Warm-Up (five minutes)

1. Teachers to prompt students: What are some healthy ways you deal with sorrow or loss? Examples include going on a walk, getting rest, meditating, etc.
   1. Have students share with a peer and solicit student responses to the class.

Historical Overview Introduction: Clip from Tết Mậu Thân (Tết Offensive) (10 minutes)

1. The teacher will play a video showing real clips from the 1968 Tết Offensive (Tết Mậu Thân), used in the feature-film Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows). The scene includes clips from the communist attack on the city of Huế, where civilians are seen running away amidst cannons and gunfire. Teachers should use discretion when sharing the video and preface to students that some scenes may be difficult to watch. Teachers should preview the video to ensure level of appropriateness for class. If students experience discomfort or strong emotions during the video, allow them to step outside. The video can be found at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsA0AeorH8o.
   1. The teacher will play the video from timestamp 0:00–2:25.
2. After the video, the teacher will ask the question: “Based on the video, what do you think the attitudes of Vietnamese civilians were during the Vietnam War? How do you think those attitudes changed from the early stages of the Republic of Vietnam?”
3. The teacher will give the students one to two minutes to discuss with their pairs.
4. After pair discussion, the class will come together and the teacher will have students share.
   1. The teacher can focus the discussion on a shift from hope, idealism, and the vision of rebuilding their first Vietnamese nation in the Republic of Vietnam in the early stages (1955–1963) to feelings of loss, melancholy, and grief as the effects of war became more present among Vietnamese citizens

Historical Events Source Activity (20 minutes) 

1. The teacher will pass out a source worksheet, sources one through three, detailing historical events that contribute to the feeling of loss for the South Vietnamese people (see handout: “Historical Events Sources”).
2. Suggested for students to create note takers to chart content of the three sources.
   1. Notetaker Instructions: Listen to each of your group members' summary and analysis of the three main historical events that shifted the mood for Vietnamese people in the Republic of Vietnam due to the Vietnam War. During each presentation, write down: (1) the historical context of the event, and (2) How this historical event and the context of it in the Vietnam War contributed to the feelings of loss, melancholy, and grief for Vietnamese people living in that time.
3. The teacher will count students off and assign them a number of either one, two, or three. 
   1. The teacher will then have one’s raise their hand, and the teacher will have those students read Source One, which gives the historical context of the political chaos after the end of the First Republic and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm.
   2. The teacher will then have the two raise their hand, and the teacher will have those students read Source Two, which gives the historical context of the Tết Offensive and Huế Massacre.
   3. The teacher will then have three’s raise their hand, and the teacher will have those students read Source Three, which gives the historical context of the 1972 Red Fiery Summer.
4. The teacher will give the students an assigned time to read their respective source and take notes.
   1. The teacher will instruct students that in the following activity, students will present a summary of the historical context with a group, as well as answer the following question: How did this historical event and the context of it in the Vietnam War contribute to the feelings of loss, melancholy, and grief for Vietnamese people living in that time?
5. After time is up, the teacher will have the students stand up and move around, forming groups of three people.
   1. Each group must have at least one person with Source One, one person with Source Two, and one person with Source Three. Extra students may join groups of three depending on the size of the class.
6. In the groups, each student will have three to four minutes to give their other group members a summary of their source. Each student must:
   1. Give a summary of the historical context of their event and source, and be sure to show the other group members images of the source they were given.
   2. Answer the question on how that historical event and its context contributed to the shift towards melancholy and loss for the South Vietnamese people living during the Vietnam War.
   3. After each summary from the speaker, the group will have one minute to fill in the remaining chart in regards to the three historical events. 
7. In the last five minutes, the class will come together, and the teacher will prompt students to share their responses to the class, with any gaps in the chart able to be filled in by the students

Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows) Church Scene Analysis (25 minutes)

1. The teacher will first explain the background of the film clips they are about to show: "Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows)" is a Vietnamese war film that explores the impact of the conflict on a family in Southern Vietnam, specifically in Huế. The narrative is based on works by Nhã Ca and features a cast that includes famous singers, writers, and actors such as Trịnh Công Sơn, Kim Cương, Sơn Nam, and Thành Lộc. The narrative explores the internal struggles that each family member faces when deciding whether to stay or leave as the fall of Huế looms near, alluding to the human cost and suffering caused by war and conflict on ordinary Vietnamese people.
2. In the scene that is about to be shown, the protagonist Trịnh Quân (played by renowned Vietnamese singer Trịnh Công Sơn) leads his family into a Catholic Church in Huế as citizens attempt to flee the city due to the communist attack on the city. The scene, already shown in the warm-up introduction, shows real-life scenes of actual villagers escaping the city during that time. It is Tết (Lunar New Year), usually the most joyous time for Vietnamese families to celebrate, but instead, most are fighting for their lives and are separated from family. 
3. To be discussed after the video: In the church, Trịnh’s family come across a woman singing lullabies to her child, wrapped in a blanket. The blanket has a peculiar smell. The blanket accidentally falls, and the refugees scream when they realize that the baby has been dead for some time now and is already decomposing. The woman denies it in a crazed frenzy, claiming that her child is alive and that the people want to take her child away from her.
4. The teacher will show the clip from Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows) (10 minutes)
   1. The video can be found at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsA0AeorH8o.
   2. The teacher will play the video from timestamps 2:25 to the end. Since the class should have already watched 0:00–2:25, the teacher may start the video 10-20 seconds earlier to remind students of the context of the family entering the church.
5. When the video is done playing, the teacher will have students get into pairs and discuss for two to three minutes:
   1. What happens to the woman and her baby?
   2. What do you think is the symbolism or significance of this scene? How does this scene represent the attitudes of ordinary South Vietnamese people towards war and conflict?
6. After the students discuss in pairs, the teacher will lead a discussion in the remaining time about the two questions above:
   1. The teacher can allude to how the scene is representative of the trauma, denial, and despair befalling many South Vietnamese people towards the later stages of the war and the Republic of Vietnam.
   2. The teacher can allude to how that trauma may still affect some Vietnamese American refugees today, and how that mood of sadness and despair carries on when many Vietnamese refugees fled Vietnam after 1975, the despair over both the loss and separation from loved ones as well as the loss of the nation they once had so many ideals and hopes for. 

Recap and Context of Art, Literature, and Music (five minutes)

1. Teacher will use the content noted below to define the two terms for students: sentimentalism and yellow music.
   1. Sentimentalism: a movement that included the free expression of personal rage, indignation, love, sadness, and loss, especially as the war dragged on. In the early stages of the RVN, sentimentalism was a way to encourage anti-communism and nationalism, as this raw form of free expression contrasted with the emotionless uniformity of socialism/communism. In the later stages of the RVN, sentimentalism was used to describe the loss, separation, and mourning for the fate of the nation and their loved ones as the war dragged on.
   2. Nhạc vàng (yellow music): a genre unique to South Vietnamese music and loosely linked to bolero that often focuses on themes of lost relationships, mourning, and sadness for one’s country.
   3. [Image of Trịnh Công Sơn and Khánh Ly] Trịnh Công Sơn, one of the leaders of the yellow music movement and one of the greatest composers in Vietnamese history; and Khánh Ly, one of the greatest singers who sang his compositions, now lives in Cerritos, California.

Cultural Production (25 minutes)

1. The teacher will divide the class into 8 groups of four to five students in each group.
2. The teacher will then pass them a collection of eight songs, poems, and short stories from the Republic of Vietnam.
   1. See handout: “Literature, Art, and Music Sources”.
   2. Chiến Tranh Việt Nam và Tôi (The Vietnam War and Me) - Nguyễn Bắc Sơn (Poem)
   3. Thành Phố Buồn - Lam Phương (Song)
   4. Giải Khăn Sô Cho Huế (Mourning Headband for Huế) - Nhã Ca (Novel Excerpt)
   5. Thanh Xuân (Youth) - Nhã Ca (Poem)
   6. Gia Tài Của Mẹ (A Mother's Legacy) - Trịnh Công Sơn (Song)
   7. Bọt Nước (Bubbles) - Nguyễn Đức Sơn (Poem)
   8. Đại Bác Ru Đêm (Lullaby of Cannons in the Night) - Trịnh Công Sơn (Song)
   9. Mùa Hè Đỏ Lửa (Red Fiery Summer) - Phan Nhật Nam (Novel Excerpt)
3. The teacher will explain to the students that their task is to choose one of the sources and make a visual representation of the song, poem, or short story on a poster sheet. The final product can be open to a written, visual, or audio narrative. 
   1. On the poster, students can use drawings or print out pictures that represent the South Vietnamese experience and the significance of the source during the Vietnam War.
   2. On a separate poster, students will choose five lines (two to three lines if the source is a short story excerpt) and write it onto the poster.
      1. These lines should be lines with symbolism or significance that were emotionally impactful and meaningful.
   3. After preparation, each group will present in front of the class or to other small groups. The presentation will be graded as follows:
      1. A well-done visual representation of the source.
      2. Inclusion of carefully chosen lines form the source that were emotionally impactful or meaningful.
      3. A speaker who will read, with clarity and emotion, the poem or short story (if music, the group may play it in front of the class with subtitles).
      4. A thorough explanation that summarizes the source, explains the connection between the visual representation and the source, the reason they chose those particular lines, and the significance of the lines they chose to the historical context.
   4. Students in the group can work on a variety of different roles: drawing the visual representation, choosing and writing down lines, preparing the summary, preparing the explanation of connection and significance.

Sharing and Reflection (10 minutes)

1. Allow student groups to present and share with other student groups.