My daughter Charlotte gave me permission to post her paper about Hiroshima here. It was her final assignment for a college level WW2 course she is taking in high school.
The kids were given a list of books about WW2 to choose from as inspiration, and were supposed to write a narrative based on the book's subject material. Char chose a book about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, but she was having a hard time fabricating a story about it. I suggested that rather than create a fabrication, she should write about her real experience in Hiroshima. She'd spent a day there while touring Japan with her People To People Student Ambassador group, and it affected her profoundly. I thought perhaps the aftermath of the bomb was at least as relevant as the actual day of the attack, and she agreed.
Apparently her teacher agreed too. The same teacher who, at the beginning of the semester, announced that he never gives perfect "A" grades or 100%, gave her 105% on this paper.
It's a long essay, but worth a look. Keep in mind she is fifteen. I have added nothing to this, and I haven't edited it either; these are her own words.
( Voices From Hiroshima and Nagasaki )
The kids were given a list of books about WW2 to choose from as inspiration, and were supposed to write a narrative based on the book's subject material. Char chose a book about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, but she was having a hard time fabricating a story about it. I suggested that rather than create a fabrication, she should write about her real experience in Hiroshima. She'd spent a day there while touring Japan with her People To People Student Ambassador group, and it affected her profoundly. I thought perhaps the aftermath of the bomb was at least as relevant as the actual day of the attack, and she agreed.
Apparently her teacher agreed too. The same teacher who, at the beginning of the semester, announced that he never gives perfect "A" grades or 100%, gave her 105% on this paper.
It's a long essay, but worth a look. Keep in mind she is fifteen. I have added nothing to this, and I haven't edited it either; these are her own words.
( Voices From Hiroshima and Nagasaki )