This week I did what I think was quite a successful lesson on class consciousness.  On the first day, I posed four questions to the students, and asked them to work in 4 groups to come up with answers using their minds and their textbooks. (This is related to Craig, et al, Chapter 35).

1.  What is the meaning of “proletarianization” of the common people?

2.  What were living conditions like in 19th century European cities?

3.  What were the ideas of Karl Marx?

4.  Describe the causes of the formation of trade unions and mass political parties.

On the second day, I showed the first 20 minutes or so of a movie titled “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (with John Gielgud, among others) and asked the class to identify class structures as depicted in that movie.

This made the study of class structure, and the development of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie in Europe generally, and more specifically in England, both effective and interesting for the students.