As a warm-up activity, have students think about their own identity by "free writing" on the subject of their own name - first name, middle name, last name - for five minutes. [Prompts: Where does your name come from? What does your name say about who you are? How does your name connect to your family's history?] Encourage students to keep their pen on their paper for the whole time. In pairs or small groups have students share their "free writing". Ask groups to share examples of how names connect us to our history.

Main activity:

1. Introduce Reading 1, "What's in a Name?" pp. 3-4. As they read, have students underline words and phrases that address the question, "What's in a name? What can names tell us about a person?" Ask students to report which words and phrases they underlined. Both Peter Balakian and Michael Arlen provide examples of people who have two names - an Armenian name and an "American" name. Discuss why people might change their name or why they might go by two names. What does it mean to have two names? How might this influence someone's identity?

2. Introduce students to the painting "The Artist and his Mother [5]" by Arshile Gorky. Explain that Gorky's birth name was Vosdanig Adoian. Brainstorm why he might have changed his name.

3. Ask students to record all of their observations about the painting. Clarify that at this point they should only record what they see, not what they think it means or their opinions about the painting. [Prompts: What objects do they see? Where are they placed? What colors are they? What do they notice about lines, shading, perspective, facial expressions, etc.?]

4. Then have students compare their observations with another classmate or a small group. Ask students to come up with some interpretations. [Prompts: Based on their observations, what do they think the painting means? What does the painting tell them about Arshile Gorky? Does it give you any clues regarding why he might have changed his name?] Option: Have students divide a piece of paper into two columns. On one side, have them record their observations about the painting. On the other side, have them record their interpretations.

5. After a few minutes, give students some additional information about how history has shaped Gorky's life. You might consider reading them this paragraph from Jonathan Jone's article in The Guardian (referenced below):

Arshile Gorky (1904-48), one of the greatest American painters, was so uncertain about how to make sense of his Armenian origins that he adopted a Russian name, telling people he was the nephew of the writer Maxim Gorky - implausibly, since this was a pen name. Arshile Gorky's real name was Vostanig Adoian. Born in Khorkom, on the shores of Lake Van in eastern Turkey, he had a childhood dominated by nature, folklore and religion, marred only by the departure of his father for America. In 1915 Turkey decided to get rid of its Armenian minority. Throughout eastern Turkey, Armenian men were taken out of their villages and murdered, women and children driven on forced marches causing mass starvation. An estimated million people died. Gorky's family fled to Yerevan, now capital of Armenia.

Gorky's mother, depicted in this painting, died when Gorky was a young boy. She died of malnutrition as a result of a forced march ordered by the Ottoman government.

6. Ask students to connect their observations and interpretations of the painting to this information from Gorky's life (i.e. the mother's floating ghost-like appearance; the boy who is close to the mother, yet not able to touch her; the mother's empty eyes.) [Prompts: How does this information about Gorky's life influence your interpretation of this painting?]

Follow through:

To transition to the rest of this unit, have students write a list of questions they have about Gorky and his life based on their analysis of this painting. Explain that the purpose of the next few classes is to help students understand what happened in history that influenced identity. The class can return to this painting later in the unit in order to interpret it with a new understanding of his historical context.