The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Who Gets to Witness History?”

In this activity, students creatively examine historical events through the lens of their own family legacies.

In “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” people disagree about who should be allowed to travel back in time and witness historical events that can be seen only once.

Part A: Think of a historical event during the last 200 years that one of your ancestors might have lived through. If you know your family tree, identify the ancestor. Otherwise, count back through the years, allowing 20-25 years for each generation, and determine how this person would be related to you—grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent, and so on.

Part B: Suppose that the Kirino Process is available as a means to witness historical events firsthand. Would you want to time-travel to your ancestor’s lifetime and witness the historical event through their experiences? Would you have a greater claim to this opportunity than a historian who specializes in that period? Take some notes on your thinking: Jot down reasons for you to go or for the historian (or someone else) to go—or perhaps for no one to go.