In this lesson plan, students will learn how to critically examine a drawing in order to learn things about both the artist’s ideas and the attitudes of society at the time the drawing was created.
Created by Angelia Greiner, December 2007
Students will be able to analyze a picture and infer information about the subject. TEKS §110.44. English III. (b) (19, 20)
Due to economic decline and political unrest in China, the Chinese began immigrating to the United States around 1840. Over 300,000 Chinese came to the United States to start new lives. Many found work out west in California with promises of honest work for honest pay or to find their fortune in the California Gold Rush in 1848. Unfortunately, the Chinese were taken advantage of and were forced to work hard labor jobs for little pay in order to survive. Many Chinese immigrants returned to their homeland, but many stayed and created what were known as “Chinatowns” to escape prejudice and violence. The United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which barred all future Chinese immigration to the United States.
Some websites with information about the Act:
Students will study the sketch depicting a Chinese man and an American solider, found on TIDES. Students will then discuss and answer the following questions and draw a series of conclusions based on the details from the sketch.
