“COVID Audio Diaries | Collected Stories, Collective Experience | Explore | Collecting Memories: Treasures From the Library of Congress | Exhibitions at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress.” n.d. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/treasures-from-the-library-of-congress/about-this-exhibition/collected-stories-collective-experience/covid-audio-diaries/
The COVID Audio Diaries uniquely capture the voices and emotions of individuals navigating a global pandemic, bringing history to life in a personal and accessible way. These oral histories highlight the role of storytelling in processing and preserving collective experiences during crises.
When paired with Troilus and Criseyde, students can explore how personal resilience and emotional complexity are reflected in both medieval and modern narratives. Similarly, The Book of Margery Kempe offers a spiritual and deeply personal lens, which can be connected to contemporary autobiographies like Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking to examine the universal human search for meaning and healing during hardship. These connections foster interdisciplinary exploration across literature, history, and theology, encouraging students to reflect on the role of storytelling in fostering resilience and empathy.
The COVID Audio Diaries provide an intimate and emotional record of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, capturing personal stories of resilience and community. Paired with medieval texts like Troilus and Criseyde and The Book of Margery Kempe, these oral histories encourage students to explore how personal and societal narratives evolve during crises. By connecting The Book of Margery Kempe to modern autobiographies such as Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, students can examine the continuity of human storytelling in processing grief and seeking meaning. These interdisciplinary connections foster empathy, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the role of narrative in preserving history and shaping cultural values.
- The COVID Audio Diaries are part of the Library of Congress’s effort to document lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. These recordings capture personal stories of isolation, resilience, and societal transformation, offering a deeply human perspective on a global crisis. The audio format emphasizes the emotional nuances of storytelling, preserving a collective memory for future generations.
- This source provides a compelling opportunity to explore themes of personal and communal resilience by pairing it with medieval texts such as Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer and The Book of Margery Kempe. Both texts delve into individual struggles amidst societal disruptions, offering rich parallels to the pandemic narratives in the diaries. Furthermore, The Book of Margery Kempe, often regarded as the first autobiography in English, can be connected to a modern autobiography like Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, providing students with a continuum of personal storytelling in times of crisis.
- How do the COVID Audio Diaries document the personal and emotional impacts of the pandemic, and how do they compare to the personal struggles depicted in The Book of Margery Kempe and Troilus and Criseyde?
- What roles do oral and written storytelling play in preserving history and processing grief and resilience during crises?
- How can autobiographies, both medieval and modern, help us understand the universal human experience of navigating loss and uncertainty?
- What insights do these narratives offer into the interplay between personal resilience and societal change during pandemics?
UCLA-Historical Thinking Standards & ELA Common Core State Standards, and USCCB Standards for Catholic Schools
Standard 4: Historical Research Capabilities: Students will analyze and compare primary and secondary sources to understand historical events and their implications.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: During Oral History Analysis, students compare the COVID Audio Diaries with medieval and modern autobiographical texts, exploring how personal narratives shape historical understanding.
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: In Comparative Literature Analysis, students draw connections between the personal resilience depicted in Troilus and Criseyde and the emotional complexity of the COVID Audio Diaries.
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: During Interdisciplinary Seminars, students explore recurring themes of grief, faith, and recovery across The Book of Margery Kempe, The Year of Magical Thinking, and the COVID Audio Diaries.
RI.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: Through Oral History Analysis, students evaluate the COVID Audio Diaries alongside written texts to discuss the evolution of storytelling as a tool for resilience and historical documentation.
Domain: Faith and Social Justice
- Standard 4: Reflect on Catholic teachings about dignity, compassion, and service to the marginalized.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: During Faith-Based Reflections, students discuss how the COVID Audio Diaries and The Book of Margery Kempe reflect acts of faith, service, and spiritual growth during crises.
Domain: Literature and Theology
- Standard 7: Analyze how literary works reflect the human search for God and understanding of suffering.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: In Comparative Literature Analysis, students analyze The Book of Margery Kempe and modern narratives to explore how storytelling fosters hope and spiritual reflection during times of suffering.
Domain: Historical and Cultural Literacy
- Standard 5: Evaluate how historical events and cultural artifacts shape societal values.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: During Creative Projects, students create their own audio or written diaries inspired by The Book of Margery Kempe and the COVID Audio Diaries, reflecting on how personal stories contribute to historical and cultural understanding.
- Oral History Analysis: Guide students in analyzing the COVID Audio Diaries to explore how personal narratives capture the emotional and societal impacts of the pandemic. Compare these audio accounts with written texts like The Book of Margery Kempe to discuss storytelling across different mediums and eras.
- Comparative Literature Analysis: Pair the diaries with excerpts from Troilus and Criseyde and The Year of Magical Thinking to compare themes of resilience, personal struggle, and societal response during crises.
- Socratic Seminars: Facilitate discussions on how storytelling fosters empathy and preserves collective memory. Use the diaries and paired texts to explore how individual and communal resilience is depicted across time.
- Faith-Based Reflections: Encourage students to analyze how faith, service, and compassion are portrayed in the COVID Audio Diaries and The Book of Margery Kempe. Discuss how these values contribute to resilience and societal recovery during times of crisis.
- Creative Projects: Assign students to create their own audio or written diaries reflecting on personal or community experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Use The Book of Margery Kempe as a model for how personal stories can contribute to historical and cultural memory.
- Interdisciplinary Seminars: Engage students in discussions connecting history, literature, and theology. Use the diaries as a starting point to examine the universal human experience of navigating uncertainty and change.
The deeply personal nature of the COVID Audio Diaries may evoke strong emotions in students who experienced loss or trauma during the pandemic. Teachers should approach these discussions with sensitivity, creating a safe space for students to reflect and share.
Additionally, the inclusion of faith-based reflections and medieval texts may prompt concerns from those seeking a purely secular approach. Providing alternative narratives and emphasizing the universal themes of resilience and community can help address these concerns.
- Influenza ward, Walter Reed Hospital, Wash., DC. Nurse taking patient's pulse., ca. 1918. Nov. 1. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016648028/.
- This could be used as an alternative to the complete diaries as a smaller entry point to studying the effects of a pandemic.
- The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.), 29 July 1919. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042243/1919-07-29/ed-1/seq-1/
- The middle column of this newspaper article gives a slogan for the 1918 flu as well as a writeup so students can see how a different century handled a pandemic.
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- A modern autobiography exploring grief, resilience, and recovery, offering a contemporary parallel to The Book of Margery Kempe.
- Piers Plowman by William Langland
- A medieval allegory reflecting societal and moral struggles, complementing the personal and communal themes in the COVID Audio Diaries.
- Library of Congress Online Exhibit: "Voices of the Great Pandemic: COVID-19 Oral Histories"
- A complementary resource featuring additional oral histories from diverse perspectives during the pandemic.
- Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer
- A medieval text examining personal and societal resilience during times of upheaval, perfect for drawing thematic parallels to the diaries.
- A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
- A fictionalized historical account of the 1665 London plague, exploring human responses to isolation and crisis.