Master Harold... And the Boys Lesson Plan

Apartheid—Slavery Venn Diagrams

Kind of Activity:

Research

Objective:

Students will learn about apartheid and thus better understand the sociopolitical/sociocultural context the play is set in. Students will be able to draw historical connections between a system of oppression that may be unfamiliar to them (South African apartheid) and one that may be familiar to them (American slave system).

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2

Structure:

When Sam names Abraham Lincoln as a man of magnitude, Hally replies disparagingly that Sam should not be so sentimental since he has never been a slave. This comment reveals that for Hally,...