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Honesty
Honesty is a concept and value which can be demonstrated by examining some of the Rights and experiences that minority groups are allowed in a society. Can people in Britain express their feelings honestly without fear of attack or imprisonment?
In this lesson, students can examine the experiences of some minority groups during the First World War to see if they felt they could be honest about their beliefs with those around them.
What were the restrictions of the First World War and did they affect how honest people were about their experience or attitudes to the war?
1. Placing the word ‘honesty’ at the centre of a page ask the students to draw a spidergram describing the elements of honesty.
2. Ask the students to read about DORA and then answer the following questions:
– Were all the restrictions about protecting people?
– Did the restrictions make people nervous about sharing their attitudes to the war?
– DORA doesn’t seem that bad?
3. Read the information about Jewish artists and consider the following questions:
– Were they restricted in what they painted about the war?
– How easy was it for them to portray a real picture of what they experienced?
4. Read the information about Poetry and the First World War
Were poets allowed to write about what they saw and felt?
CONCLUSION
Ask the students to write a notice in the style of a public information board telling people what they can and cannot write/create during war time.
Conclude with a discussion about:
What if people were not allowed any opportunity to talk about the real experiences that they had?
Related History Windows
Poetry and the First World War
First World War poetry provides an access point for subsequent generations to try and understand an intense, complex event in our history, the scale of which seems incomprehensible.
DORA
The effects of DORA were incredibly far reaching, with some of the rules and restrictions still having an impact on UK law and attitudes in the 21st century.
Jewish Conscientious Objectors
Conscientious objectors were widely despised as cowards and were often imprisoned under harsh conditions.
Jews who did not want to fight
Many of the Jewish socialists and anarchists of the East End’s vibrant political scene viewed the conflict as a capitalist and imperialist war in which the workers had no stake.
The British Jewry Book of Honour
Following the end of the War, it was decided to create the British Jewry Book of Honour to bring together information about the British Jews who had served in British and Colonial forces during the First World War.
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Documenting & commemorating the contribution British Jews made during the First World War.
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