Key Analytical Questions
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How does Tankian define “borders” in each version?
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What role does fear play in creating or maintaining borders?
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How does repetition in the song alter the message of the poem?
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What is the significance of the final border removed in the video?
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Does each version present borders as necessary, harmful, or constructed?
Multimodal Analysis: Exploring Borders Across Media
What happens when borders are no longer just lines on a map, but ideas that shape identity, power, and belonging?
Students are challenged to consider whether borders are necessary structures, harmful divisions, or entirely constructed ideas.
Unit Context
This lesson appears within a World Literature unit exploring how cultures define truth, identity, and moral responsibility. Students move from external authority, to personal truth (Siddhartha), to perspectival instability (Chuang Tzu), and finally toward ethical responsibility through contemporary texts.
Lesson Focus
Students analyze how the concept of “borders” is constructed across poetic, musical, and visual forms, evaluating how each medium shapes meaning and influences interpretation:
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Poem: “Borders” (from Glaring Through Oblivion)
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Song: “Borders Are…”
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Music Video: Visual representation of global borders being erased
Learning Objective
Students will evaluate how form (text, sound, and visual media) shapes meaning and will construct an argument about the function and impact of borders.
Rationale
This lesson is designed to move students beyond surface-level interpretations of borders as strictly geographic. By engaging with multiple modalities, students are encouraged to:
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Recognize borders as social, political, and psychological constructs
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Analyze how medium shapes message
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Develop independent, evidence-based arguments
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Connect literature to contemporary global issues
Culminating Task
Students complete the statement:
“Borders are…” as a claim about the function of borders.
Students create a visual representation on poster board that illustrates how borders operate within their own communities (social, cultural, or geographic).
On the reverse side, students include a short written response in which they:
Take a clear position on the function of borders
Incorporate and synthesize ideas from the poem, song, or music video
Explain how borders shape identity, power, or belonging
This task pushes students to translate abstract analysis into concrete, personally relevant examples.
Reflection
Students often begin with a limited, primarily geographic understanding of borders as physical boundaries. Through discussion and multimodal analysis, they expand this definition to include identity, power, and perception. The inclusion of the music video, particularly its focus on the U.S.–Mexico border, consistently generates meaningful discussion and allows students to engage with the material in a personally relevant way.