Online teaching guide for Adam E. Stone's human rights education novel Xamon Song

Feel free to copy, cut, paste, and rearrange the material in this Guide as necessary to create your own customized teaching tools: study question packets, writing assignments, discussion questions, even written exams! Or, use the Guide just the way our editors created it! Either way, we think you will find our Teaching Guide to be a dynamic resource to help your students learn about human rights!

How to Use this Teaching Guide

At the high school level (secondary school, ages 14-18), Xamon Song is appropriate for use in English/Literature classes, as well as History, Social Studies, Geography, and other classes, either by itself or in conjunction with other human rights education materials.

At the college level (higher education, ages 18 and up), Xamon Song is appropriate for use in English/Literature classes, as well as Anthropology, Political Science, Peace Studies, Business Ethics, and other classes, either by itself or in conjunction with other human rights education materials.

Xamon Song is also appropriate for nonformal human rights education. It is recommended for audiences age 14 and up.

Some or all of the questions below may be used to stimulate critical thinking and to facilitate informed discussion, or the questions may be assigned as writing topics. The headings below are for organizational purposes only, and educators are encouraged to add questions of their own, as well as to combine questions from multiple categories to create unique lesson plans.

If you wish to have students read the novel in increments, below is a suggested assignment schedule.

Assignment 1: pages 1-29, to last paragraph
Assignment 2: page 29, from last paragraph, to top of page 59
Assignment 3: page 59, top, to page 89, to last paragraph
Assignment 4: page 89, from last paragraph, to top of page 117
Assignment 5: page 117, top, to end

Educators who choose this method may wish to assign the questions below to correspond with each reading assignment. Suggested assignment numbers are found in parenthesis after each question or set of questions.

Pre-Reading

The amount of pre-reading an educator wishes to assign will depend upon how much prior knowledge of human rights issues the educator’s students have. The “Research Resources” section at the end of this Teaching Guide provides a nice place to start. Xamon Song may also be taught in conjunction with a unit on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or in conjunction with other human rights education materials.

The Characters

Xamon Song is, at heart, a character study. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the interaction between the three main characters: Eddie, Mike, and Digna.

How does Eddie feel about Digna when he first meets her? Why? What about Digna intrigues Eddie? Do Eddie’s feelings about Digna change as the story progresses? How? (Assignments 3 and 5)

How does Digna feel about Eddie when she first meets him? Why? Do Digna’s feelings about Eddie change as the story progresses? How? What about Eddie, if anything, intrigues Digna? (Assignments 3 and 5)

How does Digna feel about Mike when she first meets him? Why? Do Digna’s feelings about Mike change as the story progresses? How? What about Mike, if anything, intrigues Digna? (Assignments 3 and 5)

Eddie tries to imagine what Digna’s early life growing up in Xamon was like, but cannot seem to do so. Have you ever had that experience with someone you met? What did you do about it? Were there some questions you were not comfortable asking that person about his or her past? To what extent do you think the inability to imagine what another person’s past was like is an inter-cultural (between members of two distinct cultures) issue? Why? To what extent do you think the same issue arises between people who share the same culture? Why? (Assignment 5)

Later in the story, after the events in Ochoa, Eddie worries about Digna’s future, about the psychological toll the events will take on her. Are his worries well-founded? Why or why not? (Assignment 5)

How does Digna seem to be coping with the events in Ochoa? (Assignment 5)

How does Eddie cope with the events in Ochoa? (Assignment 5)

How does Mike? (Assignment 5)

Does the witnessing of violence, even if one is not involved directly in that violence, have psychological costs? What are they? (Assignment 5)

Does social activism in general have psychological costs? What are they? To what extent does your answer depend upon the popularity of the social cause, that is, whether many people support the cause or only a few? What psychological rewards does social activism offer? (Assignment 5)

For Eddie and Mike, music becomes something of a refuge from the stress of their experiences in Xamon. For Eddie, it also seems to be a refuge from his own shyness. Have you ever used music, or anything else, as a refuge from stress? Explain. (Assignment 5)

When the novel ends, how have each of the three main characters changed? (Assignment 5)

What do Eddie and Mike plan to do when they return to their air base in Xamon? What should they do? What consequences will result from their actions? (Assignment 5)

The Narrative Voice

The author chooses to make Eddie our window into the story, yet Eddie tells us that he really doesn’t understand politics at all, and that he isn’t very good with words. Why would the author choose Eddie to be the narrator? Is the author making a statement in making this choice? How so? To answer, consider this question: does the point of view of a book, i.e., who is telling the story, sometimes make just as strong a statement as the content of the book? Explain. Give some examples from other books you have read. (Assignment 1)

Many authors believe the events of a novel should be conveyed through action, rather than through exposition. This is known as the literary convention of “Show, Don’t Tell.” Early in the novel, Eddie seems to violate this convention. Is the author making a statement in having Eddie behave in such an “unliterary” manner? Explain. (Assignment 1 or 2)

We are often told that if we do not want to repeat the mistakes of those who have gone before us, we must study history. Who decides what constitutes history? Who typically experiences historical events firsthand, particularly with regard to historical events involving armed conflict? Are there social distinctions between those who “write” history and those who live it? Do these distinctions shed light on the author’s choice of Eddie as narrator? (Assignment 1 or 2)

Is it significant that one of the reasons Mike uses to convince Eddie to join the Air Corps is fear of forced military service, i.e., a draft? Why? How does Eddie and Mike’s socioeconomic status impact their decision to join the Air Corps? Does Mike believe that if a draft occurs it will equally impact all the citizens of Carbonia, regardless of socioeconomic status? What does that say about Carbonia? About democracies in general? (Assignment 1)

To create a distinctive voice for Eddie, the author uses dialect, i.e., a regional or social speech pattern that does not always conform to standard English. The use of dialect has a rich heritage in American literature. What other works have you read that employ dialect as a literary technique? What similarities did those works have to Xamon Song? What differences? Is the use of dialect always related to the message the author wishes to convey? Explain. (Assignment 1, 2 or 3)

To what extent do you think readers make judgments about a character’s intelligence based on that character’s use of dialect? Are such judgments valid? Why or why not? (Assignment 1, 2 or 3)

Is there a dialect that is particular to your community or region? If so, how do people from outside your community or region perceive people who speak in that dialect? Re-write the first two paragraphs of the novel using the dialect of your community or region. (Assignment 1, 2 or 3)

At one point, Mike tells Digna not to underestimate Eddie. What does he mean? Is Eddie more complex than he might at first seem to be? Why might people underestimate him? Explain. (Assignment 3)

The Media and Human Rights

To expose what happened in Ochoa to the rest of the world, Digna chooses to go to the international media, rather than to the media within Xamon. Why? (Assignment 5)

Imagine you are the reporter Digna comes to with her story. What do you do first? What next? (Assignment 5)

You decide you want to pursue Digna’s story, but your supervisor tells you that the consumers of your news service in the international community are not interested in stories about massacres of civilians in faraway places. What do you do now? Do you have an obligation to take further action? (Assignment 5)

Upon what is this obligation based? The law? Journalistic ethics? Your own personal moral creed? (Assignment 5)

How far are you willing to go to do what you believe is right? Would you protest to your supervisor’s supervisor? Quit your job? Go to Xamon on your own, at your own risk? Explain. (Assignment 5)

What is the role of the media in a democracy? What rights accompany that role? What responsibilities? (Assignment 5)

Conflict Resolution and Human Rights

Early in the story, we learn that a breakdown has occurred among the members of the Saridita tribe. Some members of the tribe want to continue negotiating with the government of Xamon, while other members have formed an armed resistance, and still other members appear to be apathetic to the events that are occurring around them. From where might these differing philosophies have come? Is armed resistance inevitable when some members of a group are dissatisfied with what is happening to them? What factors determine whether armed resistance occurs? Is armed resistance ever justified? (Assignment 1)

Digna proclaims that “All people matter.” Do they? Why or why not? Who decides? (Assignment 4)

To Digna, killing is always wrong, but to Mike, killing may sometimes be justified. Imagine that the paramilitary the trio stumbled across does not disappear back into the woods, but instead unwittingly continues to approach the trio. Are they now justified in killing him? Using lesser force to capture or incapacitate him? If the latter, what risks are involved in the use of lesser force? (Assignment 4)

Suppose now that he comes closer, discovers the trio, and tries to take them captive. Are they now justified in killing him? Using lesser force to capture or incapacitate him? If the latter, what risks are involved in the use of lesser force? (Assignment 4)

Same scenario, but instead of trying to capture the trio, the paramilitary opens fire on them. Are they now justified in killing him? Using lesser force to capture or incapacitate him? If the latter, what risks are involved in the use of lesser force? If your answers have changed, why is that so? (Assignment 4)

Is it morally defensible to take the position that all people matter, but then to take no action to preserve the lives of people at risk? Does the adoption of a particular moral position always require action that is consistent with that position? How much action is enough? To speak out or write letters against injustice? To take more direct action, even if it means risking one’s own life? Consider historical examples of social action, both in the United States and elsewhere. (Assignment 4)

Divide the class into three groups: one group represents the Saridita, one group represents SangreDenar, and the third group is a neutral decision-making body that has been asked to rule on the dispute between the parties. If you belong to one of the first two groups, what arguments can you devise for why your group should prevail in this dispute? From what basis do these arguments come? Economics? Humanistic concerns? Other sources? Are these arguments necessarily mutually exclusive? If you belong to the third group, how would you rule, after hearing the arguments of the other two groups? Justify your decision. (Assignment 1, 4, or 5)

Assuming SangreDenar could have approached this conflict differently, what could it have done? What should it have done? How would a different approach have changed things in Xamon? How would it have changed Eddie and Mike’s lives? Digna’s life? (Assignment 5)

The Human Right to an Education

Eddie tells us that his fact sheet indicates that Digna was expelled from Xamon University because of her activism. Digna seems to have given up the opportunity to get a college education, and presumably to live a more comfortable life, to stand up for her beliefs. Did she make the right decision? Why or why not? If you were in Digna’s situation, what would you do? (Assignment 2)

Should attendance at an institution of learning ever be denied on the basis of one’s political beliefs? Religious beliefs? Socioeconomic status? What does the right to an education truly entail? (Assignment 2)

Digna once attended college. But Mike and Eddie, who come from a country that seems to be more powerful and economically prosperous than Xamon, never seem to consider college as an option at all. What kind of statement is the author making when at least some residents of the more powerful nation actually have less individual power than some residents of the less powerful nation? What kind of statement about governments? About individual choices and opportunities? (Assignment 2)

In your community, are there people or groups of people who fail to get an adequate education? Why? At what level does education stop for the majority of the members of your community? How does the failure to get an adequate education affect other human rights, including economic rights, social rights, and political rights? (Assignment 2)

Corporate Accountability, Environmental Stewardship and Human Rights

What is the basic cause of the conflict between SangreDenar and the Saridita? (Assignment 1 or 5)

Are the consumers who ultimately buy SangreDenar’s products partially responsible for what happened in Ochoa? Why or why not? (Assignment 5)

Would your answer change if the consumers knew what happened in Ochoa, but purchased SangreDenar products anyway? Should it? (Assignment 5)

To what extent is each individual consumer responsible for ensuring that the companies the consumer buys from do not abuse the environment and/or human rights? From where is a consumer to gather the information necessary to make responsible decisions about what to buy? (Assignment 1 or 5)

Eddie hopes that if word of what happened in Ochoa gets out to the world, the government of Carbonia will take steps to control SangreDenar’s behavior. May the government of Carbonia do so? Does legal authority exist, under international law, for them to do so? (Assignment 5)

As a class, draft legislation the government of Carbonia might use to regulate the behavior of SangreDenar. (Assignment 5)

The Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Mike tells Eddie that the Saridita need the forests to maintain their way of life, “to keep doing things the way they and their ancestors had been doing them for generations.” What should happen when tradition conflicts with development? What usually does happen? Consider historical examples from the United States and elsewhere. (Assignment 1 or 5)

When should the good of the few give way for the good of the many? Is there evidence that such a situation exists in Xamon? (Assignment 1 or 5)

Is it possible for all sides to be satisfied? How? If compromise was possible, why didn’t it occur here? Explain. (Assignment 1 or 5)

Genocide/Ethnic Cleansing

How does the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide define genocide? (Assignment 1 or 5)

Does the Convention define ethnic cleansing? If not, what international instrument, if any, does? What, exactly, is ethnic cleansing? (Assignment 1 or 5)

None of the characters in Xamon Song use the term “genocide,” although Digna at one point refers to the paramilitaries as “genocidaires.” Did acts of genocide occur in Ochoa? Acts of ethnic cleansing? Explain. (Assignment 5)

Questions for Further Study

Xamon Song is an allegory. An allegory is a symbolic story that often has both a surface meaning and deeper, sometimes hidden, meanings. What might some of the characters or entities in Xamon Song symbolize? What deeper meanings did you find in the book? (Assignment 5)

What purpose is served by setting Xamon Song in an entirely fictitious world? Where else might it have been set? Would the story have been more powerful or less powerful if it had been set in an actual location? Why? (Assignment 5)

The author provides us with very little background information about Eddie and Mike, such as who their parents are, what it was like for them growing up, or whether they have brothers and sisters. Why? Would the story have been more powerful or less powerful if more information had been given about Eddie and Mike? Why? (Assignment 5)

Does Xamon Song make reference to, or seem similar to, any actual events or actual human rights activists? Investigate. (Assignment 5)

Research Resources

Amnesty International
Doctors Without Borders
Human Rights Education Associates
Human Rights Watch
International Campaign to End Genocide
International Rescue Committee
Oxfam
Prevent Genocide International
United Nations

Acknowledgments

Global Dialogue Press wishes to thank Nancy Flowers and Christy Hargesheimer, both experienced human rights educators, for suggestions for improving this Teaching Guide.