The plot of the popular Shakespeare play Twelfth Night is based entirely on deception. I would use the conversation with Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Honesty to lead a discussion with students post reading. I would have them apply the question …
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 …
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 …
To teach students the difference between primary and secondary sources, I like to use a fun game like “Telephone” to show how information gets warped and changed as it passes through many different minds and mouths. Once exposed to different …
Honesty is a character trait to which most people aspire. With honesty comes trust and respect from others. Without it comes fear, suspicion and betrayal. Students face daily ethical choices over whether or not they should pursue the path of honesty or embrace deception.
Students must make decisions in life about how to treat themselves and others. There is a tension here in deciding whose needs should assume greater importance. Sometimes the selfish instinct takes over, other people are shut out and there is a laser-like focus on individual needs. Other times the selfless attitude leads the way. Making wise and balanced decisions about when to serve the self and other people is an important component to living a good life.
