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| "...across the farmlands..." (based on this photo at Wikimedia) |
Note: This devastating story by Ursula K. LeGuin asks the question: can the benefit of the many justify the abuse of the few (or even one)?
Get Ready: Look at the question in the "Note." How would you answer it?
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| Left to right: Simeon, Ivan, and Tarras "the fat" (Gutenberg) |
Note: This moral tale, itself simple, teaches the virtues of simplicity. It's also fun to read!
Get Ready: If you could have one wish at this very moment, what would it be?
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| Gelert by Charles Burton Barber (c.1894) (Wikipedia) |
Note: We are all suckers for a good story--true or not. Here's a whole category of them!
Get Ready: Have you ever heard one of those exciting but unlikely stories that always seems to happen to "a friend of a friend"?
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| Burdened Christian flees from home (Wikipedia) |
Note: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was a favorite for many, many years, read alongside the Bible as a means of bringing up proper Christians. It no longer shares widespread popularity.
Get Ready: What do you think of didactic or "preachy" literature in the guise of a novel or other literary form?
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| Dorian Gray and his painting in a 1945 film (Wikipedia) |
Note: Few novels explore the nexus of esthetics and morality--with a little magic thrown in--like Oscar Wilde's masterpiece.
Get Ready: Do you think our acts of kindness or cruelty have effects beyond the everyday? That is, do our choices affect a realm beyond this one?
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| Four Brahmins (Wikipedia) |
Note: Here's another moral tale cautioning against greed.
Get Ready: How much money is "enough"?
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| Sparrow and scissors by Hokusai (Wikipedia) |
Note: This Japanese folktale was collected by the great Irish-Greek writer Lafcadio Hearn, among others.
Get Ready: The best stories often contain a moral which dramatically contrasts the rewards of kindness and the punishment of selfishness. Can you think of some examples?
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| Huckleberry Finn with a rabbit (Wikipedia) |
Note: A candidate for the Great American Novel, Twain's masterpiece is also a scathing indictment of the practice of slavery.
Get Ready: Is it sometimes all right to help a person out of a terrible situation, even if it meant breaking the law?
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| Prince Arthur and the Faerie Queen (Wikipedia) |
Note: Centuries before us considered The Faerie Queene to be one of the greatest works in the English language. Though it's not easy to read, it's still a fascinating work today, with many a moral lesson.
Get Ready: If you were to write a book about morality, what virtues would you consider the most important? Name at least three or four.
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| Gulliver at the mercy of the Lilliputians (Wikipedia) |
Note: You might know about Gulliver among the Lilliputians (little people), but what about the giants? Or the talking horses? And how about those Yahoos?
Get Ready: What would it be like to be a giant--like twelve times larger than "normal" people--or a tiny person less than 1/10th normal size? What challenges would it present? What advantages?
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| The Blind Men and the Elephant (Wikipedia) |
Note: The famous Indian tale about six blind men "examining" an elephant and coming to very different conclusions was amusingly put into verse by a 19th-century American poet. Here's the story.
Get Ready: Do you believe that the way you see things is the way everyone does (or ought to)?
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| Playwright Henrik Ibsen (Wikipedia) |
Note: Nora craves liberation in a way unsuitable for a woman in 1879. Watch as she gradually breaks out of her "doll's house."
Get Ready: What do you think are the proper roles for a husband and wife--especially if they have children?
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| Forty-niner at a sluice (Wikipedia) |
Note: A group of ne'er-do-wells is exiled from a California mining camp--and proves they're better than most of the townsfolk!
Get Ready: What makes a person good or bad? Do you think we can ever properly judge the moral worth of others?
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| The Death of Socrates (1787), by Jacques-Louis David (Wikipedia) |
Note: Socrates was executed for "corrupting the morals of the youth." Learn the story behind this "crime" and "see" how he died.
Get Ready: Do you think we should always listen to our parents, teachers, government leaders, and others in authority? Or should we question what they say to be sure it's the right thing?
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| Hester and Pearl, with Dimmesdale and Chillingworth behind them (Wikipedia) |
Note: At one time, most American high school students were required to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter. Set in the New England of two centuries earlier, it explores the mores of American Puritanism and the more universal themes of sin and guilt.
Get Ready: In this story, religious leaders say one thing and do another. Have you ever seen examples of this kind of hypocrisy?
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| A 1687 illustration of the fable (Wikipedia) |
Note: The Greek author Aesop is famous for his fables, stories with a moral attached at the end. Though they often feature talking animals, they sometimes instead highlight the foolish behavior of real human characters.
Get Ready: Does a liar ever tell the truth? How can you be sure?
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| A woodcut of Aesop (Wikipedia) |
Note: A freed Greek slave has remained famous through the ages for his moral teachings, often put in the mouths of animals. Meet Aesop!
Get Ready: Do you think that telling stories is a good way to teach moral lessons? Is there a better way?
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| (Wikipedia) |
Note: The 19th century was an age of great novels. Many of the genres we enjoy reading today--fantasy, romance, detective stories, Gothic horror, and more--either started or became popular in the "Victorian Age." In this lesson, we'll talk about one of the greatest.
For another version of this story, see Lesson #08-049.
Get Ready: Do you like scary movies? What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?
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