This activity is intended to accompany Unit Two of the Curriculum Guide. This concept application activity allows students to gain an awareness of the pervasive control exercised by totalitarian regimes. The students will participate in a simulation in which they are citizens of a totalitarian regime. Outline of the Activity Step One Have the students, working in groups, identify the key attributes of democracy and totalitarianism. A grid is provided for the students which would facilitate the comparing and contrasting of the two concepts.
Groups are to present their charts to the class for discussion.
Have the student groups bring newspapers to the class and prepare a list topics covered by the newspaper. Subject areas could include sports, weather, current affairs, government announcements, social events, editorials and advertisements. Using the group lists, the class could develop a composite list. Each student group is to prepare a newspaper that might be published in a country with a totalitarian government. There should be stories about each of the topics that appear in a typical newspaper.