Day 1
1. Write the definition of "moral" on the board and ask students to copy it at the top of a
new journal page. This can serve as an activity to get kids busy at the start of class.
2. Discuss the nature of a "moral issue" as one causing individuals to view it as either
right or wrong with little room for discussion.
3. Ask students to do some brainstorming/listing in their journals as directed by the
passage below or an adaptation of the same:
"Brainstorm a list of moral issues about which people hold very strong
beliefs. These issues may be particular to an individual life, such as
always telling the truth or not cheating on a test, or they may be on a
larger social stage, such as abortion or equal rights. List as many as
you can, and do not worry about whether what comes to your mind is a
good idea or not. Just think and list!"
[Allow ten minutes]
4. Ask students to share items from their lists as you [the teacher] write them on the
board. Students should add items to their lists as appropriate. Try to get every item, but
do assess each one to be sure it is indeed a type of moral issue. You are encouraged to
have your own list as well just to be sure some important issues are included.
5. Discuss the ways these issues can arise and how our moral strength can be tested
(relationships, church v. state, workplace, parents, friends, school, etc.).
6. Read Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. [Oh, get over yourself! Dr. Seuss was a
wonderful writer and can often provide a great way to initially access certain issues.]
7. Ask students to identify the moral issue Horton was dealing with. There may be a few
good suggestions, such as keeping promises and personal responsibility for others. Ask
students to add any of these to their lists.
8. Give them a twist. Ask them what Horton should do if someone said, "Get off the egg
or you will die right now," or "The creature that will hatch is proven to be a deadly
species that shall kill us all!" This may generate some interesting discussion and
introduce the idea that dealing with moral issues can sometimes be a challenge to us.
HOMEWORK
"Place an "M" for "Me" next to each issue on their list that they consider to be important
to them as individuals. Next, do some writing about ways in which some of these beliefs
have been tested in your experiences. Did you hold up under the pressure, or did you
beak down? Why? Write at least one page and be prepared to share passages in class."
Day 2
1. Ask students to share journal entry passages and discuss as a class. Attempt to
connect to Seuss and larger themes whenever possible.
2. Define and discuss transcendentalism.
3. Pass out questions for "Self-Reliance." Instruct students to look over the questions
briefly for familiarity purposes and seek clarification if necessary.
4. Read excerpt from "Self-Reliance." [Questions are based upon excerpt in McDougal,
Littell American Literature (1987). Adjust questions as needed.] Ask students to keep
their eyes on the questions, but not to attempt written responses yet.
5. Break students into small groups to discuss excerpt and related questions. Students
may, at this time, begin written responses. Class will end before they finish, so they
should attempt to complete responses at home with the understanding that they will
reconvene their groups during the next class session. Encourage them to re-read the
excerpt on their own as they work on responses.
Day 3
1. Reconvene small groups to share and discuss responses. Ask students who amend
their responses to do so on separate sheets of paper.
2. Go over questions and discuss as a class. Collect questions.
ASSIGNMENT
"In a three paragraph essay, explain how Dr. Seuss' Horton demonstrates self-reliance as
detailed by Emerson in his essay. Be sure to use direct quotations from both texts to
support your statements."
Days 4-7 (see item 4)
1. Define civil, disobedience, and civil disobedience.
2. Provide background information for Civil Disobedience.
-Mexican war
-slavery
-poll taxes
3. Pass out questions for Civil Disobedience and ask students to review them for
purposes of familiarity and clarity. Discuss as needed.
4. Spend the next several days (pace is up to you) working with the text and responding
to the questions. Combine reading aloud (teacher and/or student), reading at home, and
small group work to cover the material and questions. Make connections to Seuss and
Emerson, self-reliance and transcendentalism whenever possible.
ASSIGNMENT
"Write a five-paragraph essay in which you explore the following:
-Thoreau's act of civil disobedience as an act of self-reliance
-Thoreau's essay as a treatsie detailing the concept of transcendentalism
-Thoreau's act as an example of adherence to transcendentalism
Be sure to directly quote from both Thoreau and, when necessary, Emerson."
Day 8
1. Pass out questions for On the Rainy River. Ask students to review the questions for
the purposes of familiarity and clarity. Discuss as necessary.
2. Options:
-Read the story out loud and ask students to respond to the questions at
home.
-Read the story out loud, then ask the students to read it again at home
while answering the questions.
-Ask the students to read the story to themselves, and then use small
groups to
respond to the questions.
ASSIGNMENT
"Write a five-paragraph essay in which you examine this story through the lens of selfreliance and transcendentalism. How would Thoreau have handled this situation? Why?
How would Emerson have handled this situation? Why? How would you have handles
this situation? Why?"
Final Assignment
"Using your list of issues from the beginning of the unit, select one that you truly feel
strongly about, and then write a five-paragraph essay in which you do the following:
1. Describe a scenario in which your position might be challenged.
2. Explain how you would respond to this challenge and why.
3. Describe the possible consequences you might suffer internally and externally
as a result of this response.
You are encouraged to quote any of the texts used in this unit to help clarify your
statements."
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
1. How does Emerson define "genius?"
2. What did Moses, Milton, and Plato do that caused Emerson to revere them?
3. Why do people dismiss their thoughts so readily?
4. What do people often see in works of genius?
5. Emerson describes "good" as "nourishing corn." According to Emerson, what is the only way
that this "good" can come to a person?
6. What is it that generates our good instincts?
7. According to Emerson, what do "boys" do that is so admirable?
8. What happens to a "man" who speaks and is listened to?
9. What virtue is most prized by society? What is its antithesis?
10. What must a person be in order to be "a man?"
11. What must a true individual do when they encounter something identified as "good?"
12. "What the people think" is not as important as...
13. What two behaviors are easy? What singular behavior is difficult?
14. Emerson states that nonconformists suffer in the public eye, but that this should not be a
concern to them [the nonconformists]. Why?
15. What, other than disdain from society, discourages people from trusting ourselves?
16. What happens if you are for "consistency?"
17. Why are great people often misunderstood?
18. Institutions are based upon a strict set of beliefs or behaviors. Where do institutions come
from?
19. What does Emerson mean when he says "trust thyself?"
20. What is the conflict that exists between independent thought and social expectations and
traditions?
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
1. Thoreau says "that government is best which governs not at all." What does he mean?
2. What example does Thoreau give to show how government can be "abused" and
"perverted?"
3. According to Thoreau, who or what is responsible for keeping the country free,
settling the West, and educating?
4. What does Thoreau demand "at once?"
5. What, instead of the law, does Thoreau believe one should respect?
6. What does Thoreau consider his only obligation?
7. What example does Thoreau provide of men being "agents of injustice" through their
respect for the law?
8. Thoreau states that most people serve the state with their bodies or with their heads.
What essential quality does he believe is often missing in these people?
9. Why does Thoreau state that one "cannot without disgrace be associated with"
American government at that time?
10. What two specific reasons does Thoreau give to justify a revolution against the
government?
11. Thoreau says that if you have unjustly taken a plank from a drowning man you must
give it back even if it costs you your life. In a similar fashion, what two things must the
American people do?
12. Why is Thoreau so frustrated with the people of Massachusetts?
13. Why does Thoreau consider voting to be relatively worthless?
14. Thoreau states that man need not "devote himself to the eradication of any, even the
most enormous wrong." What, however, must people do?
15. What is hypocritical about a person who applauds a soldier that refuses to fight in an
unjust war?
16. What action does Thoreau consider "revolutionary" and which "divides the
individual, separating the diabolical in him from the divine?"
17. Thoreau states that people should not obey unjust laws while seeking to amend them,
but that government punishes those who do so. What five individuals does he hold up as
examples of people who have disobeyed unjust laws and been punished for doing so?
18. When, according to Thoreau, should one break the law?
19. What does Thoreau say to the Abolitionists?
20. What is the only circumstance in which Thoreau and the American government meet
directly?
21. How many honest men will it take, according to Thoreau, to bring an end to slavery?
What must this honest man do?
22. If a government imprisons people unjustly, where do the just people living under that
government belong?
23. Is an enemy of the state powerless when in prison? Why or why not?
24. Who among the people are likely to have the least virtue? Why?
25. Why does Thoreau say that his neighbors do not disobey the government when they
believe it is unjust?
26. Why did Thoreau not feel confined when put into prison?
27. Why does Thoreau not feel a duty to help support a government in financial
difficulty?
28. Though only in prison for one night, Thoreau sensed that a great change had taken
place. What, according to him, was different?
29. Why did Thoreau refuse to pay the poll tax?
30. What does Thoreau think of democracy?
On the Rainy River by Tim O'Brien (from The Things They Carried)
1. What sentence in the first paragraph presents a restated version of transcendentalism?
2. O'Brien said that he dispensed with acts of "daily courage." To whom would Thoreau
compare O'Brien in this regard?
3. What was O'Brien's stance on the Vietnam War? Why?
4. What happened in the Gulf of Tonkin? [Look it up.]
5. Who was Ho Chi Minh? [Look it up.]
6. What legal alternatives to going to war did O'Brien have?
7. Thoreau stated that men must act upon their conscience. What did O'Brien's
conscience tell him to do?
8. What initial resistance to his conscience does O'Brien feel?
9. What was unusual about Elroy Berdahl?
10. According to O'Brien, did Elroy know what O'Brien's conflict was?
11. Later, what did O'Brien identify as the resisting force to his conscience?
12. Does O'Brien give any indication of what he is planning to do? What is it? How do
you know?
13. Do you think Elroy brought O'Brien so close to Canada on purpose? Why or why
not?
14. O'Brien asks you a question: "What would you do?" Answer it and explain the
reasons for your choice.
15. What did O'Brien choose to do? Why?