Choose one writing from the list below and develop a piece of 350-500 words.
You may use any literary form you wish. Be thoughtful in your choice of topics. These pieces are to be read aloud in class, so do not write something you would not be comfortable sharing with the group.
1. Write about a time you were an “outsider” in a group. The “outsider” status should be long -term and not changeable by time. We are not thinking here of being the new kid on the block, on the team, or in the school. Those situations change in time. We are thinking here of some more serious and deeper “outsider” status by race, gender, ethnicity, etc. In your piece, reflect on all the feelings you had as the outsider. Give readers enough detail so that we understand
why you wanted to be part of the group,
what it felt like to be excluded,
how you coped with those feelings and
what, if anything, you did about it.
2. Write about an experience when you became responsible for another person. Again, this experience should not be, say, babysitting, but a more involved and more challenging sense of responsibility. Explore how the feelings of duty and obligation affected you and/or your sense of yourself. Give readers enough detail so that we understand all the feelings you had about the experience
your feelings about being responsible,
how you coped with those feelings and
what you did about it and
what you learned about yourself through the experience.
3. The novel explores the nature and limits of scientific experiment. When Shelley wrote this novel, science had not developed to a point where the secrets of life were opened to it. Now, science has unraveled the secret of DNA, defined the genetic code, experimented with cloning, and explored the complexities of human engineering. Write your view of the questions facing scientists and our society today.
Are there any limits on scientific exploration?
What are they? Who decides?
Can science ever go too far?
What role, if any, does morality play?