Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY: “Supporting POWs and Civilian Victims of War”

In this activity, students will choose a topic related to POW experiences or civilian victims of war and, integrating both research and examples from Unbroken, create a trauma-informed infographic, poster, or presentation that informs the public about challenges, statistical trends, and ways to support former POWs and/or civilian victims of war.

As Zamperini’s story proves, reintegration into civilian society after wartime captivity and/or abuse requires support and understanding many are unprepared to provide. For this project, you will research a topic related to POW experiences or civilian victims of war. Integrating your research with details and facts from Unbroken, you will create an infographic, poster, or presentation that informs the public about challenges, statistical trends, and ways to support former POWs and/or civilian victims of war. Your final product should be trauma-informed, meaning that you should balance hard facts with sensitivity in your presentation of information, imagery, and language use to minimize harm.

You will teach your classmates about your chosen topic in a formal presentation that includes your final product, and your final product will be displayed to inform the public.

Teaching Suggestion: Teacher guidance or curated topic lists may assist brainstorming and allow for more control of subject matter than open-ended brainstorming formats. Consider explicitly reframing POW experiences and wartime abuse of civilians as a modern phenomenon to encourage connection between Zamperini’s story and modern relevance. To maximize coverage within a range of topics, consider disallowing repeated topics. Both physical and online displays of information can reach and inform public audiences.

Differentiation Suggestion: English Language learners and students with attentional or executive functioning differences may benefit from graphic organizers and pre-highlighted or annotated sections of both the book and research resources related to their topic to guide them through each step. For nonverbal or socially anxious students, consider having them develop an animated presentation using text and imagery to inform viewers or allowing them to prerecord their presentation in private to showcase on video. 

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Though Zamperini’s tenacity and optimistic spirit steal the show, Hillenbrand is clear about the role that unwavering supporters played in Zamperini’s ability to endure, even when he seemed a lost cause.

• Which characters throughout his life supported him most, and what impact did this have in shaping both Zamperini’s character and his ability to overcome challenges? (topic sentence)
• Describe the people who supported Zamperini through difficult parts of his life and explain how their support impacted him and helped motivate him to face both internal and external challenges.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain what message or lesson Hillenbrand suggests regarding the importance of supportive relationships in overcoming challenges.

2. Hillenbrand connects defiance to soldiers’ abilities to weather abuse and maintain hope as they languished in POW camps.

• What role did defiance play in the lives of POWs? (topic sentence)
• Explain the various ways POWs rebelled and the physical and psychological results of this defiance.
• In your conclusion or concluding sentences, connect the impacts of defiance to larger themes, such as The Preservation of Human Dignity or Faith and Hope.

3. Hillenbrand presents the act of Forgiveness as a matter of life and death, both figuratively and literally.

• What role does forgiveness play in Zamperini’s ability to cope and survive the trauma of the various challenges he has faced? (topic sentence)
• Explain the ways Zamperini’s survival has hinged on forgiveness, both in receiving forgiveness and giving it to others.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain why forgiveness is such an important part of survival, tying it to other themes such as The Preservation of Human Dignity or Faith and Hope.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Hillenbrand does not shy away from the grim statistics of wartime casualties among airmen in the Pacific and POWs, yet Zamperini’s story directly defies those odds. How does Hillenbrand grapple with Zamperini’s unlikely survival? What factors does she emphasize as most important in explaining his ability to beat the odds? To what extent do you agree with this spin and why?

2. Throughout Zamperini’s story, Hillenbrand emphasizes the importance of Human Dignity not only in overcoming challenges but also in maintaining integrity and being able to Forgive. In what ways is Zamperini’s story a struggle against demeaning factors? What acts help Zamperini maintain and regain human dignity throughout the story, and how does dignity factor into his ability to survive and overcome challenges?

3. The miraculous is a motif that appears throughout the book, taking many iterations and aligning closely with the theme of Faith and Hope. How does this motif help shape the narrative and what does it contribute to the overall story of Zamperini’s life and character? Why would Hillenbrand focus on such an intangible and subjective aspect of the story if it is intended as a factual account? What might the miraculous explain that statistics and facts cannot?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Beginning the story with the conceit of Graff Zeppelin circumnavigating the globe allows Hillenbrand to do which of the following?

A) Create a breathtaking image to match the unbelievable story to follow.

B) Anchor the story of an individual in a global context.

C) Convey the sense of childlike wonder Louie and Pete lost due to war.

D) Reveal the technological might of Germany.

2. When he signed up for military service, what did Louie Zamperini admit to being afraid of?

A) His mother

B) Disappointment

C) Snakes

D) Heights

3. Why was Louie unable to achieve his dreams of competing in the 1940 Olympics?

A) He chooses to enlist in the armed forces and become a bombardier instead.

B) He is unable to qualify for the team due to his earlier troubles with the law.

C) The Olympics were canceled after the onset of World War II in Europe.

D) He injures himself in the race in which he sets the record for fastest NCAA mile.

4. Which of the following words describes Russell Allen Phillips’s most noticeable character trait?

A) Reticent

B) Garrulous

C) Obstreperous

D) Sanctimonious

5. Why does Hillenbrand include the account of Coxwell’s B-24 crash in Chapter 8?

A) To introduce an element of danger into the narrative

B) To add a humorous story after the anecdote of Wake Atoll in Chapter 7

C) To provide evidence that shark attacks were unusual

D) To foreshadow the fate of the Green Hornet survivors

6. What point does Hillenbrand make by including the retaliatory attack at Funafuti after Superman’s crash landing from Nauru?

A) Louie and his crew were luckier than the other B-24 crews.

B) Doglegging did little to hide bases of operation from Japanese pilots.

C) Airmen were in danger both in and out of the air.

D) Japanese bombing planes were less effective than the B-24s.

7. Which was true about the crew of the Daisy Mae?

A) They flew right over the Green Hornet’s life raft.

B) They almost went out in the Green Hornet but were changed at the last minute.

C) Their airplane was the ugliest but had the prettiest name.

D) Their plane was in worse shape than the Green Hornet but flew faster.

8. Why does Phil hesitate to eat the strangled albatross?

A) It is so covered in lice and crawling with parasites he fears it will kill him.

B) It leads to bad luck in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

C) It is uncooked.

D) He is still too depressed to function.

9. What act allows Mac to rally his spirits?

A) Phil offering him the last bit of water even though he ate all the chocolate

B) Louie thanking him for saving him from the sharks

C) Surviving the Zero pilot’s repeated strafing

D) The peace and quiet of the doldrums

10. What does life in Kwajalein make Louie miss?

A) His parents

B) The Cahuilla Reservation

C) Boot camp

D) The life raft

11. What do Phil and Louie’s families have in common?

A) They are both Presbyterian.

B) Their health has deteriorated from the stress of missing sons.

C) They believe their sons are still alive.

D) They are both Italian.

12. Why was Watanabe’s abuse against Louie particularly damaging to him?

A) Louie felt pressure to endure the abuse so others in his camp were spared.

B) The abuse reminded him of his powerlessness against his childhood bullies.

C) It reminded Louie of the beating he had taken at the NCAA championship.

D) Watanabe’s habit of apologizing afterward was harder to endure than the physical pain.

13. What commonly forbidden act does the author describe as heroic in the story?

A) Lying

B) Killing

C) Treason

D) Stealing

14. What earlier narrative event does the scene in which Louie holds the beam above his head for 37 minutes mirror?

A) His escape from the police after stealing their batons from the supply closet

B) His 4:08 minute mile on the morning before he boarded the Green Hornet

C) His sudden release from the wires holding him under during the Green Hornet crash

D) His rally during the 1936 Olympics

15. For Louie, what ended the war for good?

A) The day the B-29 dropped victory flyers over their camp, causing the guards to flee

B) Learning that Watanabe had lived and getting the chance to forgive him in writing

C) Carrying the Olympic Torch in Japan and being cheered by civilians and soldiers there

D) Hearing Billy Graham tell the story of the 8th chapter of John

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why does the author choose to explore the more sordid details of Louie’s postwar readjustment period instead of focusing on the good he did after the war?

2. What does forgiveness allow Louie to do that revenge does not?