Global Issues

Global issues have a significance on a large scale and are transnational, extending beyond the borders of our own countries. Global issues have a specific impact on societies in everyday contexts.

During Y2 of Lang and Lit, students will develop an oral commentary based on one of the following GLOBAL ISSUES. To learn more about the oral commentary, please see the assessment page on this website.

PADLET LINKS that connect to relevant media around these global issues


Culture, identity, and community:

    • KEYWORDS: family, race, ethnic groups, language, nationality, social class, religion, sexuality/gender, geography/region

    • Students might focus on the way in which texts explore aspects of family, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender and sexuality, and the way these impact on individuals and societies. They might also focus on issues concerning migration, colonialism, and nationalism.

    • EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

    • How can a specific event influence the perception of social values in a community?

    • How does one's culture and environment influence their behavior or identity?

    • What challenges do people face with their race, religion, sexuality, gender, parents, culture, or their environment?

    • How do people conform or not conform to the expectations of society?

      • Guiding Questions for Oral Commentary (12th grade)

        • How do class struggles in A Raisin in the Sun by Loraine Hansberry compare to the class struggles during the COVID pandemic in the articles by XXX columnist? How do factors, such as class and race, correlate with economic hardships?

        • How do conflicts related to gender in the play A Doll's House or Pygmalion compare to the conflicts in gender with the "Me Too Movement" as described in XXX's article? How do these conflicts with gender impact individuals and societies?

        • See guidance for Oral Commentary for more detailed information about how this global issue ties into the assessment.

      • Guiding Questions for editorial analysis (11th grade)

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about issues with RACE and its impact on individuals and societies?What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about issues with NATIONALITY and its impact on individuals and societies?What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about issues with SOCIAL CLASS and its impact on individuals and societies?What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about issues with RELIGION and its impact on individuals and societies? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about issues with SEXUALITY/GENDER and its impact on individuals and societies? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • See https://www.mrsmacfarland.com/dp-curriculum/non-literary-analysis for ideas for rhetorical strategies for a textual analysis.


Beliefs, values, and education:

    • KEYWORDS: philosophy, intellectual movements, education, beliefs, values, cultural norms, morality

    • Students might focus on the way in which texts explore the beliefs and values nurtured in particular societies and the ways they shape individuals, communities, and educational systems. They might also explore the tensions that arise when there are conflicts of beliefs and values, and ethics.

    • EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

    • How do values and beliefs form cultural norms?

    • How does a group share values and beliefs about a certain topic and how is the perspective challenged or reinforced?

    • How are values, beliefs, and attitudes about a topic conveyed in a text?

    • What tension arises when there is conflict over beliefs, values, and ethics?

      • Guiding Questions for Oral Commentary (12th grade)

        • How are beliefs and attitudes nurtured in particular societies, and how do they impact individuals and communities? What tensions arise when there are conflicts with beliefs, values, and ethics? How does XXX literary text compare to XXX non-literary text in developing these ideas?

        • How do the political cartoons about educating students during COVID by XXX cartoonist compare to the morality issues in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley? What tensions and conflicts are portrayed in these two texts?

      • Guiding Questions for editorial analysis (11th grade)

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about beliefs and values conveyed in a culture and how they shape individuals, communities, and/or educational systems? What tensions arise when there are conflicts of beliefs, values, and ethics? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

Politics, power, and justice:

    • KEYWORDS: nations/states, government leaders, political agendas, laws/acts, political parties, government policies, government actions, human/civil rights, political persecution, revolution, nationalism, imperialism, wars, treaties, conferences/diplomacy

    • Students might focus on the ways in which texts explore aspects of rights and responsibilities, the workings and structures of governments and institutions. They might also investigate hierarchies of power, the distribution of wealth and resources, the limits of justice and the law, equality and inequality, human rights and peace and conflict.

    • EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

    • To what extent are there hidden advantages or disadvantages in society that limit equality?

    • What role does the government play in upholding rights and responsibilities of its citizens?

    • How do differing beliefs produce conflict over human rights?

    • What factors lead to a revolution or protests for change?

    • What measures inspire peace and diplomacy? What measures do not?

    • How does money influence politics, power, and/or justice?

      • Guiding Questions for Oral Commentary (12th grade)

        • How does the artwork from the Black Lives Matter movement compare with the novel, The Hate You Give, in challenging governments and institutions in the name of justice?

        • How does Langston Hughes' poetry from the Harlem Renaissance compare to the columnist XXX in promoting equality and human rights?

        • How does Tim O'Brien's autobiographical novel, The Things They Carried" compare to the columnist XXX in portraying the Vietnam war and the rights and responsibilities of the people impacted?

      • Guiding Questions for editorial analysis (11th grade)

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about rights and responsibilities of people in a society and how the structure of government or institutions limit their ability to achieve those rights? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about the inequities in society that limit human rights and peace? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about the inequity of the justice system? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

Art, creativity, and the imagination:

    • KEYWORDS:aesthetic inspiration, creation, craft, style, technique, and beauty

        • May relate to music, literature, painting, photography, architecture, dance, sculpture

    • Students might focus on the ways in which texts explore aspects of aesthetic inspiration, creation, craft, and beauty. They might also focus on the shaping and challenging of perceptions through art, and the function, value and effects of art in society.

    • EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

    • How do artistic expressions reveal insights about humanity in a creative way?

    • How does art challenge perspectives in society?

    • How does creative art provide different perspectives on a topic?

    • How does an artist's craft influence the way meaning is interpreted?

Guiding Questions

    • To what extent does an author’s style (literary techniques) influence the way a reader interprets the work?

    • How does the author's creativity and perceptive insight help the reader understand the challenges of society?

    • What possibilities or potential scenarios has the author created with his/her imagination?

    • How has the author contributed to a different perspective through his/her creativity?

    • How has the author used imagination to offer perceptive insights about humanity?

    • How does language use vary amongst text types and amongst literary forms? How does an author adhere or deviate from conventional aspects of a text type and to what effect?

    • How does the poet use imagination to offer insights about people? How does the use of comparisons deepen the reader's understanding of others?

    • What deliberate choices does the author make in order to craft a unique form of storytelling? What universal insights are explored through the author's craft?

      • Guiding Questions for Oral Commentary (12th grade)

        • How does Ray Bradbury use intertextuality (reference and allusions to other texts) in Martian Chronicles and how does that compare to Martin Luther King Jr's speeches using intertextuality to argue a point?

      • How does the artwork of Sara Rahbar in her Oppression Series creatively juxtapose multimedia in order to show the struggle of identity with symbols and how does this compare to Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes in how he creatively uses symbols?

        • Guiding Questions for editorial analysis (11th grade)

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about the technique and craft of an artist(s) and the perceptions that are conveyed in the art form (e.g. art, literature, music, drama, movies, etc.)? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist use language in a creative way to challenge some aspect in society?


Science, technology and the environment:

    • KEYWORDS: technology, science, environment, global warming, health, disease, how humans interact with Earth and technology, role of media in society

    • Students might focus on the ways in which texts explore the relationship between humans and the environment and the implications of technology and media for society. They might also consider the idea of scientific development and progress.

    • EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

    • How do humans interact with the environment in either a helpful or destructive manner?

    • What effect does media have on humans? What are the implications of technology and media on human behavior?

    • What scientific development has helped advance humans in a positive direction?

    • How do humans use technology to advance their societies?

    • How does media influence the way humans communicate?

      • Guiding Questions for Oral Commentary (12th grade)

        • How do both texts explore the relationship between humans and their quest to understand the universe?

        • How is surveillance used in XXX's opinion columnist as well as in The Handmaid's Tale? What role does technology play in surveillance and how do these author's address this issue?

        • What roles and responsibilities are important for how humans care for the Earth? How does Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury compare to the editorials by XXX on climate change?

      • Guiding Questions for editorial analysis (11th grade)

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about the relationship between humans and their natural environment and the roles and responsibilities in this relationship? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about the relationship between humans and technologyand the challenges, advantages, or conflicts that arise with this interaction? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?

        • How does the editorialist express an opinion about the relationship between humans and media and the challenges, advantages, or conflicts that arise with this interaction? What rhetorical strategies are used in order to develop the argument and appeal to the audience?