***Please note that the due dates have been changed!
2A - October 26th
4A - November 1st
3B - October 31st
4B - October 31st
In the winter of 1952, Argentina was filled with a frenzy
of emotion over the death of Evita Peron. A multitude of Argentine
men & women gathered to pay their respects to one of the most controversial
& influential women of their time. On October 26th, 31st & November
1st, we will become a part of this crowd of mourners, critics &
onlookers. Each of you has been assigned a specific role (see
descriptions below) and will perform the following tasks:
Reporters –
Walk through the crowd and interview at least 5 critics and 5 supporters of
Evita. Ask them thought-provoking questions and be sure to record their
responses.
Descamisados and Aristocrats – talk to a total of 10 people. At least 5 of these
MUST be reporters and 5 should have a DIFFERENT opinion than the one you
support. You should record questions & responses.
ALL – Each person you encounter should sign the form you were
given in class. Extra credit will be awarded for those who go “above &
beyond” the requirements for this performance.
At the end of the class period, we will have a debate
between Evita’s supporters & her critics. Reporters will support the side
that convinced them the most during the first part of your assessment. The
winning team will receive an additional 5 points on this assignment, a prize
& bragging rights!
Role Descriptions:
***These were assigned in class. Please DO NOT switch or choose a different role.
Imagine you are a journalist interviewing the crowd of both critics and mourners at Evita Peron's funeral. Prepare 10-15 questions for both the supporters and critics. Remember – you are giving these people a voice in a very critical time in Argentine history, so your questions should be thought provoking and unbiased – you never know who may be a supporter or a critic! Some questions to help you get started: What do you think they would list as her accomplishments? Why was she so loved by the people? How would Evita’s critics respond? How would her supporters feel?
Imagine you are a descamisado that has joined the crowd of mourners at Evita Peron’s funeral. The area is filled with reporters, so you must be prepared to discuss your feelings about the day. Prepare 10-15 factual statements about the impact Evita has had on your life. Be sure to provide factual examples of what life is like for you in Buenos Aires. Remember – this may be your only opportunity to share your thoughts with the people of Argentina! What are you going to say to make them love Evita just as much as you? Some questions to help you get started: What would you list as Evita’s accomplishments? Why was she so loved? How do you feel now that she is gone?
Imagine you are an aristocrat forced to attend the funeral of Evita Peron. The area is filled with reporters, so you must be prepared to discuss your feelings about the day. Prepare 10-15 factual statements about how Evita has impacted your life. Remember – you have endured the rule of Peron & Evita for years and you finally have the opportunity to share your opinion with others! What are you going to say to convince the people of Argentina that this woman is the opposite of a saint? Some questions to help you get started: What affects did Evita have on the lives of aristocrats? Why was she so hated by this – and other – groups? How would her critics feel upon hearing the news of her death?
To provide authentic or more-accurately detailed
descriptions of these events, you may use the following article from Time magazine or other related
articles:
ARGENTINA: In Mourning
Monday, Aug. 11, 1952
Rarely has there been such a display of public
feeling as the frenzied mourning of Evita Perón. Last week, in near-freezing
rain, some 700,000 Argentines made pilgrimage to her bier in Buenos Aires.*
Most waited for more than 15 hours to get a 20-second peek at Eva's thin and
wasted face—and often at Juan Perón, who kept long vigils at her glass-topped
casket. Sixteen persons were killed, crushed and trampled by the throngs; 3,900
were in hospitals with injuries; thousands of others got first aid. In the 20-block,
four-abreast queue were infants in arms and a 102-year-old woman who cried,
"I've never known real pain before." To feed the multitude, the army
set up 24 field kitchens, gave away sandwiches, oranges, coffee. The street
outside Evita's resting place was packed with 8,340 funeral wreaths, costing
$2,000,000.
Away from the bier, there were other
extravagant tributes:
The Union of Workers and Employees of the Food Industry
cabled a request to Pope Pius XII to canonize Evita.
Minister of Public Health Ramon Carrillo ordered a 220-lb.
candle, the height of Evita (5 ft. 5 in.), to be installed in the ministry and
lighted for an hour on the 26th day of every month (the day Evita died).
Carrillo thought the candle would last 100 years or more.
Schoolkids got prizes for poems and essays praising Evita.
They were also told that she "got sick because she kissed the ill, the
lepers, the consumptives."
Carlos Aloé, super-Peronista governor of Buenos Aires
province, fired an employee who refused to wear a black tie. A Buenos Aires
youth was arrested for laughing on a streetcar. "Attitudes like this are
antisocial," said Aloé.
Eva's political cronies in high office, who stand to retain
power if they can keep her memory alive, formed an "Association of Friends
of Eva Perón" and asked, "What would Christ have been without his
disciples?" (Eva's disciples, presumably, will be wanting to look after
the more than $100 million which annually pours into her Social Aid Foundation,
a "charity" which is Argentina's biggest business and keeps no
accounting of funds.
So clamorous was the public lamentation that
Evita's funeral was postponed indefinitely. Instead, the government planned to
move her body this weekend to Congress, there to lie briefly in state. Then her
closed casket will go to the headquarters of the great labor federation she
controlled, to stay until a downtown monument tomb can be completed.
* A celebrated U.S. outpouring of grief over a
popular idol's death, the mourning in
Manhattan over Rudolph Valentino in 1926,
attracted a mere 50,000.
