“Barriers of concrete
and stone don’t just divide people, they define identities, writes Roger
Luckhurst”
By: Roger Luckhurst
Published: BBC, 2May
2017, http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170502-what-walls-mean-from-hadrian-to-trump
Level of difficulty:
* This is more difficult than the average level one but
easier than a level two reading task so don’t make it the first reading you do
at this level.
BEFORE YOU READ
·
How and
why the great wall of China was built https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/how-and-why-the-great-wall-of-china-was-really-built/37710
QUESTIONS
1. What
common function does the Wall in the Game of Thrones and Hadrian’s Wall share?
·
To separate the Romans from the barbarians
·
To separate the south from the wildings and
White Walkers
·
To separate the conquered and the unconquered
·
To separate the civilized from the primitive
2.
What is the underlying purpose of walls such as
the ones described in the beginning of the text?
3.
What common purpose is shared by Trumps wall and
The Great Wall of China?
4.
What proof can you offer to the above contention
in the case of China?
5.
What kind of a light were barbarians, or those
beyond the wall painted in? Mark the one that doesn’t fit.
·
In an uncomplimentary light
·
In a disparaging light
·
In a derogatory light
·
In a hurtful light
6.
The legend of the Anthropophagi and later Gothic fiction served to justify
the view that …
7.
Listen to this famous song The Wall by Pink
Floyd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvPpAPIIZyo
What message in Pink Floyd’s album The Wall best explained the symbolism of the
Berlin Wall?
8.
Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK1MwhEDjHg
The reason for the emotions described in the video is the fact that ….
9.
Watch the following video concerning “space of
flows”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjXwfXT1WdI
. Despite the obvious advantages of the space of flows, walls are being built
in numerous places in the modern world due to…
10.
The Israelis call the wall they are building “A
Separation Barrier”. Why don’t they use the word “Wall” instead? Refer back to
what you have read so far and use your own words.
11.
Take a look at the inside of Banksy’s “Walled
Off Hotel” which faces the Isreali separation barrier http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-39157856/banksy-hotel-the-walled-off-opens-in-bethlehem How are walls used to launch non-violent
protests? Tweak the text.
12.
Read the account of the various walls being
built in the world. Their common purpose is to keep out…
13.
Read the account of the various films based around walls. What can they best be compared to?
14.
In the modern world, walls serve / don’t serve a
practical purpose. It is hoped that drama may be enough to address ….
WRITING
Write an essay in which you describe the function of border
walls or separation barriers and explain their advantages and disadvantages
WHAT WALLS MEAN FROM
HADRIAN TO TRUMP
With talk of a new
border wall separating the US and Mexico, it might be a good idea to look back
on border walls past and present to understand their true purpose and whether
they have as many advantages as their architects seem to think they do. It
might be interesting to discuss the issue in the current climate of
protectionism and rising nationalism.
1.
The third (Four is stretching it; you would be
reading too much into the passage)
2.
To help a culture to define itself by keeping
what it is not at bay
3.
To mark the civilized world from the impure
tribes beyond
4.
It was not much use as a physical barrier or
defensive structure but operated more as a symbol that defined Chinese
nationhood, which was premised for centuries on ethnic and cultural exclusion
5.
In a hurtful light
6.
Walls have always offered a way of dividing the
human from the in human
7.
The Berlin Wall was a psychological emblem of
alienation and self division
8.
The Berlin Wall had become a disastrous symbol
of coercion and control of East Germany over its citizens.
9.
The anxieties produced by open borders
10.
Possible answer: the word “wall” has negative
connotations
11.
Popular artists like Banksy have made a career
out of stenciling art defiantly on walls
12.
Refugees
13.
To the wall in the Game of Thrones where the
mythical power of White Walkers coming from beyond to bring pestilence and
death
14.
Threats to dream purity
No comments:
Post a Comment