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

The Power of One: Pastor Murinzi’s Stand Against Polarization

According to Genocide Watch, “polarization” is a stage of genocide characterized by actions such as “extremists driv[ing] the groups apart” and “hate groups broadcast[ing] polarizing propaganda.” In Left to Tell, there is one lone figure who notably resists polarization, and refuses to accept that Tutsis are different from Hutus. That figure is Pastor Murinzi, who risks his life and family to harbor a group of Tutsi women including Immaculée.

List the key figures in Left to Tell who, unlike Pastor Murinzi, succumb to polarization. In this thought experiment, give these characters a chance to act more as Pastor Murinzi did. Write 2 brief scenes between Immaculée and these characters.

Teaching Suggestion: Students might be familiar with the “Ten Stages of Genocide” based on earlier discussions. Characters who succumb to polarization include Immaculée’s ex-boyfriend John and friend Janet. Encourage students to engage deeply with the inner thoughts of these characters when they imagine them standing up to polarization. What was it about Pastor Murinzi’s thinking that made him resistant to the Interahamwe’s hate speech? Was Pastor Murinzi entirely resistant to their hate speech or was he susceptible in some ways? Students might explain in their scenes not only characters’ actions, but their inner dialogue as well.