Inquiry Question: How does fear alter our behavior?

Introduction:

Fear is a basic human instinct. It is programed into our nervous system. When we are born we are equipped with the survival instinct to feel fear and act out of fear when we sense danger. In other words, fear keeps us safe. What we fear, however, is mostly learned - either through direct experience or through social means. In these stories we will explore - through the perspective of the narrators - how some socially constructed fears alter our behavior and what consequences this may have for both the victims of and the objects of fear.

"Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space"

This piece was written by Brent Staples - a Pulitzer Prize winning American author and editorial writer for The New York Times.

TASK 1

Let's learn a little bit about the author and fill out as much of a rhetorical triangle for this piece as we can. We will finish filling it out after our first draft read.

TASK 3

Complete a second draft read of the piece, looking for information to help you answer these questions. When you are finished, please turn your copy of these questions into Google Classroom. Click here for your own copy of the document below.

"Breaking and Entering" by Sherman Alexie

"Breaking and Entering" by Sherman Alexie is a fictional short story that explores decisions - well, a decision - that led to one man's life changing completely. George Wilson decides not to open a door. Something which should be so simple and forgotten, that then turns into an event of human responses and more bad decisions, leaving a kid dead and a man holding the guilt.

TASK 1

Read (or listen) to the story below. When you are finished jot down your reaction to the story - how did it make you feel? How do you feel about the main character? About the teenage boy? Why?

TASK 2

Complete a second draft read of the piece, looking for information to help you answer these questions. When you are finished, please turn your copy of these questions into Google Classroom. Click here for your own copy of the document below.