Meeting the Women

Barbara Sonneborn made Regret to Inform because she wants to end war.

"I want people to look war in the face and ask themselves, 'Am I going to allow this to happen ever again?' I want people to so deeply realize the humanity of other human beings that they won't be able to kill them."

It's an aim that filmmakers and teachers ought to share. How can we encourage people to consistently attempt to put themselves in the positions of others around the world? How can we help nurture an empathy so profound that war is unthinkable?

Ultimately, this kind of empathy is not merely the product of imagination, but of sweeping social and economic changes. But it can begin anywhere, and everywhere, classrooms included.

This first lesson in the Regret to Inform teaching guide invites students to "become" many of the women portrayed in the film. These are women whose lives were savaged by the Vietnam War—known more aptly in Vietnam as the American War. Here, students assume the personas of American and Vietnamese women through quotes, and then introduce themselves to one another as they complete questionnaires. It's a pre-viewing activity that seeks to acquaint students with some of the individuals and issues they will encounter in the film. It leaves them curious and eager to see the women whom they "met" in class.

Materials Needed:

1. Copies of Regret to Inform: The Women.
   Cut up the descriptions of the individual women so that there are enough to allow each student to portray one of the women.
   (There are only twelve of these, so there will be some duplication, with two or more students representing the same woman. This won't be a problem in the activity.)
2. Copies of Regret to Inform: Meeting the Women—enough for each student to have his or her own copy.
3. Adhesive name labels—enough so that each student can have one.

Suggested Procedure:

1. Begin by telling students that they are going to watch a film called Regret to Inform about a number of American and Vietnamese women, and how each was affected by the war in Vietnam. Introduce the pre-viewing activity by explaining that the film was made by Barbara Sonneborn, whose husband and childhood sweetheart was killed in Vietnam in 1968. Tell them that before the class watches the film, every student will assume the identity of one of the women.
   
   Some teachers may be reluctant to ask their male students to portray women. Emphasize to students that you are not expecting, nor do you want, for them to "act" like women. The aim is empathy, not performance. My experience is that if presented properly, male students quickly lose their self-consciousness about this activity.
   
   
2. Distribute one of the women's descriptions to each student. Give sufficient time so that they can read these carefully. Tell them that their goal is to commit as much of what is in each of the descriptions to memory, so that when they meet with one another they will not need to constantly refer to the written "roles".
   
   One way to help students internalize the information in these descriptions is to ask them to write briefly from their individual's point of view. For example: Write a paragraph describing how you were affected by the war in Vietnam.
   
   
3. Distribute the adhesive name labels. Have students write the name of their individual on the labels and affix them so that these will be visible as they circulate throughout the classroom.
   
   
4. Distribute the handout, Regret to Inform: Meeting the Women, to each student. Review the questions with the class. Tell students that they will circulate around the classroom, meeting other women and trying to find people who can help answer one of the six questions on the handout. Emphasize that they will need to find a different woman for each question, so once they have concluded a conversation with an individual, they should move on. Encourage them to answer each question as fully as they are able. Tell them that it's not a race, so there is no need to rush. Also, emphasize that they are not to copy information off of each other's role, but to acquire knowledge about one another from conversation. Note that not all the students-as-women will need to meet one another, but they will be able to meet a substantial number.
   
   
5. Begin the activity. Monitor discussions to ensure that people are really listening to one another and not treating it as a contest to see who can finish first. I like to participate in the activity as a student, and assign myself one of the women to portray.
   
   
6. After it appears that most students have completed answering the questions on their Meeting the Women sheets, call time and have them return to their seats. I find that after an out-of-their-seats activity like this, it helps to focus the class by having them stand back and reflect in writing.
   
   Questions to write from might include:
   
   
   • What general statements can you make about how these women were affected by the war in Vietnam?
   • What questions are you left with? What would you like to know more about?
     
     
7. In a whole-class discussion review their answers to each of the six questions on the handout and conclude by discussing the two questions above. A couple of additional questions:
   
   
   • How does it appear that the Vietnam War is in many ways still continuing?
   • What differences did you notice in how the American and Vietnamese women talked about the effects of the war?
     
     

   The aim of discussion at this point is more to raise issues and questions. Students will have a richer discussion after they have seen the film.

Note: Should it be helpful at any point during this activity, pictures of the women who appear in Regret to Inform, along with their names, are posted on the web at www.pbs.org/pov/regret/bg_meet.html.