Let’s try to describe a big idea or event in one word. Read the topics and choose one for your focus. Share your answers in a short paragraph. Be sure to answer these questions:
Why did you choose that word?
How does it cover the big ideas?
Use specific details from the readings from this class or your own experiences and knowledge to support your choice of word.
Prompt:
Topic 1: In Anthem, Chapter 11, the narrator of the story comes to an important realization, one that opens his perspective on life and changes the way he speaks. The topic for this Word Journal is We. Choose one adjective to describe We in Anthem, Chapter 11. Then explain your word choice.
Topic 2: In “The Limits of Empathy,” author David Brooks writes about the concept of empathy. The topic for this Word Journal is empathy. Choose one adjective to describe empathy as it is used in the text. Then explain your word choice.
Discussion Post Example
Response to Topic 1:
TS: Because the concept and freedom of individuality has been kept hidden and suppressed in the collective society which the forces behind "We" have created, I use the word oppressive to describe "We.” SD: Having studied the lost texts of the Unmentionable Times, by Chapter 11, Equality 7-2521 has fully realized himself as an individual. SD:He understands intellectually what his heart has believed all along, that the individual has the right to his own life. EV: The reader knows this from the beginning of the chapter and feels its reinforcement in Equality’s assertion that “I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning.” CS: He now recognizes that “We” has controlled every aspect of his life and the lives of the other citizens, thus "We" has been a continuous oppressive force.
TS - topic sentence
SD - supporting detail
EV - evidence
CS - concluding statement
