Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: 9-12
Curriculum Focus: World History
Lesson Duration: Three class periods
Program Description
Violence, murder, and disorder in the former Yugoslavia have horrified the world. Study how and
why this once-unified country disintegrated into a combat zone of warring factions. Part One
reveals how Serbian Communist Party leader Slobodan Milosevic exploited his republic's
resentment of Muslims to win favor and overthrow old comrades. Part Two begins with Milosevic
controlling half of Yugoslavia. Explore his shrewd political maneuvering, and hear from Milosevic
himself.
Onscreen Questions and Activities
Segment 1, Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Part One
•
Pre-viewing questions:
o
What do you already know about the conflict in the former Yugoslavia? Do you
know how the conflict began?
o
What have you heard or read in the news recently?
o
As you watch the documentary, listen for names of people or places that are familiar
and write them down. Keep track of the role of each in the Balkan conflict.
•
Post-viewing question: The documentary begins by looking at the power struggle that followed
the death of Yugoslav President Marshal Tito. Analyze the political tactics that Slobodan
Milosevic used to place himself in power. How did his rise to power polarize the nation?
•
Activity: Research the politics and history of Yugoslavia from its origins to the present. Decide
which events had the greatest impact on the nation’s disintegration, and arrange them in
chronological order on a time line.
Segment 2, Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Part Two
•
Pre-viewing questions:
o
Based on what you already know, what is your prediction for the future of the
Balkan nations?
o
While you watch the documentary, pay attention to the events that led up to the
outbreak of war. Could these issues have been resolved peacefully?
Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Teacher’s Guide
•
Post-viewing question: As a class, make a list of the causes of the war in Yugoslavia. Then list
causes of a civil war in another country, like the United States or Vietnam. What are the
similarities and differences? Compare the international response to each war.
•
Activity: Research the United Nations' involvement in the former Yugoslavia. Then create a
diagram or chronology illustrating the UN presence in the Balkans. Include the Vance-Owen
Plan, the arms embargo, economic sanctions, and the designation of "safe areas."
2
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
Students will understand:
•
Historical drama, like other historical fiction, is rooted in history but contains imaginary
elements as well.
•
Zlata Filipovic describes in her diary what it was like to be a teenager in Sarajevo during the
conflict there.
Materials
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Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation video and VCR, or DVD and DVD player
•
Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic, published in the United States in 1995
and available in many libraries and bookstores
•
Computer with Internet access
Procedures
1. Ask students to share what they know about Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl. Students
should understand that the diary is a nonfiction account of a teenager’s life in hiding during the
Nazi Holocaust.
2. Next, ask if any students have seen or read the drama called The Diary of Anne Frank. Explain
that the play was first produced in the 1950s, and a newer play was produced in the 1990s. Both
plays were based on Anne Frank’s diary. However, the newer version uses materials from a
version of the diary that had not been released, translated, and published in the United States
until the 1990s. Explain that although the diary is a nonfiction account, the playwrights have
taken liberties in their stage version and overlaid the historical facts with imaginary details.
3. Introduce to students the 1995 book Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic,
who began the book when she was 11 and found herself in a war-torn land. Explain that many
readers have compared Zlata’s diary with Anne’s and that it lends itself to dramatization the
same way that Anne Frank’s diary did.
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Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Teacher’s Guide
3
4. Give students a few evenings to read and familiarize themselves with Zlata’s book. You may
wish to ask students who have read Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl to report to the rest of
the class how the content and style of Zlata’s book compare and contrast with the content and
style of Anne’s.
5. Tell students that their assignment will be to work in groups to create their own dramatization
of Zlata’s diary. To begin, they should find an entry or two in Zlata’s account that they would
like to adapt to a one-act play. Suggest that they consider a part of the diary that deals with a
particularly emotional disclosure by Zlata.
6. Direct each group to review multiple reference sources (primary and secondary) to learn more
about facts of daily life in Bosnia during the war and about the cause for the tensions that have
lasted so many years. Suggest students check Web sites such as:
http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/World/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina. Groups may want to
assign one member to a different resource, and then have each person report back to the group
with interesting details. Then the group should determine which details would help to flesh out
the entry or two by Zlata that they’ve picked as the basis of their dramatization.
7. As a class, review the important elements of a one-act play:
•
The script must contain both dialogue and stage directions.
•
A one-act play usually deals with a single conflict and occurs in a single setting.
•
As one or more characters try to solve the conflict, the act builds to a climax. Then
the play shows the characters’ reactions to the climax and moves on to a final
outcome.
•
A play based on a historical event must stick to some historical facts but can also
include fictional details. These fictional details will be reflected in the dialogue, but
could also be seen in the actions.
8. In a series of mini-lessons, as detailed below, review with students how to proceed from
prewriting the act, through writing, to revising and editing. Give the groups time to apply each
mini-lesson.
PREWRITING
a) In addition to a main character, Zlata, the act needs at least one other character—a
friend or foe of the main character. In this case, the other character may also be from
the journal entry, may be based on a person students have read about elsewhere, or
may even be an imaginary character.
b) The characters need to have a conflict between themselves or with someone else or
something else. Ask the students to recall and/or imagine conflicts involving their
characters—either real-life problems they faced or problems that the group decides
the characters might have faced.
c) Selecting one of those problems, each group should think about and prepare notes
on how the characters will respond to the problem and how the problem will be
solved.
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Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Teacher’s Guide
4
d) Each group should imagine how its characters look (including how they dress),
sound, and act—and jot down notes for later use.
e) Each group must also be clear on where and when the act takes place, so the
students should jot down their thoughts on background scenery, furniture, and
props.
WRITING
a) When students in each group are ready to move on to the actual drafting stage, let
them figure out how multiple authors can work together. Review with them, if
necessary, the mechanics of listing characters and of writing stage directions and
dialogue.
b) Advise students to follow their prewriting notes to unfold the scene: introducing
characters and the problem, building suspense, and winding up with a historically
accurate or believable ending. Students should, however, be free to abandon
prewriting notes that may take them to dead ends—and rethink their act.
c) Remind students that the audience needs to know what each character is doing and
feeling—or at least what each character’s situation is—at the end of the act.
d) If they have not done so earlier, students should now title their act.
REVISING AND EDITING
Share with students a checklist such as the following, giving them time to revise as
necessary so that they can answer “yes” to all the questions:
•
Does the dialogue or do the stage directions clearly show the character(s) facing a
conflict, lead up to a conclusion, and always include characters’ reactions?
•
Is the dialogue realistic and easy for an actor to say?
•
Have the writers and editors checked to see that matters such as agreement,
comparison, and pronoun references are correct?
9. Ask each group to perform, or at least read, its act for the rest of the class.
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss how Milosevic’s decision making was influenced by his wife and advisors. Who else
was responsible for putting Milosevic in a position of power?
2. Analyze how Serbian television helped to create the “Milosevic myth.”
3. Explain the quote, “offense is the best defense,” and how it relates to events in Yugoslavia prior
to the outbreak of civil war.
4. Compare and contrast the leadership styles of Slobodan Milosevic and Milan Kucan. Discuss
their strengths and weaknesses as leaders.
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Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Teacher’s Guide
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5. Analyze the decision by Slovenia and Croatia to withdraw from the Yugoslav Republic. Discuss
possible alternatives.
6. Analyze the causes of the Yugoslav crisis from the different points of view of those who were
involved.
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.
•
3 points: Students’ historical drama includes historically accurate elements; well-formulated
story line with conflict and outcome; smooth, realistic dialogue and clear stage directions.
•
2 points: Students’ historical drama has some basis in historical fact; inadequately developed
story line; some unrealistic dialogue and incomplete stage directions.
•
1 point: Students’ historical drama lacking in historical accuracy; inadequate outcome to
conflict examined in the act; unrealistic dialogue and incomplete stage directions.
Vocabulary
amendment
Definition: An alteration or correction.
Context: The Slovene delegates wanted to present their case. They had a large number of
amendments, and the Serbian delegates voted by raising their cards. Each amendment was
voted down.
communist
Definition: Characteristic of a system of government based on collective ownership of property.
Context: In 1980, Tito made his final journey through communist Yugoslavia, the country he had
created.
ethnic
Definition: Relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national,
tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.
Context: Seven years after Tito’s death, Yugoslavia was still united. Tito’s heirs kept ethnic
hatreds buried.
nationalism
Definition: A sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing
primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other
nations.
Context: For 35 years, Tito held Yugoslavia’s six republics together with an iron hand. Any hint
of nationalism from Serbs, Croats, Muslims, Macedonians, or Slovenes was crushed.
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Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation: Teacher’s Guide
6
separatist
Definition: An advocate of racial or cultural separation.
Context: Milosevic and his supporters expected trouble from the Kosovo separatists.
treason
Definition: The offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to
which the offender owes allegiance.
Context: Milan Kucan spoke to his people about defending the Kosovo Albanians and a united
Yugoslavia. To a Serb, this was Slovene treason.
Academic Standards
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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Geography—Human Systems: Understands the forces of cooperation and conflict that shape
the divisions of Earth's surface.
•
Behavioral Studies: Understands conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among
individuals, groups, and institutions.
•
World History—The 20th Century Since 1945: Promises and Paradoxes: Understands the
search for community, stability, and peace in an interdependent world.
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide
guidelines for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands/.
This lesson plan addresses the following thematic standards:
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Time, Continuity, and Change
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.