In this age of highly public scandals and subsequent apologies, those apologies are becoming a subgenre of their own, and we as media consumers are becoming more and more adept at figuring out what a "real" apology entails. Take your students on a tour of the apology genre using a combination of texts below, and consider culminating your study with:
Songs and Poems
"Apology Song" by The Decemberists
"My Stupid Mouth" by John Mayer
"Sorry to Myself" by Alanis Morissette
Poems
"After He's Decided to Leave" by Elizabeth Acevedo
"Disclosure" by Camisha L. Jones
"Apologies to All the People in Lebanon" by June Jordan
"Apologies" by Karenne Wood
Historical Apologies
"A US Apology for Japanese Internment" from NPR's Code Switch (podcast)
"The Many Things America Hasn't Apologized For" from the Washington Post
"Presidential Apology for Tuskegee" from the CDC
"Germany's Efforts to Reconcile After WWII" from Johns Hopkins Magazine
Current Events Apologies
"The Worst #Metoo Apologies" from Newsweek
"Forgiveness and #Metoo" from Vox
"Is Redemption Possible in the Aftermath of #Metoo?" from NPR
"The Worst Non-apologies of the #Metoo Movement" from Shemazing
Videos
Eve Ensler: The profound power of an authentic apology
Shaka Senghor: Why your worst deeds don't define you
Andy Borowitz: Sorry/Not Sorry
About Apologies
"How to Apologize" from Grammarly
"How to Apologize to Loved Ones" from TIME Magazine
"Why Bad Apologies Are Worse Than No Apologies" from Salon
"Is It Possible to Apologize for a Sexual Assault?" from The Atlantic
"The 9 Rules for True Apologies" from Psychology Today
- A genuine apology letter to someone or something
- A procedural text on how to properly apologize
- An essay on whether we should apologize even if we aren't truly sorry
- An essay on whether there are certain things that we can't apologize for because an apology is not enough, and what we should do in those situations
- ...and so on!
- What do the apologies say?
- What do they NOT say?
- How should we respond to apologies?
- What is the difference between a good and bad apology?
Songs and Poems
"Apology Song" by The Decemberists
"My Stupid Mouth" by John Mayer
"Sorry to Myself" by Alanis Morissette
Poems
"After He's Decided to Leave" by Elizabeth Acevedo
"Disclosure" by Camisha L. Jones
"Apologies to All the People in Lebanon" by June Jordan
"Apologies" by Karenne Wood
Historical Apologies
"A US Apology for Japanese Internment" from NPR's Code Switch (podcast)
"The Many Things America Hasn't Apologized For" from the Washington Post
"Presidential Apology for Tuskegee" from the CDC
"Germany's Efforts to Reconcile After WWII" from Johns Hopkins Magazine
Current Events Apologies
"The Worst #Metoo Apologies" from Newsweek
"Forgiveness and #Metoo" from Vox
"Is Redemption Possible in the Aftermath of #Metoo?" from NPR
"The Worst Non-apologies of the #Metoo Movement" from Shemazing
Videos
Eve Ensler: The profound power of an authentic apology
Shaka Senghor: Why your worst deeds don't define you
Andy Borowitz: Sorry/Not Sorry
About Apologies
"How to Apologize" from Grammarly
"How to Apologize to Loved Ones" from TIME Magazine
"Why Bad Apologies Are Worse Than No Apologies" from Salon
"Is It Possible to Apologize for a Sexual Assault?" from The Atlantic
"The 9 Rules for True Apologies" from Psychology Today