Seneca – Kindness
“Wherever there is a human being there is an opportunity for kindness.”
Seneca
Big Idea
When students interact with others, they have lots of moral decisions to make. It’s hard for them to decide exactly how to treat other people, especially strangers, since many times they don’t have much information to go on and so they must rely on their intuitive judgements and best guesses. How they decide to act reflects deeply upon their characters.
Claim
Roman stoic philosopher Seneca claims that we have a moral obligation to treat people with kindness. We should assume the best in people.
Counterclaim
Not all human beings deserve kindness and so the better attitude to have when you meet people is to treat them with polite suspicion until you know they are deserving of kindness.
Essential
Question
Do all people deserve kindness?
Student Video
The Giving Tree – Kindness
I love the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. After reading the book with my 11th graders, I could hold the Seneca conversation on kindness and use the quote – “Wherever there is a human being t ...
Matilda – Kindness
I’m teaching characterization in Matilda by Roald Dahl. I will focus on the theme of kindness by examining the varied character traits of Matilda, her parents, Miss Trunchbull, and Miss Honey. I ...
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