Altruism: what should you do?

Step 1: You shoudl have (well and truly) read – or re-read “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Your mission here is to ensure you develop a view about the novel’s exploration through stories of the nature of altruism.

The point here is that we’re not really (at this stage, anway) interested in altruism as some sort of academic study or debate. You may end up there (if that’s where your interest takes you) but at this stage, we’re exploring this idea through story.

Step 2: Watch a film (see the Altruism-in-films post (coming very soon) for ideas if you’re bereft!) … Initially, look at how the ideas in the film relate to “To kill a mockingbird” … Characters, themes, language, setting, story … Find a connection … If you can’t? Find another film! See if you can connect your film to the actions of “real” people … Indeed, some of them might be about REAL people!

   

Step 3: Develop some explorative experiments in writing. Start with story again - initially the ones contained in Harper Lee’s novel; then (perhaps) those stories that derive from it (say, the impact the novel has had – on you as a reader, on others who have read it, on the actors who took part in the film.) Then, you could extrapolate your own stories – initially orienting them around elements of the book: the child’s-eye view of (altruistic/charitable/benevolent) acts; examples from the book that relate to “real life” (lawyers who act as Atticus does; real-life trials where social tension associated with race has been a factor; kids caught up in or affected by disputes of adults …) Finally, you should devise your own writing, using any of: stylistic elements, subject-matter, characters, themes, locations, language features, structure … from Tequila to guide (in some way) your own creative writing choices.

                 

For you, the “end point” is to ensure that, by the fourth week in Term 3, you are ready to go. In this week, we’ll try to devote the time to crystallising your experiments – making sure that you end up with an extended piece that you can go with, and which explores what you have come to “know” about altruism, and which USES “Tequila” in your own created piece of writing. DON’T FORGET YOUR EXPLANATION!

 

Yes, it may seem like we’re starting a long way out … But remember the lesson (one of them) from last semester is that time gets tighter and tighter … Getting the process of taking the ideas on board and letting them percolate started early is “good”, not “bad”!