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Preparing Anti-Toxin for "Flu" Sufferers

Rationale By
Michelle Fanara
Link/Citation

Preparing anti-toxin for "flu" sufferers. Photo. 1920. Underwood & Underwood, NY. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98505069/

Source Type:
Photography
Suggested Grade Level and Audience: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Instructional value of primary source for the curriculum and/or classroom

This photograph gives historical context to pandemics and how nations survived in the face of them. 

Summary/Description

Hospital staff in the aftermath of the 1918 flu epidemic. 

Context for the Primary Source

This photo comes from the years after the height of the 1918 flu epidemic. Just as in the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and nurses worked long hours to take care of patients and administer vaccines long after the general public received theirs. 

Focus Question(s)
  • What do you see the hospital staff doing in this photo?
  • What is missing from this photo?
  • How do you think the hospital staff feels during this time
Standards Connections

UCLA-Historical Thinking Standards, ELA Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and USCCB Standards for Catholic Schools

Standard 4: Historical Research Capabilities: Students will compare primary and secondary sources to understand historical events and their implications.

  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: In the Comparative Analysis activity, students evaluate the webinar alongside literary texts like The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales to analyze how pandemics are represented historically and culturally.

RL.11-12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: During Socratic Seminars, students cite evidence from texts like The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales to discuss societal values and resilience during pandemics, drawing comparisons to the 1918 flu and COVID-19 responses discussed in the webinar.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text.
  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: In Comparative Analysis, students identify themes of morality, community, and resilience across The Canterbury Tales, A Token for Children, and modern works like The Plague to explore how storytelling reflects human responses to crises.
  • NGSS HS-ESS3-4: Evaluate solutions for mitigating the impact of societal issues like pandemics.
  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: In Group Presentations, students discuss public health responses to pandemics as depicted in the webinar, comparing historical and literary examples to evaluate solutions for addressing societal challenges.

Domain: Faith and Moral Development, Standard 4: Articulate the relationship between faith, reason, and culture.

  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: In Faith-Based Reflections, students explore how Catholic values like compassion, service, and perseverance inform societal responses to pandemics, as seen in historical accounts and literary works.

Domain: Literature and Theology, Standard 7: Analyze how literary works reflect the human search for God and understanding of suffering.

  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: During Socratic Seminars and Comparative Analysis, students analyze how The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, and Love in the Time of Cholera reflect humanity’s search for meaning, hope, and spiritual growth during times of suffering.

Domain: Historical and Cultural Literacy, Standard 5: Evaluate how historical events shape human dignity and social structures.

  • Connection to Teaching Approaches: Through Interdisciplinary Connections, students discuss how pandemics disrupt societal norms and highlight themes of human dignity and faith-based resilience in history, literature, and the webinar content.
Suggested Teaching Approaches
  • Contextualizing History and Literature: Begin with an overview of the 1918 influenza pandemic, COVID-19, and the medieval plague. Highlight societal responses and their representation in literature.
  • Comparative Analysis: Assign students to analyze themes of survival, morality, and resilience in The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, and modern works like Love in the Time of Cholera or The Plague, alongside insights from the webinar.
  • Socratic Seminars: Facilitate discussions on how storytelling fosters community, resilience, and moral reflection, drawing from literary and historical sources.
  • Faith-Based Reflections: Encourage students to connect Catholic teachings, such as care for the vulnerable and perseverance through suffering, to themes found in literature and historical responses to pandemics.
    Creative Projects: Have students create their own modern "pandemic storytelling" inspired by The Decameron or The Canterbury Tales, reflecting contemporary societal values and moral lessons.
    Interdisciplinary Connections: Incorporate science and public health by analyzing how pandemic narratives reveal the evolution of societal responses, tying historical accounts to modern health challenges and solutions.
  • Group Presentations: Assign small groups to present on how specific literary works (e.g., Blindness, A Journal of the Plague Year) and historical events illustrate the values and weaknesses of societies during pandemics.
  • Primary Source Analysis: Provide excerpts from historical texts like A Token for Children or Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes for students to compare to modern religious or secular interpretations of pandemics.
  • Deeper Questioning: How do pandemics reveal the values and weaknesses of societies?
  • What lessons can be learned from the societal and literary responses to pandemics across history, including the 1918 flu, COVID-19, and medieval plagues?
  • How do texts like The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, and the 1918 influenza webinar reflect the social, moral, and spiritual dimensions of pandemic experiences, and what insights do they offer into human responses to crises?
  • How can the primary source webinar on the 1918 influenza pandemic help us interpret the themes of resilience and morality in literary works like The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales?
  • How do modern works like Love in the Time of Cholera, Blindness, and The Plague deepen our understanding of the emotional, social, and moral challenges posed by pandemics?
  • How can Catholic teachings on compassion, community, and care for the vulnerable inform our interpretation of societal and literary responses to pandemics?
    What recurring themes emerge when comparing literary works from medieval, early modern, and modern periods about pandemics, and how do they reflect changes in societal values?
  • How do pandemics portrayed in literature reveal the complexities of human relationships, including love, community, and isolation?
  • How can the integration of history, literature, and public health narratives, like those in the webinar and related texts, help students develop a holistic understanding of resilience and societal change during pandemics?
  • How do historical and literary responses to pandemics highlight humanity’s capacity for resilience and adaptability across different eras?
Potential for Challenge
  • Some students may struggle with the emotional weight of discussing pandemics and mortality, especially as the topic may touch on recent personal experiences with COVID-19. Address these challenges with sensitivity, framing the materials as opportunities to learn about human resilience, compassion, and faith. Providing a safe space for reflection and discussion can help students process these themes constructively.
  • Additionally, some students may find Catholic teachings on faith and suffering unfamiliar or challenging to reconcile with secular perspectives. Encourage open dialogue, emphasizing the universal values of empathy, service, and hope shared across traditions. Teachers should be prepared to address these differences respectfully, fostering an inclusive learning environment where students can engage with diverse perspectives thoughtfully and meaningfully.
Alternative or Complementary Primary Sources
  1. Defoe, Daniel, 1661?–1731, and Edward Wedlake Brayley. A Journal of the Plague Year. London, Printed for W. Tegg & Co., 1848. PDF. https://www.loc.gov/item/07029768/.
    • A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe: A novelistic account of the 1665 London plague, offering insights into societal behaviors and resilience during pandemics.
  2. The Decameron, ca. 1903. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003672877/.
    • This could be an introductory piece for a connection to The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio: A foundational text of medieval literature that provides allegorical stories reflecting human responses to crises.
  3. Library of Congress Online Archive: "Voices of the Pandemic": A collection of firsthand accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting diverse societal and personal experiences.
Additional References

These resources provide a broader context to balance the curriculum with additional historical and literary perspectives.

  1. Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes by John Cotton (1646)
    This catechism, considered one of the earliest children’s books in America, provides insight into Puritan religious instruction and moral development. It can be paired with texts like A Token for Children to analyze early American views on faith, morality, and education. Digital Version Available
  2. The New England Primer (1690)
    As the first reading primer designed for American colonies, this text reflects Puritan values and the emphasis on literacy for religious purposes. It can be used to examine the intersection of education, faith, and cultural values in early America. Library of Congress Version
  3. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry. Viking, 2004: A comprehensive exploration of the 1918 flu, bridging historical and modern perspectives.
Subject:
Language and Literature
Topics:
Government, Law, and Politics , History , Science and Technology , Poetry and Literature
Year/Date of Creation or Publication
1920