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About this lesson
“The study of history always begins with fragments.” This premise, put forth by Alexandra Zapruder in her thought-provoking Introduction in Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust is the impetus for the One Man, Two Voices (OMTV) resource.
By pairing Peter Feigl’s wartime diary (1942-1944) with his post-war video testimony (1997), and then by arranging and layering an assortment of other primary sources, including a number of recently discovered and previously unpublished letters, forms, and photos, this presentation model strives to provide students a broader perspective and additional context for Peter’s war-time experiences.
Used in conjunction with one another, these key pieces of historical evidence offer students an authentic opportunity to engage in historical inquiry and humanize history in order to make meaningful connections and form a lasting understanding that, indeed, history happens to people.
Access the standards addressed
McRel National Standards Addressed
- Recognize different types of primary sources and the motives, interests, and bias expressed in them
- Uses a variety of primary sources to gather information for research or to gain historical perspective
- Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
- Uses context to understand figurative, idiomatic, and technical meanings of terms
- Uses specific strategies (close reading, rereading, using context clues, etc.) to clear up confusing parts of a text
- Understands influences on a reader’s response to a text
- Understands that a variety of influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior
Common Core Standards Addressed
College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards for Reading
- Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure
- Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
- Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of text (e.g. a section, a chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
- Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
- Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words
- Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
- Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
- Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards for Language
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
- Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
