The Elizabeth Cady Stanton conversation on honesty asks students to question not only the moral basis for honesty but also its worth. Is honesty always safe? Is it always “the best policy”? Does it germinate trust or suspicion? Are the …
Lao Tzu’s conversation, which cautions against a fixation on goal-setting, fits perfectly with the concepts of minimalism and anti-consumerism. To teach this concept, I would reach back to whom many consider to be the original minimalist, Henry David Thoreau. An …
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a meta-fictional novel that redefines truth-telling. The narrator layers factual “happening-truth” with “story-truth,” where he re-imagines, exchanges details, and makes statements like, “A true war story cannot be believed” (O’Brien 71). Using the …
One of the most analyzed poems in American literature is “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Most students cannot understand that the choice made by the speaker can be viewed from different perspectives. I would look at the conversation …
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” pairs perfectly with the conversation on anger featuring Lao Tzu. After a reading of the story, students can use the conversation as a springboard to an analysis of how the main character’s …
During a unit on the dystopian novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I would include this conversation by Epictetus about stress management. I would introduce this quote after reading Chapter 2, at which point Katniss volunteers to take her …
I’m teaching plot and characterization in Gary Paulsen’s novel, Hatchet. I will focus on the theme of isolation by analyzing what Brian learns about himself while stranded in the Canadian wilderness. I would introduce this conversation surrounding Franz Kafka and …
Bruce A. Jacob’s poem “Home Training” talks about how he did not understand the quotes his mother hung up at home, or her “laying on of hands,” or her warning “fence line of red roses” because he didn’t know the …
The poet Emily Dickinson is famous for her cryptic verses, but in the poem “Success is Counted Sweetest“ she tells us specifically that those who appreciate success the most are those that have not had it. I would connect this …
When teaching economics and the concepts of supply and demand, students can often struggle to understand why demand, in many cases, continues to rise. The conversation surrounding happiness inspired by Diogenes offers a simple way to look at continued demand …
While Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio depicts small-town America through the lens of the Lost Generation, filled with feelings of disillusionment, uncertainty and loss, student’s today can identify with the struggles of his small-town characters, especially George Willard. These students are …
Students learn about civil disobedience and social responsibility throughout their school years, and the life of Mahatma Gandhi is a great introduction to this topic. To begin this unit, I first read the informational text “How Salt Shook an Empire“ …
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