Part of a unit of study called When the Truth Isn’t Sufficient. Preceded by The Age of the Essay, What Is Literature For?, The Practice of Empathy, and Organization: Getting Things Done. These preceding units covered the art and purpose of writing essays and reading literature; the central skill taught through literature, which is empathy; and the substructural organization needed to tackle complex texts and tasks.
Animating quotation by Tim O’Brien, author of the assured novel, The Things They Carried:
That’s what fiction is for. It’s for getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.
Essential Questions: Observations and Insights
These questions were assigned separately as part of the required writing for this unit:
- What is the relationship between our stories and our identities?
- To what extent are we all witnesses of history and messengers to humanity?
- To what extent will the decisions we make now affect us and others in the future?
- How does an individual keep his or her humanity when surrounded by inhumanity?
- To what extent can we make the “right” moral decision when faced with adversity?
Student responses were collected through a Google Form. Those responses were then collated and reorganized:
This assignment was given to 120 seniors. They had a week in class to discuss these questions and then write their responses.
See Google Classroom for the formal assignment associated with your reading of these responses. Use this post’s comment section to share some of your insights, observations, and questions.