Aim: To reflect on the personal, emotional, or cultural significance of objects.
Materials: Paper and pencils, student objects from home (or pictures of them)
Procedure:
1. Have students examine and discuss the objects below, which were saved by members of the Danzig Jewish community:
2. Discuss:
- Why do you think these objects were saved?
- What do you think these objects meant to the people who owned or used them?
- What do they mean to you? How important is context to the meaning of an object?
- What makes an object valuable? What does it mean to say something is valuable?
3. Ask each student to think of an object that has personal value or significance.
4. Have students bring in their objects (or pictures of them) and write short narratives explaining their significance. Students can take a creative approach to the assignment, for example, writing from the point of view of the object itself or imagining a future or past life of the object.
5. Encourage students to share their work with the rest of the class.
- Birch veneer over pine; linden wood: painted, gilt, and upholstered
- 38 3/16 x 63 x 27 15/16 in. (97 x 160 x 71 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Gift of the Danzig Jewish Community, D 280
Wedding Sofa
Danzig Sofa
Danzig Sofa
Listen
- Marble: carved, painted, and gilt
- 62 3/4 x 46 1/2 x 1 in. (159.4 x 118.1 x 2.5 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Gift of the Danzig Jewish Community, D 284
Memorial Plaque of the Great Synagogue of Danzig
