Great Ideas for a Communism Project for School
Communism is a political philosophy that seeks to eliminate all inequalities in wealth and to spread it equally amongst everyone. This goal was never reached in any Communist country, as each dictator gave in to petty desires and political backstabbing. The history of communism can make for very intriguing and engaging projects in late elementary school, high school and college.
Other People Are Reading
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Compare and Contrast
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This project will investigate how well the philosophy of Communism played out in the real world. Students should read up on what the philosophy actually states. For example, it states that the proletariat will briefly have a dictatorship as they redistribute the wealth. Once the wealth has been successfully redistributed, the dictatorship breaks up and there is no more government. Students should examine the different Communist governments that have existed. They should look at the policies and the actions of these governments and see how well they compared to the philosophy. They should then rate each country on how well they matched.
Lenin and Marx
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Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin are two of the most important figures in the history of Communism. A project about these two different leaders should compare the similarities and differences between their two philosophies. Examine how Marx wanted the revolution to begin and examine the way Lenin actually achieved the revolution. Research their lives and find out what about their lives led them develop these philosophies. Write brief biographies of each man, including a time line of important events. Write a paper that delineates their philosophical similarities and differences and create a visual representation of those differences. Present this information to the class and the teacher in a brief speech.
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Communism Play
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There are many interesting historical figures involved in Communism, including Lenin, Marx, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. These people led difficult and controversial lives. Write a short play about one of these characters. Use historical facts to inform the play. Surround the characters with people they actually interacted with in their lives. Pick a specific moment to fictionalize, such as the October Revolution, the assassination of Che Guevara or even Mao Zedong's rise to power. Cast people from the class into the play and hold the production in front of your class. Use a contrast between humor and dramatic moments to keep your classmates interested in the play.
Class Communism
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This project gets students to experience communism firsthand. It is especially appropriate as an illustration for younger students. Hand out several pieces of paper to each student. Some students should receive a lot more money than others, while some receive almost no money. The students should then discuss how this makes them feel as well as what they will do with their money. The leader of the project is the "revolutionary" leader. He takes all of the money back from the students and distributes it evenly. The students then state how this makes them feel. Ask whether or not they like the change.
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