Lesson Plan: Pros and Cons of Censoring Art

Lesson Plan

Before Exploring

Present the following three scenarios to students:

You are the editor of the school newspaper. A controversial but well-written opinion piece about a lack of student parking, which offers some clever alternatives, is scheduled to run in the next issue of the paper. The school principal feels that your writer's approach is too negative. What do you do?

You wrote a great poem that won a writing contest. The publisher will only include your poem in the winners' anthology if you omit an obscenity you used in the poem. You feel strongly that the poem should not be altered, but you really want to be published. What do you do?

Your English teacher wants to teach a classic novel that you heard includes a racist term. Your parents feel strongly that it is inappropriate to read and study this novel. What do you do?

In groups of three, students should discuss what they would do in each situation. Explain to students that there are models that they can use to think critically about an important decision; they will use one model in this activity.

Outline the Opportunity

In their groups of three, students should examine the clips in the topic Artists Busted: Censorship in Canada on the CBC Digital Archives website. Groups should discuss the pros and cons of censoring art, then list the reasons given both for and against censoring each art work profiled. They can record their work on the download sheet Pros and Cons of Censoring Art. After they complete the chart, students will summarize and evaluate the reasons listed, and arrive at a group decision about whether or not each work of art should have been censored.

Revisit and Reflect

Have the groups compare their results, and encourage ongoing discussion about the censorship of each work of art. Ask students to evaluate how effective the chart was in helping them make their decisions.

Extension

Students can write a paragraph to defend the position of their group.