Terrorism and Tourism in the Maldives

Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Objective

Students will be able to determine the central ideas of “Maldives, Tourist Haven, Casts Wary Eye on Growing Islamic Radicalism” by Kai Schultz in order to prepare for and participate in a discussion about terrorism and tourism in the Maldives.

Warm-up Questions

1. Imagine you are a tourist deciding on a place to spend your vacation. How would you decide where to go? What factors would you consider when researching a destination?
2. Look at the image of the Maldives below. What stands out to you?

3. Do some brief Internet research on the Maldives. Based on your research, what do you think makes the Maldives a popular tourist destination? What do you think may be potential challenges for the tourism industry?
4. Given what you’ve learned about the Maldives, would you want to take a vacation there?

Reading

Read the article “Maldives, Tourist Haven, Casts Wary Eye on Growing Islamic Radicalism” by Kai Schultz.

As you read, keep track of the sources Schultz interviews, and take notes on the opinions they express. Also take note of whether or not the source is anonymous and, if they are anonymous, the reason for their anonymity. You can use the table below to help organize your notes:

Discussion Questions

1. What surprised you about the article?
2. What perspectives does the author include in the article?
3. How does the author show different sides of the story?
4. What do you think the author wants you to take away from the article?
5. Do you think more people should read this article to learn about the issues it presents? Why or why not?
6. Why do you think the government has chosen the approach that it has to preventing terrorism?
7. Do you think the Maldives’ government is doing enough to prevent terrorist attacks? Why or why not?
8. Did reading the article change how you feel about a vacation in the Maldives? If so, how?

Activity

1. Your teacher will separate you into three groups. Each group will represent a different stakeholder in the Maldives: one group will take on the role of the government, one group will take on the role of a young person living in the Maldives, and one group will take on the role of a person working in the tourism industry.
2. With your group, discuss the government’s potential responses to terrorist threats in the Maldives. After discussing the drawbacks and benefits of each potential response, decide with your group which response your stakeholder (government, young person, or tourism industry) would choose.
3. Return to the article to look for details that support and don’t support your proposal. Which sources would agree with you? Which sources would disagree with you?
4. Choose a spokesperson to present your group’s proposal to the whole class. Try to be as convincing as possible.

Extension Activities

1. Write a policy proposal telling the Maldives’ government what they should do to prevent terrorism and prepare for potential terrorist attacks. Make sure to consider various interests in the country, the importance of the tourism industry to the economy, and the impact of the Maldives’ public image on tourism. Also consider the religious and ethnic divisions in the Maldives and the unique challenges posed by the country’s geography. You may want to conduct outside research to help craft this proposal. In your proposal, be sure to include an introduction, conclusion, and evidence from the article to support your claim. Also be sure to include a section addressing potential opposing arguments.
2. Now that you have read this article, read other stories about the Maldives by Kai Schultz: "Democracy is Drowning in the Maldives" or "As the Maldives Gain Tourists, It's Losing Its Beaches." Use Discussion Questions 1-5 above to guide your reading, and think about how these articles compare and contrast with “Maldives, Tourist Haven, Casts Wary Eye on Growing Islamic Radicalism."