid historical information.
The story you present to the class should
include how communism was introduced
and why it became popular, the
development of communism and activity
leading to revolution, important events and
strategies used during the revolution,
changes made to the communist plan, the
role of foreign nations, the experiences of
common people during the revolution and
communist regime, and the state of
communism in that country today and/or
lasting effects. As part of your presentation
you will also need to turn in a works cited
page of 10 sources.
- You are the head of a family during a
communist revolution. Looking at the
situation around you, you need to evaluate
what the best decision for your family is.
You need to write a journal based on
several photographs taken during the
communist revolution. Your journal must
weigh at least two available options for you
and your family, including the positives
and negatives of each option. It must also
utilize persuasive and emotional rhetoric
that conveys the difficult situation of
families during that time period.

-Test and quiz on different types of

communism in Asia.
-Observation from group discussions on
communisms effect on Asia today, and its
effectiveness as a revolutionary tool for
justice.
-Journal entries on key concepts of justice,
government, choices people make, and
current news events involving communist
nations in Asia.
-Reflection on the experiences of the
family in the movie To Live and the
changes in individuality and expression
they faced.

Student Self-Assessment and Evaluation:

-Self-assessment on essay, including revision.
-Self-assessment on communist revolution project according to checklist and group
feedback.
-Reflective assignment in journal.
-Self-assessment and reflection on class deliberation.
STAGE 3: Learning Plan
Learning Activities:
1. Discuss difficult decisions students have had to make, What was one of the most
difficult decisions you had to make? How did you decide what to do? Try to hook the
students on the complexity of making good decisions in tough situations.
2. Have students brainstorm what comes to their mind when they think of communism
and try to list some of the generalizations they accept.
3. Give theoretical background on communism, including key terms and people.
4. Use diverse readings, and reading groups to construct a picture of what asian countries
were like during the rise in influence of communism. Have the students try to rationalize
why communism was attractive and how it spoke to the people at that time.
5. Have students compare the major government leaders versus the communist leaders in
those countries and summarize main goals of each side.
6. Make students journal on the problems in government and the communist movement,
and propose some ways revolution could have been avoided.
7. Take some time to discuss structural injustice in the world today. Addressing what is
structural injustice and how does it affect the peoples choices. Ask students to read a
current news article on structural injustice in their home country and discuss it in class.
8. Introduce the use of art and media in communist revolutions, and assign students the
propaganda assignment. Have students share in groups their findings.
9. Take a quiz on the foundational tenants of Western communism.
10. Divide class into groups and have them do the country revolution research and
presentation.
11. Have students journal about the presentations given in class.
12. Summarize with students the basic differences between different types of
communism in Asia.
13. Watch To Live and discuss themes of the movie, especially related to family.
14. Have students journal about their family and what it means to them.
15. Discuss in class communisms perspective on family, using primary sources.
16. Assign students the family evaluation assignment.
17. Put students in groups to assess the consequences of communist revolutions on
countries today.
18. Ask students to journal on current news of how countries are still being affected by
their communist revolutions.
19. Share Chendas writing on Toul Sleng.
20. Have students write an allegory for the communist revolution they researched, based
on Animal Farm. Tell students to put plenty of their opinion into their writing through
use of satire, hyperbole and exaggeration.
21. Pray for the healing and restoration of countries in Asia who are still experiencing

negative affects of communist revolution.