January 25th 2008

Today’s lesson plan.
(1) Look at this photo and answer the questions
1. Where was this photo taken?
It was taken at Firdos Square in central Baghdad.

2. When was it taken?
It was taken in the evening on Wednesday, April 9, 2003.

3. What does the caption say under the photo?
It says Iraqi people shouted happily as they were watching the Saddam’s statue was torn down.

4. Translate the caption into Japanese.
サダム・フセインの像が倒されるのを見て歓声をあげる人々

5. “Crowds cheer” = how many people, do you think?
I think thousands of people gathered there, possibly tens of thousands of people.


(2) Now look at this photo taken at the same place and same time, and answer the questions.
1. How many people were in the square, do you think?
It’s surprising!! It seems only a few dozens of people were there.

2. Do you think “crowds cheer” is accurate?
I don’t think so now. When I hear an expression, “crowds”, I would imagine at least hundreds of people. I can see much smaller number of people in this photo.

3. What do you think of the first picture now?
It’s an exaggeration. It seems the first picture was taken on purpose.

4. Why did CNN use the first picture, do you think?
I suppose CNN intended to justify the U.S. military invention into Iraq by exaggerating Iraqi people’s cheering with the statue’s falling.

5. What do you think after seeing these two photos?
We tend to think any major news source is true. Also we sometimes don’t believe ordinary individuals’ information. I think it’s dangerous. We need to be critical of things, in other words we have foster media literacy in ourselves.

(3) Is it important to know the truth, or is it ok for newspaper to lie sometimes?
Give reasons for your answer. In the editorial or column sections, there can write any opinions. However, they need to be balanced when they report a certain fact.

(4) How can you check if some item of news is true or not? (Give at least two different ways).
We can check out if some item of news if true or not by reading several different newspapers and compare them, or by searching the item on the net and see the information by various sources.

(5) Read your classmates’ answers to these questions (read at least 3 other blogs)

yasu writes "the first photo is accurate, too.", also "depend on photo's enlargement or reduction, we have a variety of opinions." Yes, the first photo is true, too. It's just a part of the whole frame. Thank you for noticing me about it!

While NANCY writes "crowds cheer is not accurate." Yes, I think "crowds cheer" is not accurate, too. Because we can see how small the crowds was by looking at the second photo!

And Kanna writes "“crowds cheer” is exaggerated." It's the same perspective of mine!

(6) What do you think now, after reading your classmates’ blogs? Write your thoughts on your blog.

I knew we could have various opinions by looking at the same material. Some people think the same as mine and other people don't. It's natural but very interesting. I can learn many things by reading different perspectives from mine.

(7) Go to Masa’s blog and read his latest news. Next class is Tuesday, January 29th. We will be in room 516, not in this multi-media room.

I've been following his entries, especially his trip to New York City. Because it's the city of my unforgettable memories, too! I restarted to learn English after my school days when I was 39 years old in 2001. When I started, I was at a completely beginner level. It was really tough for me to communicate with English native speakers at that time. But I've never thought of stopping to communicate them. Through various experiences, I believe I've been able to improve my English. New York is one of the memorable places that influenced me a lot. As I see wonderful students in our class as well as Masa, I can't help but cheer everyone! Everybody has a bright future for the rest of their lives!!