Alas, Babylon Lesson Plan

Cold War Anxieties

Kind of Activity:

Research

Objective:

Students will research the political climate in which Alas, Babylon was written.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2

Structure:

Alas, Babylon is fully a product of the Cold War, a period of time that students may not understand well. To address this problem, this assignment will ask students to research key issues related to the Cold War.

Break the class into groups of three or four, and give them a topic to research. Topics include:

- Duck and Cover

- The Arms Race

- NATO

- The Soviet Union

- The Cuban Missile...