Hiroshima Group

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

It was such a great experience working with everyone in this group!

Here is a run down of the basics of what we discussed:

[Anonymous]

Thanks for writing that up, Heather. I took your advice and bought the Sprint broadband USB adapter. I didn't even know that they finally got broadband up here in Salinas and Monterey. Hooray!!! You've changed my life.

[Anonymous]

An excellent discussion group, dealing with a topic that is increasingly important, not only for reevaluating American historical perspectives on the Second World War but also for understanding contemporary American foreign policy. If I were not committed to the Japanese and Chinese literature discussion group with my fellow English teachers, I would love to be part of this one.

A suggested addition to your reading list: John Hersey's Hiroshima. This seminal piece of reporting was originally published in The New Yorker about a year after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Hersey interviewed his survivors again decades later and added a new concluding chapter contained in all contemporary editions of the book. Because Hersey tells the story of the first atomic bombing of a civilian population from the point of view of six survivors (five of them Japanese, one a German Jesuit priest), his text has an immediacy and terrible intensity that no other account of this unique atrocity can offer. Even the documentary films and photographs of the bombing and its aftermath, disturbing as those are, do not begin to equal the dark imagery Hersey's words create in the reader's imagination. Hersey's account is also distinguished by its remarkable objectivity. Some of us (like myself) have trouble talking or writing about Hiroshima without betraying our condemnation of this major war crime. Hersey simply presents the facts, as observed and experienced by his survivors, and lets his readers draw their own conclusions. It is a remarkable book to assign to high-school students. I use it regularly in AP English Language classes, where it generates many thoughtful, and sometimes impassioned, discussions and papers.

Leigh Clark
Monroe HS[Edit by="lclark on May 25, 9:58:54 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Okay, I got John Hersey's book and read it. It does stir the conscience of humanity. [Edit by="fwiley on May 27, 3:42:59 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I am so glad you like it! It is awesome to be able to go anywhere and get email and internet. Are you taking your computer on this trip?

heather

[Anonymous]

In regards to the Novel Black Rain, it is difficult to obtain in the libraries, as most libraries do not carry it. It also is over 300 pages. This may be too long to use for a classroom unless it is a Honors class.

There are many short stories describing the survivors of Hiroshima that can be used.

[Author]

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