Broadening the Question

Description

In this first lesson of the unit and module, students are introduced to Module 12.3’s focus: building evidence-based arguments through inquiry-based research. In this lesson, students read and analyze pages 13–17 of Guns, Germs, and Steel. In this excerpt, students are introduced to Yali, the New Guinean man who, with a simple question, sparked Diamond’s quest to explain historical and modern global disparities in wealth and power. Students analyze how Diamond broadens Yali’s question, shifting the focus from its localized origin to the global stage, and in so doing considers the relationship between the question and the “subject” (p. 16) of the book.