Acclimating with a Prison Climate

When December and January roll around and the weather is cold, it is time to introduce One Day in the Live of Ivan Denisovich. I prefer a day when the snow is crunchy, the wind chill bites through your clothing, and being inside is extremely preferable to being outside. I don't set this activity up as one that will introduce a novel, but have desks arranged in groups of three or four depending on class size so that when they come in they will sit in groups. They usually sit with their friends which adds another element to the discussion later.

Step 1: Explain this will be a discussion activity and one person in the group must act as moderator and one as recorder. I offer no other parameters so that the discussions go in every possible direction in every possible scenario.

Step 2: handout the questions to be discussed and inform them they have XX minutes to complete the discussion. The questions require them to think about weather considerations, survival needs, friendships, fair treatment, helping others, and working conditions.

I circulate during this time adding a comment for them to consider or offering a different perspective on the questions.

Step 3: Sharing the results. I keep track on the board of the basic answers to each of the questions discussed. The answers are extremely varied and set up a wide range of situations to consider each one of the questions.

At this point, students are usually curious where this discussion is leading and by now one of them has asked why we need to talk about this. I then present the idea that they are in a forced labor camp and the weather is much like "today" (hopefully) and they must get ready to put in an eight hour day outside with meager rations, no heat and inadequate tools and materials.

After the inevitable comments, we discuss how long they each think they could survive in such conditions, what would help them survive and why some would survive and others would not.

with the idea of survival in their minds, I move onto historical background of Stalin and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. After presenting them with the background information, we read aloud for whatever time remains on the second day of this lesson paying close attention to sensory details and making connections with the sounds in the cold environment.

This introduction usually takes two days, but helps them realize what the prisoners are going through before they start reading and also helps them pinpoint injustices and cruelties found in the novel.