Ecological catastrophy? Shrug. Whatcha gonna do?

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What do you think is behind the lack of interest in climate change which this article reports?   Is the media partly to blame?   Should the role of the media be simply to report facts, or does it also have the obligation to encourage action?

Termination trauma

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This is the last article you can comment on for the month of October.

What limits seem reasonable to you in terms of abortion, and which limits simply make the experience needlessly more difficult for the woman involved?  Does acknowledging the fact that abortion is a tramatic experience for some women just add fuel to the pro-life side of the argument, or is this necessary information to take into account, even if you are pro-choice?   In any controversy, when is it important to concede points to the other side and address ambiguities, and when is it important to simplify the situation in order to make clear arguments?

Two Novels

My students have just completed two novels: The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.  This month, instead of responding to articles or recordings, I have provided some discussion questions about these works.

The Blithedale Romance: Why doesn’t Miles spill the beans?

When he discovered that Hollingsworth wanted to purchase the land for his prisoner reform scheme, why does Miles retreat to town instead of telling the others at Blithedale?  How would the plot of the novel have changed if had revealed this?

The Blithedale Romance: Are philanthropists inherently selfish?

This novel deals a lot with causes: the Transcendentalist and Fourierian ideals of the Blithedale project, the feminism of Zenobia, and of course the reformation of criminals which Hollingsworth devotes himself to.  What does Miles (or Hawthorne?) say about the dangers of this?  To what extent do you think he is right?

The Bell Jar: Esther as a young adult

Esther is an academically oriented young adult (like you).  To what extent can you identify with the difficulties she faces in the novel?

The Bell Jar: Am I better or worse than…?

Esther spends much of the novel comparing herself to others.  Do you think this is something that helps to cause her depression?  Or is it more of a symptom?  Or is it simply normal –something that most of us do but do not always admit to?

The Blithedale Romance and The Bell Jar: Too close or too far away?

Miles is constantly wondering whether his unhappiness is caused by being too concerned about Priscilla, Zenobia and Hollingsworth, or not concerned enough.  Which is it?  Is Esther’s problem in any way similar to that of Miles?

The Blithedale Romance and The Bell Jar: Types of feminism

Both novels have feminism as an important theme.  How does Plath’s (or Esther’s) view of feminism differ from that of Hawthorne (or Miles)?

The Blithedale Romance and The Bell Jar: Realistic or idealistic?

Both novels use characters to create a contrast between the attitudes of idealism/optimism, realism and cynicism.  What does each novel have to say about these attitudes?

Walking the fine line between frigid and hysterical

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Are women condemned for displaying strong emotion (or not displaying enough emotion) more than men are?  Clinton was often criticized for her lack of emotion.  How has Caputova fared? What do emotions (or the lack of them) tell us about credibility –if anything?

A thousand words gone with each jpeg

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How do you feel about photographs?  Are you someone who accepts that memory is ephemeral, or do you try to capture and catalogue all of your experiences?  Do you ever go back and look at your old photos?  How would you feel if they were lost or destroyed?

Is “poor you” an insult?

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Is classism a problem in our society in general or Slovak society in particular?  Are the poor often seen as undeserving of help?  Are blue-collar crimes (or crimes by poor minorities), more often condemned than white (collar) crimes?  What encourages such prejudice and what can be done to combat it?

Breivik, Roof, Bissonnette, Tarrant... crazies all

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This is a response by the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand to the recent mass shooting in Christchurch.  Is saying that a white supremacist terrorist is crazy an excuse for not facing our own racism?  Is claiming that Islamic terrorists are motivated by their religion/ideology treating the group we do not belong to according to a double standard?  What can be done to fight white supremacy, which seems to be on the rise?

Sell carrots instead

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Should government money be used to revitalise poor neighborhoods with projects like this one?  What do you think about government food assistance to poor people, which seems to be a part of the market’s success?  Is having teens work on the market a good way to prevent crime?  Why isn’t the market more popular with locals?

Sorry for that little massacre some decades ago

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This is the last entry you can comment on for the month of April.

What do you think of government apologies for injustices committed in the past?  Do you agree with the author in this case?  Is he right in being dismissive of possible financial obligations for example?