Shari Dorantes Hatch

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planning a holiday party

Week 16, Responsibility, Day 1. Over the past year and a half,
journalists, newscasters, politicians, and economists have been wringing their hands about the unwillingness of corporate executives, bankers, investors, mortgage lenders, and myriad others to take responsibility for the financial disaster they have wrought for the entire country — and even the whole world.
Prompts. What can be done to encourage heads of companies and other financial leaders to take responsibility for their own actions? What can be done to ensure that they will have to assume some responsibility for their actions in the future? How does moral hazard affect people’s willingness to take responsibility for their actions? How does it affect the likelihood of their acting responsibly?

Day 2. Often, prosecutors offer special deals (plea bargains) to criminals who confess to their crimes and take responsibility for their actions.
Prompts. What are some of the benefits to society of these negotiated deals? What are some of the drawbacks (e.g., see http://sogweb.sog.unc.edu/blogs/ncclaw/?p=1008)? What are the pluses and minuses for those criminals who confess? What are some of the risks of this prosecutorial strategy? What might be some alternatives to punishment (e.g., restitution or other compensation to the victim) that would better foster responsibility among perpetrators of crimes, which might also deter future criminal actions?

Day 3. Educators and child-development specialists give considerable thought and attention to how to foster responsibility among children.
Prompts. What were some of your responsibilities when you were a child? For instance, did you have particular chores, were you expected to wake yourself and get yourself ready for school, were you expected to take care of a pet? How did you feel about having these responsibilities? How do you think they affected you both then and now? If you have your own children, how do you foster their sense of responsibility? If you don’t, how do you believe that parents might do so?

Day 4. We often laud heros for a single heroic deed, but we seldom celebrate those who day after day after day perform small responsible acts to help their loved ones and their fellow citizens.
Prompts. Why do we seem to overvalue single heroic acts and to undervalue repeated acts of self-sacrifice and responsibility? What are some examples of these superlative but seemingly ordinary acts? What can be done to refocus our values to appreciate this truly hard work?

Day 5. Among the many definitions of responsibility listed in Wikipedia are moral responsibility, social responsibility, and professional responsibility. In addition, most of us think in terms of very practical responsibilities, such as paying our bills, showing up for work on time, completing assigned work tasks, caring for our children, and so on.
Prompts. In light of each of these kinds of responsibilities, what are some of your most important responsibilities, as you see them? How would others be affected if you didn't handle your responsibilities well? Which of these responsibilities give you the greatest sense of pride? Why? What are the responsibilities you find the most tedious, annoying, or otherwise undesirable (e.g., paying bills, housekeeping)? How do you motivate yourself to tackle these unwanted responsibilities?

Day 6. Most professions require that people obtain some sort of credentials to enter a profession. These credentials certify that the prospective professionals have received adequate preparation — typically both education and perhaps some supervised experience in the field. The credentials also signify to clients, patients, students, and others that the person is prepared to take on the responsibilities, duties, and obligations of that profession, such as valuing the welfare of the client or patient or student, preserving the confidentiality of the clients, and so on. Marriage licenses likewise signify a person’s readiness to take on some responsibilities toward a spouse. Oddly, parents require no such credentials or licensing, but wise parents take at least some steps to prepare for this awesome responsibility.
Prompts. What are some professional or personal responsibilities you would like to take on? What do you need to do to prepare for taking on those responsibilities? What are some responsibilities you would like to unburden yourself from? Is it realistic for you to do so? If so, how might you be able to do so? If not, how can you lessen the burdensomeness of these onerous responsibilities?

Day 7. When academics consider responsibility, they often discuss either responsible actions (e.g., “responsible buying or conducting responsible research) or responsible decision making.
Prompts. When have you acted irresponsibly, such as acting recklessly, procrastinating key duties, foisting your own jobs on others, or simply neglecting your responsibilities? What led you to act irresponsibly? What else may have contributed to your irresponsible actions? How can you avoid such actions in the future? How can you increase your chances of acting more responsibly in the future? What are some of the irresponsible decisions you have made? How can you enhance your chances of avoiding irresponsible decisions in the future?

Reflect back on what you have written this week about responsibility.
Prompts. What do you think can be done to make it more likely for you and for others to take greater responsibility for your own actions? How can we help one another to share some of society’s particularly burdensome responsibilities?

Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Some additional family responsibilities have led me to decide to switch from a weekly to a monthly publication for this blog. I will be publishing it each fourth Monday of each month.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

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Week 15, Integrity, Day 1. When we think about the virtue of integrity, we usually mean that a person is honest and that the person shows consistent values in their words and their actions, even when doing so is not easy. For instance, if people say they prize family values, we expect them to remain faithful to their spouses and to put the interests and well-being of their children above their own desires and aims. We also expect them to spend their time, money, and other resources on their own families and on helping other families. When they vote on public tax spending, we expect them to choose to spend a lot of money on helping families, such as on children's health and education. If people say they value peace, we expect them to choose peaceful ways to solve their own conflicts and to want to spend more money on offering peaceful aid to other countries than on military expenditures.
Prompts. What are some of your values about which you speak the most? Which of these values causes you the least difficulty when trying to be consistent in your words and your deeds? For which of these values do you have the most difficulty being consistent in your actions? If someone has observed you but has never spoken with you about your values, would that person be able to guess your values, based on what she or he has observed about you? Why or why not? What are some of your hidden values? How can you make those values more evident in your actions?

Day 2. Miep Gies was a liar. Constantly. For nearly a year. For her lying, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (in 1994) and the Yad Vashem medal (in 1995), and she was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (in 1997). In fact, people around the world honor her as a woman of high integrity for having lied. Why? Because her lies protected the Jewish family of Anne Frank, hiding them from Nazis during World War II.
Prompts. When is it morally right to lie or to deceive other people? When is it morally wrong to lie or to deceive other people? What about if you tell someone a lie (e.g., “The police probably took your daddy with them so that he could help the police”) to keep from upsetting the person or hurting the person’s feelings? What are some other situations when it’s tough to decide whether to be dishonest? How have you handled those situations?

Day 3. Ali Sheqer Pashkaj, an Albanian Muslim, helped a Jewish man to escape Nazi captors, then he sheltered the man in his own home for two years until World War II ended. Even when the Nazis held a gun to his head — four different times — Ali continued to lie and to say he had no idea where the man was hiding. Ali was so good at lying that the 30 other families living in Ali’s village had no idea that Ali was hiding anyone there.
In a small town in Tunisia (in northern Africa), when Khaled Abdelwahhab “heard that German officers were planning to rape Odette Boukris, a local Jewish woman, he gathered her family and several other Jewish families in Mahdia — around two dozen people — and took them to his farm outside town. He hid them for four months, until the [Nazi] occupation [of Tunisia] ended” (Layla Anwar, “First Arab nominated for Holocaust honor,” January 31, 2007; retrieved April 11, 2010). (See also more information on Arabs or other Muslims who rescued and otherwise protected Jews.)
Prompts. Miep Gies knew the Frank family when she risked her own life by hiding them and deceiving the Nazis. Khaled Abdelwahhab may have known the Jewish families whom he protected. Ali Sheqer Pashkaj definitely did not know the man whom he saved, though. Why do some people risk their own lives, health, and well-being to aid mere acquaintances or even total strangers who are suffering or are in danger? For whom might you consider risking your life, your health, or your well-being? Why? Why do we revere these rescuers? Why do we believe that they have great personal integrity, even though each of them was deceptive?

Day 4. When Howard Zinn was a young man, during World II, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and became a bombardier. In April of 1945, he participated in using napalm to harm people in Royan, France, perhaps the first time it was used in this way. Over the next two decades, Zinn decided to investigate this incident further and realized that he had participated in killing more than 1,000 French civilians, a smaller number of German soldiers who were hiding there, and an ancient city that had existed quietly for millennia. He also found that the officers who ordered the attack knew the town was not a legitimate military target. He later came to regret other bombing attacks, as well. For the rest of his life, Zinn wrote and spoke out passionately on behalf of peace and social justice. His People’s History of the United States, first published in 1980, gives a forthright account of U.S. history, acknowledging both virtues and faults.
Prompts. Why is it so unusual for people to recognize and admit when they have made a mistake? Why is it so hard to do so? What are some of your own mistakes, which you have had trouble admitting? Why? Can you have personal integrity if you do not admit your mistakes? Why or why not?

Day 5. Intergalactic media star Oprah Winfrey had rocketed James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces to best-sellerdom, through her television book club. When investigators later found that Frey had lied about his “nonfiction memoir,” and that much of it was false, Oprah Winfrey admitted on national television that she had made a mistake in promoting his book and in later defending him to fellow TV talk-show host Larry King. She admitted, “It is difficult for me to talk to you, because I really feel duped. . . . I have been really embarrassed” (quoted on p. 215, Tavris and Aronson, 2007). On that same show, she later told a Washington Post columnist, “sometimes criticism can be very helpful, so thank you very much. You were right, I was wrong” (quoted on p. 215, emphasis added, Mistakes Were Made, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, 2007; New York: Harcourt).
Of course, though Oprah’s apology was major — and made a major impression on journalists — her mistake was relatively minor. She was conned by a charming con artist who had conned many others, as well. Other persons have been willing to admit their much more serious mistakes. For instance, N. Wayne Hale, Jr., the launch integration manager who allowed the space shuttle Columbia to launch, with tragic consequences, said, “I had the opportunity and the information and I failed to make use of it. . . . I stand condemned in the court of my own conscience to be guilty of not preventing the Columbia disaster. . . . look no further; I am guilty of allowing Columbia to crash” (also in Tavris and Aronson, 2007, p. 216). Wow!
Likewise, following the Civil War battle at Gettysburg, in which more than half of the 12,500 Confederate soldiers were killed, General Robert E. Lee said, “All this has been my fault. I asked more of my men than should have been asked of them” (also in Tavris and Aronson, 2007, pp. 229–230). Wow. Which corporate executives have made comparable statements following a mere financial debacle?
Prompts. Oprah went on to receive even greater admiration from her fans and from other members of the media. Wayne Hale was later promoted to manager of the Space Shuttle Program. And even more than a century after his defeat in battle, Robert E. Lee is remembered fondly in both the North and the South, as a man of integrity. Why do we so admire someone who openly admits to having made mistakes? Do we always admire people who admit their mistakes? What makes it more likely that we will admire someone who admits having made mistakes? Why do so few executives, politicians, and other public officials admit to making mistakes? Is it harder for a public figure or a celebrity to admit to making a mistake, or is it just as hard to admit a mistake when you’re an ordinary person speaking with a colleague, friend, or family member?

Day 6. When people speak of having personal integrity, they often speak of Nelson Mandela, now best known as the former President of South Africa, the first to have been elected in a fully democratic election in which all citizens were allowed to vote. For one thing, Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years as a political prisoner, for having contested the apartheid regime of the white minority of South Africans, who oppressed the black majority of South Africans. Had he renounced his political aims, he would have been able to gain his freedom earlier. Even after his release, Mandela continued to show integrity in establishing a peaceful transition to multiracial rule, without retribution against his white former oppressors. During his presidency, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established, which offered amnesty to perpetrators of violence, in exchange for their truthful admissions of wrongdoing. This commission is often credited with having helped to heal the wounds of apartheid rule and facilitate the transition to majority rule.
Prompts. Why do we greatly admire persons who act according to their principles, even when they may suffer unwanted consequences as a result of doing so? Is it only because we know how hard it is to do so? Are there other reasons? Why do we greatly admire persons who can keep from being vengeful or from showing partisanship when they have been harmed by someone or by a group of people?

Day 7. The 1999 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; Doctors without Borders). On accepting the prize on behalf of MSF, James Orbinski, said, “Our action is to help people in situations of crisis. . . . Humanitarian action is more than simple generosity, simple charity. . . . we aim to enable individuals to regain their rights and dignity as human beings. . . . Our action and our voice is an act of indignation, a refusal to accept an active or passive assault on the other. . . . We are not sure that words can always save lives, but we know that silence can certainly kill. . . . Our volunteers and staff live and work among people whose dignity is violated every day. These volunteers choose freely to use their liberty to make the world a more bearable place. . . . the act of humanitarianism comes down to one thing: individual human beings reaching out to their counterparts who find themselves in the most difficult circumstances. One bandage at a time, one suture at a time, one vaccination at a time. And, uniquely for Médecins Sans Frontières, working in around 80 countries, over 20 of which are in conflict, telling the world what they have seen. All this in the hope that the cycles of violence and destruction will not continue endlessly.”
Prompts. MSF was founded by physicians and journalists, and part of their mission is not only to provide physical aid and comfort, but also to speak out on behalf of oppressed persons and victims of violence. In contrast, some other nongovernmental aid organizations never take sides or speak out against violence, arguing that they may be better able to serve the needy and the injured by remaining silent. What do you think? Which viewpoint do you believe is more like your own? What are some benefits of the view opposite your own view? In your opinion, which practice reflects greater integrity? Why?


Reflect back on what you have written this week about integrity. Whom do you admire most for having great integrity? Why? What do you admire about yourself in terms of your own integrity? When have you shown great personal integrity? When have you found it particularly hard to show personal integrity?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

Click and type in a question or comment

Week 14, compassion, Day 1. Each of the world’s religious faith traditions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism, Sikhism, etc.) embraces compassion as a fundamental virtue. Even secular humanists have said, “We believe in mitigating human suffering and in ensuring positive social conditions so that all people will have the opportunity to achieve happiness and the fullness of life. We do not defend unbridled license; rather, we encourage moral growth and the highest reaches of human discovery and achievement’’ (http://www.iheu.org/node/2140).
Prompts. Why is compassion so universally appreciated across both religious and secular philosophies? What do your own faith traditions tell you about compassion? What do you believe about the value of compassion? If you were to make a list of virtues, what ranking would you give to compassion on your list? Why?

Day 2. When looking up compassion in Wikipedia, the first paragraph refers to the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Prompts. Is compassion exactly the same thing as following the Golden Rule? How is compassion similar to following the Golden Rule? How does it differ from it? How are compassion and empathy the same? How do they differ? How are compassion and altruism the same? How do they differ?

Day 3. The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was presented jointly to Muhammad Yunus and to the Grameen Bank he founded. The Grameen Bank launched the movement to offer “microlending” to impoverished workers in India, who needed small personal loans in order to initiate small businesses, such as basketweaving. Previously, these village women had been unable to gain access to credit, or creditors charged them such exorbitant interest that the women were virtually enslaved to their creditors.
Prompts. In your opinion, why would a banker be considered such an important humanitarian that he would merit receiving the Nobel Peace Prize? What is the virtue of offering microcredit, as compared with just giving people money outright? What are some of the strategies that make microcredit work well for impoverished borrowers? Many philanthropists and other humanitarians (e.g., Greg Mortenson, about 17 minutes into this video) insist that their gifts be matched by the recipients’ contributions of labor or other resources, rather than just giving recipients a school, a hospital, a park, and so on. Why would it be useful to ask that a recipient give something in return for receiving the gift? In your opinion, would it be better just to give the gift, without asking for anything in return? Which strategy shows more compassion? Why? What are some other unusual or unexpected ways you or someone else may show compassion for someone in need?

Day 4. On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his last public address the night before he was assassinated. In it, he said, “The issue is injustice. . . . Now, we've got to keep attention on that. . . . Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. . . . [King then reminded his audience of the parable of the Good Samaritan.] . . . And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’
“That's the question before you tonight. . . . The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?’ The question is, ‘If I do not stop to help [these people in need], what will happen to them?’ . . .
“Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.”
Prompts. What did King mean by “dangerous unselfishness”? Perhaps few of us are willing to engage in “dangerous unselfishness,” but most of us are willing to put the needs of loved ones ahead of our own, at least occasionally. What are some examples of times when you put the needs of your loved ones ahead of your own? In addition, many of us are willing to broaden our definition of “loved ones” to include our wider community and perhaps even the wider world. What are some examples of times when you put the needs of a wider community or perhaps even the wider world ahead of your own desires? Just how “dangerously unselfish” have you been? How “dangerously unselfish” would you consider being? Whom do you know who has been “dangerously unselfish”?

Day 5. According to Melvin J. Lerner and Carolyn H. Simmons (in “Observer's reaction to the "innocent victim": Compassion or rejection?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 4(2), Aug 1966, 203–210), we may sometimes fail to feel compassion toward others because we want so strongly to believe that we live in a just world. On the other hand, Batson, Klein, Highberger, and Shaw (in “Immorality from empathy-induced altruism: When compassion and justice conflict.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 68(6), Jun 1995, 1042–1054) noticed that when people are induced to feel more empathy for someone, they may not be as keenly focused on justice.
Prompts. Why might our wish to believe that the world is just affect our feelings of compassion for persons who are suffering? Justice and compassion are both important virtues. How should we balance our wishes to be just with our wishes to show compassion? In your opinion, why do bad things sometimes happen to good people, or even to infants and other innocents? When are you the most likely to believe that bad things may have happened to people at least partly because the people deserved it? When are you the least likely to believe that? Does it make a difference whether you know the people? Does it make a difference whether the people are at least somewhat like you or familiar to you? How should individuals react when bad things happen to people? How should society as a whole react when bad things happen to people? When should individuals be expected to help people in need, and when should our society as a whole be expected to do so?

Day 6. Social workers, medical workers, teachers, and many other people dedicate their careers or their free time to helping people in need. Often, these compassionate caregivers are able to continue to feel compassionate over an extended period of time. Sometimes, however, it can be hard to sustain feelings of compassion following traumatic events or over years of caregiving. Entire books have been dedicated to “compassion fatigue,” “burnout,” and other disorders arising when caregivers themselves feel traumatized or overwhelmed while trying to help people who have greater needs than the caregivers feel able to fulfill.
Prompts. What conditions might lead a caregiver to feel “compassion fatigue”? What conditions might help a caregiver avoid feeling compassion fatigue? What steps might be taken to help minimize the likelihood of compassion fatigue among caregivers?

Day 7. Most of us enjoy many privileges, most of which we fail to recognize when observing others who may not have had the same privileges we have had. We may hold a dominant status in society, such as being males, heterosexuals, European-Americans, married persons, or even parents (and grandparents?). We may possess the comforts of being well-educated, being in the middle-class or even wealthier, being physically and sensorily abled, as well as cognitively abled, and so on. We may even luxuriate in abundant physical health and well-being. Because we may have benefited from at least some of these privileges for quite a while, we may never think about how we are affected by being able to enjoy these privileges. We may even come to have a sense of entitlement, in which we believe that we are distinctively deserving of these privileges, rather than simply fortunate. We rarely have reason to think about how our lives would differ, how we might behave differently, or how we might see the world differently if we could not indulge in these privileges.
Prompts. How would your outlook differ if you did not enjoy any of the dominant status associated with mainstream U.S. culture? How would you react when someone seemed to disrespect you in a social situation? How would you react when you were denied a promotion, not chosen for a job, or not selected among several candidates for receiving a scholarship or for purchasing a home? How would your everyday experiences be different if you had to overcome physical, sensory, or health challenges each day? How would your day be different from the moment you wakened until the moment you fell asleep? How would you behave differently if you had none of the educational or financial resources you have now — and if you had no family or friends with such resources, either? Do you believe that you can fully understand how others feel, think, or act, based on trying to be more empathetic with them? What other steps might you take to become more empathetic and compassionate with other people?

Reflect back on what you have written this week about compassion. In your view, why do some people seem more compassionate than others? What can help to make people more compassionate? Why might some people resist feeling compassionate? What steps can be taken to enable them to be less resistant? All of us are more compassionate with persons who seem like us, as compared with persons whom we believe to be unlike us. What can you do to be more compassionate in your interactions with others?

Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

Click and type in a question or comment

Week 13, Judgment, Day 1. In 1953, journalist I. F. Stone was blacklisted by the mainstream news outlets for whom he had been working since 1927. Undeterred, Stone started publishing his own I. F. Stone’s Weekly newsletter. Though Stone’s small newsletter never garnered a circulation of more than about 70,000, it was highly influential. A 1999 poll of journalists rated it the 16^th best work of American journalism of the 20^th century. How did this tiny two-person operation (i.e., Stone and his wife Esther) wield such influence? He routinely scooped well-funded, well-staffed newspapers and other news media by critically examining public records and other documents in the public domain (e.g., the Congressional record, governmental agency publications). His keen critical eye and news judgment enabled him to detect crucial information within masses of data ignored by other news media.
Prompts. When making judgments, Stone was skeptical and thought critically about the arguments and evidence he observed. How can you remain skeptical without becoming cynical?
Stone did not begin his weekly until he had more than a quarter-century of journalism experience. In your opinion, how did his years of experience affect his ability to ferret out informational gems from data dross? Is experience always necessary to having good judgment? Why or why not? Does experience always lead to having good judgment? Why or why not?

Day 2. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center, 9/11/2001, the U.S. government established a September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, to attempt to provide some monetary compensation to the families of victims of that attack. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Kenneth Feinberg, former chief of staff to the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, to determine how much money each family should receive. It took Feinberg nearly three years — with no monetary compensation to himself — to complete this job. He based his decisions on how much money he could reasonably estimate that the victim would have earned in a lifetime. Regarding the compensation, Feinberg said, “It’s a brutal, sort of cold, thing to do.” In a later interview, he said, “When people complain to me, argue, or demand more money, I don’t believe it has anything to do with greed. It has to do with grief. Valuing a lost loved one—a life that won’t be fulfilled, a future that will never be realized.” Feinberg had previously helped in settling numerous product-liability cases (e.g., Agent Orange, asbestos, and DES) and subsequently helped in providing compensation to injured victims and to families of deceased victims of the suicidal spree shooter who massacred 32 students, staff, and faculty members at Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) on April 16, 2007.
Prompts. Some situations call for an impossible judgment — such as how much money can compensate for the loss of a life or for a devastating injury to a person? Feinberg has since cautioned against providing differing amounts of compensation to families of victims and has urged giving the same amount to each family, regardless of the victim’s earning potential. What do you think? How would you suggest compensating someone for the loss of a loved one or for a devastating injury? What are some of the most difficult judgments you have had to make? How did you make these decisions? What strategies did you use? What help did you seek? How might you decide differently now than you did then? Why would you judge differently now?

Day 3. In June of 2009, the Democratic-led U.S. Treasury Department appointed Kenneth Feinberg to oversee the salaries and other monetary compensation given to executives in companies receiving federal aid such as through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Among other policy suggestions, Feinberg has urged companies to give much less compensation in terms of salary and much more compensation in terms of long-term stock investments, which the executives would not be able to cash in for a long period of time. Such compensation would motivate executives to pay attention to the long-term financial health and well-being of their companies, rather than their own immediate or short-term payoffs.
Prompts. One aspect of having keen judgment is being able to think in terms of the long-term benefits or drawbacks of particular actions, rather than just in terms of quick payoffs or immediate adversity. Highly paid executives are not the only people who would benefit from being encouraged to think in terms of postponing immediate gratification in order to reap long-term rewards. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are also swiftly rewarded or punished for giving their constituents short-term benefits, rather than for considering their constituents’ long-term welfare. What are some other examples of how the world seems to reward people for acting on short-term interests instead of on long-term ones? How might these rewards be modified to encourage people to act more responsibly in terms of long-term goals? Considering the welfare of the global environment requires planning for the long-term, rather than just the present or the immediate future. What are some other public-policy issues that would benefit from long-term planning and actions?

Day 4. When attorneys use the term judgment, they typically mean “adjudication,” or the decision made by a judge or other arbiter, based on the evidence and arguments presented to the decision maker. The decision involves an action to be taken resolving a dispute between one or more of the following: a private individual (e.g., a spouse) or group of individuals (e.g., workers injured on the job), a corporation (e.g., Exxon), a public official (e.g., U.S. Treasury Secretary), or a public body (e.g., National Institutes of Health).
Prompts. What are some of the strategies an arbiter might use to figure out how to make a fair and just decision? What are some of the considerations an arbiter should weigh when making a decision? What else might help an arbiter to make a fair and just decision resolving a dispute? What might impede an arbiter from making a fair and just decision resolving a dispute? When have you been involved in resolving a dispute? What strategies did you use to help resolve the dispute?

Day 5. For millennia, widowed and other single mothers, as well as many married mothers in impoverished families, have had to work outside the home to help sustain their families’ economic well-being. Meanwhile, these hardworking mothers have also struggled to care for their children and to maintain their homes. Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, even middle-class U.S. moms have entered the work force in increasing numbers, while many fathers have become more deeply involved in providing care to their children. All of these working mothers and fathers have had to face tough choices when juggling their responsibilities to their employers and to their families. Working parents must constantly evaluate their priorities, to figure out how best to allocate their time for what is truly important to them at any given moment. Sometimes, earning enough money to pay for necessities must come first; sometimes, taking care of a feverish child must come first.
Prompts. Working parents aren’t the only people who must constantly evaluate their priorities, though. Each of us has limited time, and most of us have limited financial resources. When choosing how to spend our time and other resources, we must make frequent judgments of what is most important to us and what is less important. As quickly as you can, make a list of your top ten priorities of what is most important to you. Now, make a list of what you spend the most time doing each week. Next, make a list of how you spend your money each month (or each week, if you earn weekly pay). Do your expenditures of time and money reflect your priorities? Why or why not? Is there anything you can or should do to change how you spend your time and money to better reflect your priorities?

Day 6. In a New Testament biblical passage, Jesus meets with religious men who challenge him, urging him to condemn a woman accused of adultery. They chide him that the penalty for adultery, according to Mosaic law (i.e., laws from the time of Moses), is death by stoning. Jesus, in turn, admonishes them that only a person who has never sinned should cast the first stone. The crowd soon disperses, and Jesus tells the woman, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (translated). In another passage, from his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned against judging other people harshly. Other faith traditions also promote mercy and compassion, or at least suggest restraint from pitiless judgments of other people.
Prompts. Why should we try to refrain from harshly judging other people’s actions? Why is it so easy for us to harshly judge the actions of others, and why can it be so difficult to avoid doing so? How should we balance giving people realistic consequences and feedback on their inappropriate or even harmful or hurtful behavior, while refraining from judging others punitively?

Day 7. A story on National Public Radio noted that researchers have identified a place in our brains, which seems to control how we make moral judgments about the actions of other people. Normally, when judging the behavior of another person, we give a lot of weight to what we believe to be the intentions of another person. For instance, suppose that Eliza, a police officer, accidentally kills her husband while cleaning her gun; compare her actions to Beth, also a police officer, who tries to kill her husband but fails to do so because her gun jams. It turns out that a particular place in our brain, just above our right ear (the right temporoparietal junction), allows us to determine that Beth’s actions are more morally reprehensible than Eliza’s even though Eliza’s husband died, and Beth’s husband survived. It seems that young children may have trouble making moral judgments about the actions of other people because this area of this brain has not fully developed.
Prompts. Let’s take this notion of intent in moral judgments a bit farther. Perhaps one reason we may be less judgmental about our own actions than about the actions of others is because we more fully understand our own intentions and goodwill, whereas we cannot see clearly into the minds of other people. Similarly, we may be less able to discern the intent of actions carried out by strangers, compared with those of people whom we know. This then limits our effectiveness in making moral judgments about the actions of strangers. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Why or why not? What are some other possible reasons why we may be quick to judge the actions of strangers, not quite so quick to judge the actions of friends and family, and very reluctant to judge our own actions?

Reflect back on what you have written this week about judgment. What are some characteristics of good judgment? What are some characteristics of poor judgment? How can you develop better judgment? How can you avoid the pitfalls of being judgmental?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 12, Open-mindedness, Day 1. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” These rights ensconce open mindedness in our nation’s foundational governing principles.
Prompts. Why did the founders believe that freedoms of speech and of the press were so fundamental to our nation’s effective government? What do you believe should be the most important principles to govern a nation? Would you want to change any of the freedoms granted in the Bill of Rights? What rights would you want to add? Why?

Day 2. Most people have trouble remembering that the First Amendment also grants “the right of the people peaceably to assemble,” and very few people remember that it grants the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Prompts. How do either of these rights affect you? Why is the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” important? When would it be important to be able to exercise these rights? How should government officials respond when people exercise these rights? How have you reacted toward people who were petitioning you for a redress of grievances against something you did? How open-minded did you feel? Have you been more open-minded in some situations than in others? When are you more likely to be open-minded about reacting to grievances?

Day 3. Most of us believe that we are open minded and willing to listen to other people’s points of view. It can be hard to do so, however, when we feel that another point of view is immoral or otherwise reprehensible. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) often defends the rights of people who do or say reprehensible things, such as the rights of those who engage in hate speech or the right of a terrorist or a war criminal to receive due process of law.
Prompts. Many Americans who say they are open minded still oppose the defense of civil liberties for people whom they don’t respect. What do you think? Whose civil liberties would you be willing to defend? What views or actions would seem so reprehensible to you that you would not be willing to defend a person’s civil liberties who held those views or took those actions? What views do you hold, which at least some others might find objectionable? What actions have you taken, which at least some others might find objectionable?

Day 4. According to two NOVA television specials, “Darwin's Darkest Hour” (October 6, 2009) and “What Darwin Never Knew” (December 29, 2009), Charles Darwin did not develop his revolutionary evolutionary theory quickly or easily. At first, Darwin accepted beliefs that were common at that time, and he resisted changing his beliefs. As a naturalist, however, he trusted his scientific observations, and he kept his mind open to changing his beliefs as he gathered new evidence that challenged those beliefs.
When Charles Darwin was a young man, he spent nearly five years as a naturalist traveling around the world on the HMS Beagle. As the voyage’s naturalist, he collected specimens of small animals (e.g., marine invertebrates, insects, and birds). He also made extensive notes about his observations throughout the voyage.
While in the Galapagos Islands, Darwin gathered an assortment of birds, which he believed to represent various bird species. Darwin — like most other people of his time — believed that God had uniquely created each individual species, entirely separate from every other species, one at a time. Years later, while Darwin was still analyzing the bird collection, he realized that all of the birds were finches, not separate species. Each of these different-looking finches lived on different islands, with different kinds of available food sources; these differing food sources could be better obtained with different kinds and shapes of beaks.
For instance, “On an island where the only food is seeds that are hard to crack, a short, powerful beak will mean a finch will survive. But on another island, the available food isn't seeds but flowers. . . . if you wanted to get into narrow spaces to get pollen and nectar, that are very hard to get at, you wouldn't need a big, strong beak, you'd need a probing beak. . . . So on a different island, where you have a different food source, you have a different beak shape. And this pattern was repeated across the Galapagos” (transcript, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beta/evolution/darwin-never-knew.html, retrieved April 11, 2010).
With his new realization, Darwin needed to be open to considering a possibility that challenged his prior belief. He also recalled that the shells of the Galapagos tortoises differed from one island to the next, and he realized that they, too, were a single species, which had varied on the isolated islands, over time.
As he considered his observations more carefully, he realized other species may have changed over time, as well. For instance, his fossil collection of extinct animals included giant sloths, which strongly resembled smaller living sloths he had observed in South America. He found further evidence of species changes over time while studying embryos, in which many species shared many traits that they didn’t share as mature animals (e.g., rudimentary legs in snakes, rudimentary gills in humans).
While thinking about how human selection had created different dog breeds, Darwin later came up with a possible mechanism for these changes over time: natural selection. Through natural selection, competition for mates, as well as for survival, determined that only the fittest animals within a species would survive in a given location at a given time. Less fit animals would die without reproducing offspring.
Prompts. Why was it so hard for Darwin to change his beliefs? Why did he gather information from so many sources in order to come up with a new idea? It took Darwin nearly 20 years to publish his book On the Origin of Species, explaining his new theory. In your opinion, why did it take so long for him to do so? Is it easier or harder to change your beliefs if you have a lot of physical evidence to support the changes? Why? What else can make it easier or harder to change your beliefs? What has helped you to be open to changing your beliefs?

Day 5. In 1977, when Oscar Romero was almost 60 years old, he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. One reason that the Catholic Church appointed him was because he was very conservative and didn’t oppose the El Salvadoran government. He didn’t share the “liberation theology” of many younger priests, who believed that Jesus Christ had wanted Christians to liberate fellow humans from political, economic, and social injustice. Less than a month after Romero’s appointment, a fellow priest and friend of Romero’s was assassinated while working to help impoverished farmworkers. This murder inspired Romero to reconsider his outlook. He decided he must advocate more strongly for the poor people of his country and speak out against social injustice, as well as against assassinations and torture. Just three years later, Romero was himself assassinated, while celebrating a mass in a small chapel.
Prompts. Romero was inspired to reconsider his views after the assassination of a friend. Often, it takes a dramatic or traumatic event to inspire us to rethink our views. Have you — or anyone you know — experienced a trauma that led you to change your outlook or to rethink your views? If so, what happened? If not, what kinds of events or experiences might lead you to rethink your views or your outlook?

Day 6. Sometimes, even when we wish to keep open minded, we feel reluctant to do so. One reason for keeping our minds closed is because we don’t want to admit that we might not be 100% right about all of our beliefs all of the time.
Prompts. Why is it so hard to admit that we may have been mistaken in our beliefs? Why is it so hard to admit that we may even have made mistakes in our actions? What might make it easier for us to be willing to admit we have held mistaken beliefs? What else might make it easier to be open to changing our minds?

Day 7. Another key to open-mindedness is self-knowledge and self-awareness. For Zinn and Romero to have been open to changing their minds, they both needed first to become aware of what they had believed.
Prompts. What are some of your core beliefs, which you don’t believe that you are likely to change? What are some of your beliefs based on evidence, which you might change if you saw new evidence that disputed your existing beliefs? What are some of your beliefs that you would readily change, based on what you observed or heard or otherwise discovered?


Reflect back on what you have written this week about open-mindedness. About what kinds of things do you believe that you are the most open minded? About what kinds of things do you believe that you are the least open minded? What situations or events are most likely to make you more open to a new viewpoint? What might someone say — or how might someone say it — to make you more open to a new viewpoint?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 11, Service, Day 1. Some politicians (e.g., Charles Rangel) and others have proposed that all young persons (age 18–24 or so) should have to serve their country for a brief time (e.g., 1–2 years). This service need not be military. They could instead choose to serve as teachers, health workers, or in any number of other occupations.
Prompts. What do you think of this idea? What would be the benefits of such service? What would be the drawbacks? Do you think it would also be a good idea to require that people who retire from wage-earning work engage in public service? For instance, should we ask retirees to provide a certain number of hours of community service each year? Do you think that people ages 18–24, 24–55, and 55–85 would feel differently about these two different proposals? How so? What do you think of using “community service” as an alternative consequence of misbehavior that potentially causes harm to society (e.g., drunk driving, traffic violations, juvenile offenses)? Should “community service” be used more broadly or less so, when determining consequences for antisocial misbehavior?

Day 2. Pat Tillman graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with a 3.84 (of 4) grade-point average — while he was a linebacker for the ASU football team. After college, he was grabbed up by the Arizona Cardinals, later turning down a $9 million contract offered by the St. Louis Rams, to stay with his Arizona team.
Tillman’s desire to serve his country superseded his loyalty to his team, however. In 2002, months after the 9/11/2001 attack, Pat (along with his brother Kevin) left professional sports and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He signed up for the elite Rangers and participated in the initial invasion of Iraq.
Pat’s views of war changed over the course of his military experience, however. He made plans to meet with world-renowned pacifist and linguist Noam Chomsky, upon returning from serving in Afghanistan. Sadly, they never had a chance to meet. In April, 2004, Tillman was killed in Afghanistan. His death was later found to have been a “friendly fire” incident despite initial false reports by the Army alleging Tillman was valorously killed by enemy fire.
Prompts. In your view, why did Tillman leave his lucrative sports career to serve in the military? Nowadays, all members of the military service are volunteers. What motivates many people to join the military? What would motivate you, if anything? What would motivate you to engage in some other kind of service to your country? What would deter you? What kind of service to your country is most valuable, in your opinion?

Day 3. Because the military is much smaller now that it is all-volunteer, the federal government pays many billions of dollars to private “defense” contractors (e.g., Blackwater Worldwide, now renamed Xe; Halliburton subsidiary KBR). These contractors, in turn, provide many services (e.g., food services, guard services) formerly done by military personnel. Often, people working for these contractors earn grandiose salaries for doing jobs that would garner only pittances for military personnel. Some people have criticized this use of government contractors and have said that they undermine the morale of military personnel — as well as costing the taxpayers a fortune. These contractors also lure highly trained people to leave the military, costing the military its expensive investment in training.
Prompts. What do you think about paying private government contractors to do many jobs military personnel did in the past?
Not all highly trained military personnel leave the service to work for contractors. Why do some people choose careers of service, rather than of exorbitant pay? Other service workers make similar choices. Why do some people choose lower-paying careers, such as family-practice medicine, public-service legal work, or social-service work, when they could instead make much more money using their education and talents in more monetarily enriching jobs?

Day 4. Many local, state, and national politicians (e.g., Senators Patrick Leahy and John McCain) seek office in order to serve the public. Likewise, many civil servants (e.g., Joycelyn Elders) at the local, state, and federal level choose their occupations because they feel motivated to serve their fellow citizens. Public service is not the only motivation to choose these occupations, however, and some media figures and members of the public have maligned public service workers as lazy, inept, or petty power-grabbers.
Prompts. What do you think of people who choose careers as politicians? What do you think of people who choose careers as civil servants? What have been your recent or your most memorable experiences with civil servants (e.g., the folks who help you acquire various licenses or who tend public gardens or parks)? As local, state, and federal budgets are cut, and civil servants have to deal with staffing shortages, impatient patrons, and more demands on their time, how might their attitudes change? How might these changes affect the attitudes of the people whom they serve?

Day 5. On April 30, 2010, Bill Moyers will be retiring from his weekly television show, Bill Moyers Journal. Ever since his civil service for the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, Moyers has served the public through his journalism (mostly for the Public Broadcasting System). In addition to his news and public-policy programs, he has hosted an array of program series (e.g., on poetry, on myths, on language, on religious faith). An avowed liberal, Moyers often hosts interviewees of all political persuasions, drawing them out through his probing but respectful questioning.
Prompts. Can journalism be a public-service occupation? Why or why not? What are some careers that serve the public good, which you might not typically think of as being “public-service” occupations? Can a fast-food-service job be a public-service occupation if the worker has a suitable attitude and approach to the job? Can you make any career a “public-service” career? Why or why not?

Day 6. Many people have dedicated their lives to service, inspired by their religious faith. Some devout servants of their faith choose service in a convent, a monastery, or other religious community (e.g., Franciscans); others choose service in mosques, temples, synagogues (e.g., Harold Kushner), or churches, where they interact with fellow members of their faith. Others choose to proselytize, admonishing others to join them in sharing their religious faith (e.g., Mormon missionaries). Still others hope to inspire others to live righteous lives, whether or not they share their religious faith (e.g., Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet). Yet another path to service is to choose to express religious faith through good deeds. Persons choosing this path serve fellow humans or even fellow creatures through homeless shelters, pet shelters, rehabilitation centers, conservation reserves, hospitals, and other service facilities.
Prompts. Why does religious faith seem to inspire people to serve in such different ways? If you hold a religious belief, how does it inspire you to serve others? If you do not hold a religious faith, what else may motivate you to wish to serve fellow humans? In what other ways may you wish to offer service to your community or the wider world?

Day 7. Grace (deceased 3/15/1992), my mother, taught children all her adult life. She spent each summer creating materials (e.g., “Math Their Way” manipulatives, handmade alphabet-animal puppets) she thought her students would enjoy during the school year. Her evenings and weekends were likewise dedicated either to her family or to her students — or to both. In 1986, Grace was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In a moment of lucidity, she recognized that she did not have a long time during which she would have much cognitive function. I asked her what she would like to do before she was no longer able to function well independently. I imagined that she would say she wanted to visit Florence, Paris, London, or Athens, or to indulge in some other pleasurable activity for her own delight. Her answer: “Get involved in a literacy program, helping adults to read.” Within just a few months after she said that, after a lifetime of teaching young children to read, Grace could no longer comprehend written materials herself. Nonetheless, her last cogent thoughts were focused on how she might help others to enjoy reading, her own greatest pleasurable indulgence.
Prompts. If you knew you had only a few months in which to do what you wanted to do, what would you want to do? Why? If you knew you had only a few months in which to achieve what you wanted to achieve, what would you want to achieve? Why? What’s stopping you from doing those things now? What’s stopping you from achieving those things now? What’s slowing you down?

Reflect back on what you have written this week about service. Has a desire for service affected your career choices? If so, how? If not, what other factors have affected your choice of your career? In what other ways do you offer service? In what other ways might you do so?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 10, Friendliness and Respectfulness, Day 1. Since his U.S. Presidency, Jimmy Carter has personally mediated at least 11 international conflicts, and his Carter Center has been involved in dozens of other conflict mediations. For these mediations and other humanitarian achievements and efforts, in 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Carter’s virtues are numerous (e.g., hard-working, dedicated, humanitarian, philanthropic), but perhaps the virtues that have served him best in mediating conflicts have been his friendliness, his personal warmth, and his genuine respectfulness of all persons with whom he attempts to mediate a conflict.
Prompts. Why are these virtues so helpful to him? How do these qualities affect the persons with whom he tries to mediate a conflict?

Day 2. Studs Terkel made a living listening to people. For nearly half a century, Terkel hosted a radio show on which he interviewed a wide array of musicians (e.g., Bob Dylan, Leonard Bernstein) and other famous guests. Despite his easy access to celebrities, Terkel is best known as an oral historian, who celebrated the lives and viewpoints of everyday folks. His warm, friendly, respectful manner prompted people from all walks of life and with widely divergent viewpoints to talk to him. Based on what people told him, Terkel wrote dozens of books. His oral history Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do may be the best known. (See his interview for the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, to get an idea of his humble, warm, friendly manner. The website http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video/Biography/Autobiography/A-Conversation-with-Studs-Terkel/22113 has announced that audio and video downloads are available there free.)
Prompts. How did Terkel get so many diverse people to talk to him? Have you known anyone who seems to have the knack to draw out other people to converse? How did this person do it? What kinds of things can a person do to convey friendliness and respectfulness? Terkel grew up in a rooming house, so he learned early to love listening to people’s stories. What are some other experiences that might foster someone’s friendliness and respectfulness?

Day 3. Oprah Winfrey has hosted a wildly popular nationally syndicated talk show since 1986. Oprah has gained astonishing wealth and celebrity through her winning ways with her show’s guests and her show’s in-studio and in-home audiences.
Prompts. On her show, Oprah has openly revealed that her own personal life has included turmoil, trauma, and tragedy. How might these experiences have affected her ability to convey friendliness, warmth, and respect to her guests and to her viewers? How does she manage to communicate warmth, friendliness, and respect to both her guests and her viewers?

Day 4. As children, most of us are urged to show respect to our elders and to other persons with either power or authority. Some of us are also urged to show respect to persons who have less power and authority than we do.
Prompts. What were you taught about respect when you were young? What have you learned about respect since you have gotten older? How have your views about respect and respectfulness changed over time? Whom do you respect? Why do they earn your respect? Is respect always earned? Why or why not?

Day 5. When you type in the word “friendliness” at Wikipedia, you are immediately redirected to “Agreeableness.”
Prompts. Are friendliness and agreeableness synonymous? If you are friendly, must you be agreeable? Can you think of a situation in which someone might be friendly but not agreeable? Can you think of a situation in which someone might be agreeable but not friendly? Does being agreeable mean always agreeing with the views of another person? Can you be respectful and friendly while disagreeing with another person? If so, how? If not, why not?

Day 6. Some people seem to nurture an abundance of friendships, whereas others seem to prefer to nurture just a few friendships.
Prompts. Does having a lot of friends necessarily mean that a person is more friendly? Why or why not? Does being friendly necessarily mean that a person will have many friends? How might a person nurture a friendship, other than by being friendly? Do you prefer having lots of friends, whom you see only occasionally, or do you prefer having just a few friends, whom you see more frequently? How do you nurture your relationships with your friends?

Day 7. Some people seem to attract people to them like bees to nectar, other people seem to prefer being alone, and still other people seem a bit prickly, often seeking the company of others, but frequently chafing those with whom they come into contact.
Prompts. Why do some people seem to relish companionship, whereas others seem to prefer solitude? Why do some people seem to foster smooth, easy relationships with those around them, whereas others seem always to be in conflict with others? Can friendly, respectful people prefer solitude? Can friendly, respectful people still be somewhat disagreeable? How do you tend to interact with other people? Do you interact differently in different situations? How so? Do you interact differently with different people? How so?

Reflect back on what you have written this week about friendliness and respectfulness.
Prompts. How do people convey friendliness and respectfulness? How do friendliness and respectfulness affect the people to whom these qualities are shown? How do you show friendliness and respectfulness? How are other people affected when you are friendly and respectful?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 9, Hope, Day 1. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, biologist and professor Wangari Maathai spearheaded the Green Belt Movement, which has led to women planting more than 30 million trees across the continent of Africa.
In her 2004 Nobel Peace Prize lecture, she said, “In 1977, when we started the Green Belt Movement, I was partly responding to needs identified by rural women, namely lack of firewood, clean drinking water, balanced diets, shelter and income. Throughout Africa, women are the primary caretakers, holding significant responsibility for tilling the land and feeding their families. As a result, they are often the first to become aware of environmental damage as resources become scarce and incapable of sustaining their families. . . . I came to understand that when the environment is destroyed, plundered or mismanaged, we undermine our quality of life and that of future generations.
“Tree planting became a natural choice to address some of the initial basic needs identified by women. Also, tree planting is simple, attainable and guarantees quick, successful results within a reasonable amount time. This sustains interest and commitment. . . . Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come. Our work over the past 30 years has always appreciated and engaged these linkages.”
Prompts: In what ways is the Green Belt movement an expression of hope? In what ways does the Green Belt movement foster hope? What are other examples of activities that express hopefulness? What other activities encourage hope? How do you express your hope through your own activities, whether at home, at school, in the workplace, or in the community?

Day 2. Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In her Nobel lecture, she said, “I am especially mindful of women and the girl child. I hope [this prize] will encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership. I know the honour also gives a deep sense of pride to our men, both old and young. As a mother, I appreciate the inspiration this brings to the youth and urge them to use it to pursue their dreams. . . . In this year's prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has placed the critical issue of environment and its linkage to democracy and peace before the world. For their visionary action, I am profoundly grateful.”
Prompts: How does the awarding of a prize or other honor promote hope? What are some other ways to encourage people to feel hopeful about their efforts to create a more harmonious and life-affirming world? What steps can you take to encourage others (e.g., peace and social-justice activists) to feel hopeful about achieving success?

Day 3. Through decades of struggle, Alva Myrdal (31 January 1902 – 1 February 1986) remained hopeful about achieving nuclear disarmament, as shown in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture, “After having read reams and personally written so much on this subject on numerous occasions, without obtaining a hearing, I am actually starting to find it a trifle wearying. . . . A mighty protest movement, speaking the language of common sense in more and more countries, has now arisen to confront all these forces that are engaged in the armament race and the militarization of the world. For the moment this movement has won most remarkable strength . . . . in all sincerity, I personally believe that those who are leaders with political power over the world will be forced some day, sooner or later, to give way to common sense and the will of the people.”
Myrdal shared the 1982 Peace Prize with Alfonso García Robles (20 March 1911 – 2 September 1991). García Robles shared not only the prize, but also Myrdal’s decades-long struggle and continuing profound hope for worldwide nuclear disarmament. As Sweden’s representative, Myrdal championed disarmament in the 1962 Geneva disarmament conference. García Robles was the father of the 1967 Tlatelolco Agreement establishing Latin America as a denuclearized zone.
Prompts: How could Myrdal, García Robles, and others manage to remain hopeful throughout decades of struggle? What might enhance a person’s hopefulness about achieving success over the long term? What might hinder a person’s hopefulness about achieving success over the long term? What are some of your own long-term aims? How do you maintain your own feelings of hopefulness in achieving these aims?

Day 4. Alva Myrdal’s husband, Gunnar Myrdal, wrote An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (1944), a sociological study of racism in the United States. A decade after its publication, Gunnar’s study was instrumental in deciding the 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education (see the actual decision). For his later work on poverty in Third World nations, he was awarded a prize later known as the Nobel Prize in Economics.
Apparently, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal conveyed hopefulness to their son, journalist Jan Myrdal, and daughter, philosopher and ethicist Sissela Bok. Bok said this, in her 2003 Lowell lecture, “It is precisely in times of high danger and turmoil that concerns for happiness are voiced most strikingly and seen as most indispensable. From earliest times, views of what makes for human happiness were set forth against the background of human suffering, poverty, disease, and the inevitability of death, by thinkers such as Confucius, Buddha, Zoroaster, Aristotle, and Epicurus and in texts such as the Bible and the Koran. . . . And the American Declaration of Independence, stating as inalienable rights ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ surely did so at a time of exceptional insecurity and massive threats to life and liberty. . . . The subject of happiness never was a luxury to be postponed until more serene, peaceful times.”
Prompts: In your opinion, how does Bok’s “pursuit of happiness” relate to hopefulness? How do hard times and struggles affect a person’s hopefulness? How does hopefulness affect how a person handles hard times and struggles? When do you feel most hopeful? When are your feelings of hope most challenged?

Day 5. In Bok’s 2003 Lowell lecture, she quoted lifelong ardent opponent of apartheid Desmond Tutu, “in his book No Future without Forgiveness (1999), describing going to vote in South Africa for the first time: ‘The moment for which I had waited so long came and I folded my ballot paper and cast my vote. Wow! I shouted, “Yippee!” It was giddy stuff. It was like falling in love. The sky looked blue and more beautiful. I saw the people in a new light. They were beautiful, they were transfigured. I too was transfigured.’ ”
Prompts: How important are these great moments of success in nurturing continued feelings of hope? How frequently do you need to feel successful in order to maintain your feelings of hope? Do small, frequent successes work as well as infrequent, major successes in sustaining your feelings of hope? What helps you to continue igniting your internal flame of hope?

Day 6. More than a decade after winning the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town (now emeritus), headed South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Since then, he has continued not only to speak out on issues of social justice, human rights, and peace, but also to participate in countless activities promoting these aims. Tutu credits his deep religious faith with nurturing his abiding feelings of hope, even during deeply dark times. Many devoutly religious people feel likewise that their religious faith fosters their hopefulness. In contrast, some deeply religious people feel doubly hopeless when tragedy strikes, as they feel not only the tragic loss but also a desperate loss of their faith and hope.
Prompts: What are some of your beliefs, which help you to feel hopeful? What beliefs do you hold, which may impair your feelings of hopefulness? What gives you the strength to feel hopeful in the face of tragedy, personal loss, or seemingly insurmountable obstacles?

Day 7. In the late 1960s, Martin Seligman and his colleagues conducted experiments studying learned helplessness. Through these studies, they showed that animals and people can be taught to believe that their actions have no impact on their environment and that it is therefore hopeless for them to try to change their circumstances, no matter what they do. Later, even when they can alter their situation, they no longer make an effort to do so.
Prompts: What can you do to help others learn that they can have an impact, that their actions do matter, and that they should remain hopeful, even when they face challenging situations? What can you do to help yourself believe that your actions can have an impact, and that you should remain hopeful, even when facing challenging situations?

Reflect back on what you have written this week about hope and hopefulness. Take a peek at one more exemplar of hope: 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. When her son accepted her prize on her behalf, he said this, “The lessons of the past will not be forgotten, but it is our hope for the future that we celebrate today.” She remains under house arrest in Burma (now Myanmar), where she continues to hope for Burmese independence.
Prompts: How might you encourage her and others to remain hopeful despite the appearance of hopelessness? What makes you more likely to feel hopeful? What discourages hopefulness in you or in others?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 8, Curiosity, Day 1. On September 28, 1928, biologist Alexander Fleming noticed that one of his cultures of staphylococci (a colony of bacteria) was contaminated with a fungus of the Penicillium genus. Where the Penicillium fungus had contaminated the culture, the colony of staphylococci had been wiped out. This puzzling phenomenon intrigued Fleming. Following further investigations, he published his findings in 1929. Fleming didn’t persist in pursuing penicillin as an antibiotic, as other phenomena attracted his research in other directions. Nonetheless, his initial probes led other researchers to study the uses of penicillin as an antibiotic. Their efforts launched the modern use of antibiotics to fight bacterial and other infectious diseases, transforming the human (and domestic animal) experience. Of course, antibiotics have not been an unmitigated success story. What do you know about antibiotics, both positive and negative? What do your parents, grandparents, or other elders think and feel about antibiotics?
Fleming was curious about the fundamental phenomena underlying the effects of a fungus on bacteria. Other researchers also feel especially curious about how things work. They are said to be doing “pure” research. What prompts researchers to spend their lives observing phenomena and then studying these phenomena to uncover their underlying truths? Still other researchers prefer “applied research” and are more curious about how to use our basic understandings to create useful applications, which will transform people’s lives. What motivates them? Are both kinds of researchers equally curious? Is one kind of curiosity more valuable than another? How does a scientist’s curiosity compare with a journalist’s? How do journalists and scientists differ in their curiosity?

Day 2. Albert Einstein famously enjoyed conducting “thought experiments,” in which he would imagine such things as chasing a beam of light. These thought experiments led to his fundamental insight, his theory of relativity. Do such playful experiments differ significantly from “daydreaming”? If so, how? If not, why not? What kinds of playful “thought experiments” prick your curiosity? What conjectures or what-ifs do you enjoy contemplating?

Day 3. My grandchildren enjoy watching the antics of a monkey, Curious George, both in cartoons and in the books by Margret and H. A. Rey. In nearly every story, George gets into trouble because of his curiosity about the world around him, but with the help of “the man in the yellow hat,” he manages not only to get out of trouble, but also to help someone else who has a problem. What kinds of values do we teach children about curiosity? How do we foster curiosity, and how do we discourage it? What would you recommend to foster a child’s curiosity? In your opinion, what is the value of inspiring curiosity in children? How about in teenagers? In adults?

Day 4. Many of us have uttered the cautionary proverb, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Why did this saying become proverbial? What are some of the dangers of curiosity that concern you? Why does curiosity persist, despite its dangers? When would you be tempted to caution against curiosity? When would you urge throwing caution to the wind and indulging curiosity?

Day 5. In Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, Todd Kashdan alleges that curiosity is critical to our happiness. He urges us to be open to new experiences and even to challenging situations as opportunities for living our lives more fully and meaningfully. “Although we are hardwired to be curious, and some of us experience it more frequently and intensely, it has become clear that any of us can become more curious—at any age” (http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/harpercollins-ems/Curious-Amazon.pdf, February 21, 2010). In what ways does curiosity already enrich your life? How might curiosity about novel experiences further enrich your life? How might you use curiosity to help yourself adapt to strange, novel, or even stressful situations? How might you further develop your own curiosity?

Day 6. Are you naturally curious about what you observe in your immediate environment, or are you more likely to be curious about what you read or hear about? Do your observations prompt you to want to investigate in books or other resources? (For tips on how to do research, see Parts I–VII of “Researching Your Topic” in my “Writing Coach” blog.) When you have the chance, seek out a stimulating environment, and notice what catches your interest. Try going to a public setting or a natural environment, or look out a window. Observe what is going on around you. What do you observe (see, hear, touch, smell, etc.) that piques your curiosity? Now, try opening yourself to new information through the radio, television, Internet, or printed materials. What information grabs your attention and prompts you to further investigation or at least ponderings? What stimuli, situations, and conditions foster your curiosity? What impedes your willingness or ability to nurture your own curiosity?

Day 7. What kinds of things prompt your curiosity? Are you more likely to be curious about the lives of movie stars or about the origins of celestial stars? Are you more curious about stem cells or about elegant stemware? Are you more interested in finding about multiple intelligences, artificial intelligence, “intelligent design,” military intelligence, or the latest intelligence about new cars? Think about what television, radio, or print news stories stimulate your interest. What magazines and other special-interest publications attract your attention? What conversations will prick your ears if you overhear them in a public setting?

Reflect back on what you have written this week. When is curiosity virtuous, and when might it be either harmful or dangerous? What makes you more likely to be curious? What makes other people more likely to be curious? What impedes curiosity in you or in others?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 7, Thoughtfulness and Consideration, Day 1. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi dedicated his life to serving the cause of Indian independence from British rule. He put that cause ahead of consideration for his own survival and physical well-being, as well as ahead of physical comforts and pleasures. Gandhi was not the most considerate of husbands and fathers, though, as concern for his cause seemed also to have taken precedence over his concern for the wishes of his wife and children. Gandhi and his followers influenced the course of world history by fostering Indian independence. In addition, Gandhi’s example of nonviolent satyagraha influenced the lives and actions of Bayard Rustin (see Week 6, Day 1), of Martin Luther King, Jr., and of many others who further affected world history. Like Gandhi, some people seem single-mindedly dedicated to championing humanitarian causes; such single-minded dedication often seems necessary to their success. What do you think about this level of dedication? If you had to choose one or the other, would you rather be thoughtful and considerate of your loved ones and the other people with whom you interact directly, or would you rather be highly successful in achieving a humanitarian aim? Why? Which is better? Which is more important? Can a person do both? Why or why not?

Day 2. Many rules of etiquette (e.g., those described by Emily Post) were originally intended simply to encourage people to be thoughtful and considerate of other people. Saying “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome” shows people you appreciate what they do for you or give to you. Saying “Bless you” when someone sneezes shows the person that you care about her or his health and well-being. Opening a door for someone, passing dishes of food to someone before serving yourself, and so on — these are all ways to show we care about others and that we wish to consider their needs or wants before rushing ahead to meet our own needs or wants. What are some rules of etiquette that you particularly appreciate? Why? Are there any rules of etiquette that you think to be so silly or foolish that people should stop observing them? Why or why not? What are one or more rules of etiquette you think people should be more careful to observe?

Day 3. Our physical and social worlds are constantly evolving. New technologies introduce new forms of social interactions and communication, necessitating new rules — mostly unwritten — of social courtesy. Since the development of the Internet, people have started referring to Netiquette, courtesies to consider when sending E-mail, blogging, chatting online, instant messaging, and so on. The increasingly widespread use of cellphones, of text-messaging over cellphones, and of social media such as Twitter, FaceBook, and YouTube have also meant we must figure out how to consider other people through new forms of social interaction and communication. What are some new rules of social courtesy you have noticed that people do or do not observe? What are some new rules you think would help facilitate social interaction and communication? What are some other novel or unfamiliar situations in which you may need to learn how to be courteous and thoughtful of those around you? Imagine a new form of communication or social interaction — such as through webcams, virtual reality, brain-to-brain thought transmission, or some other new or unfamiliar means of communicating or interacting with other people, real or imaginary. What might be some ways in which people will need to learn to be thoughtful and considerate in these novel situations?

Day 4. For centuries, people have been complaining about the decline of common courtesy. Is courtesy common? Has it always been common? When has it been less common or more so? What influences the rise and fall of thoughtfulness? Do some time periods seem to foster greater consideration and courtesy than others? Why or why not? What are some cultural or societal factors that facilitate thoughtfulness or that impede it?

Day 5. One aspect of consideration and courtesy is cultural competence, or responsivity to the needs, wants, and communication and interaction styles of persons whose cultural experiences differ from your own. Ways to gain cultural competence include studying, asking appropriate questions, being open to alternative interaction and communication styles, and noticing people’s responses to social situations. Is every thoughtful, considerate person culturally competent? Is every culturally competent person thoughtful and considerate? For all of us, it’s probably harder to be thoughtful and considerate of persons whose needs, wants, interaction styles, and communication styles differ from our own. What steps do you take to try to be more thoughtful and considerate of persons whom you do not know well and who differ from you?

Day 6. Decades ago, when my husband and I were still getting used to living together, I felt keenly aware that he rarely paid much attention to holidays, from Valentine’s Day to our anniversary to my birthday. I envied friends and acquaintances who boasted of extravagant gifts and passionately expressive cards they received as signs of their beloveds’ affections. Unfortunately, it took me years to fully appreciate that my husband’s everyday thoughtfulness and consideration were far more valuable than a sprinkling of lavish gifts and exuberant cards a few days each year. For more than 11,000 mornings, my husband has made both of us cups of the world’s most intensely delicious coffee. He always notices when we are running low on milk and other grocery items, and he buys more, unasked. He notices when our garbage cans are filling up, and empties them; he notices when something breaks or needs to be replaced, and fixes or replaces it; he notices when I am feeling down, and suggests a perk-me-up, such as dining at a favorite restaurant. He happily buys me anything I truly want, whenever I want it, if we can afford it. I could go on for pages noting other thoughtful things he does every single day of the year. He even gives me cards or gifts on most holidays now! What are some thoughtful things someone has done for you? Why do some people just seem to be more tuned in to the needs and wants of other people? Why are some people less thoughtful and considerate? What can be done to encourage people to be more thoughtful?

Day 7. I have always been much more thoughtful and selfless as a parent than as a wife. I love clutter, and I don’t notice dirt. I resort to cleaning and tidying only in desperation — to stop sneezing from the dust, or to find things among the chaos. (I am meticulous about hand washing and about washing dishes before using them, but that’s for selfish reasons, to avoid getting sick, not for selfless ones, out of consideration for others.) I try to be thoughtful and considerate as a wife, but I have to work at it, whereas selflessness comes naturally to me as a parent. I’ve noticed that other people may be particularly thoughtful and conscientious with coworkers, but not so much with family members — and vice versa. Why is it that some of us seem to be able to put the needs, wants, and wishes of others ahead of ourselves in some situations, but not in others? Whose needs or wants do you readily consider ahead of your own? Why? Whose needs or wants do you tend not to consider as easily, unless you make more of an effort? Why? How do you remind and encourage yourself to be considerate of those around you? When do you feel you need the most reminders and encouragement to do so?

Reflect back on what you have written this week. Can a person be both selfless and selfish? What makes you more likely to be thoughtful? What makes other people more likely to be thoughtful? What impedes thoughtfulness in you or in others?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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What a wealth of writing prompt ideas you have offered us (the wide world)! I believe that particular beneficiaries will be English teachers, particularly middle school and high school teachers. And all for free! I am impressed with your thoughtfulness (as evidenced in the prompts themselves) and generosity.
Sincerely,
Cheryl

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Week 6, Humility, Day 1. My Encyclopedia of African-American Writing (2009) includes this all-too-brief entry: “Rustin, Bayard (3/17/1910–8/24/1987) (major literary contributions: nonfiction essays and books). Raised among Quakers, Rustin learned early the importance of nonviolent struggle for civil rights, and he perfected his political strategies as a protégé of A. Philip Randolph. Having spent more than two years in prison as a conscientious objector to World War II, he never hesitated to risk arrest or take other bold nonviolent actions if they would help achieve the civil-rights movement’s aims. In addition to his numerous essays, many of which were collected in Down the Line: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin (1971), Rustin published Which Way Out? A Way Out of the Exploding Ghetto (1967) and Strategies for Freedom: The Changing Patterns of Black Protest (1976). He also ghostwrote many of the civil-rights writings and speeches by and about Martin Luther King, Jr., and he kept a journal of his thoughts and experiences.” The entry also cited 15 references where readers could find more information about Rustin.
Last Friday, my local NPR (National Public Radio) station aired an hourlong tribute to Rustin, which reminded me of the key role Rustin had played in the civil-rights movement and in other struggles for social and economic justice. Rustin, an openly gay man at a time when nearly no one spoke out about gay rights, did not hide in a closet. He did, however, prefer to work behind the scenes, advising King and other leaders, and organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He spoke out whenever he believed he could advance the causes in which he believed deeply, but he never sought the spotlight. Unless you heard the NPR broadcast or watched a 2003 POV (“Documentaries with a Point of View”) documentary, “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” you probably have never heard of Bayard Rustin. Nonetheless, his profound influence on the civil-rights movement and on its well-known leaders has affected the lives of every American since the late 1960s. For more information on him, you may wish to check some articles about him: one article from a Quaker perspective, a Wikipedia article, and an article from a website linking to many African-American history and biography articles. Why do we focus on the achievements of some people and neglect the achievements of others? Whose achievements do you particularly notice? Why? Why are some people content to work in the background, while others prefer the limelight of the foreground? Which do you prefer?

Day 2. Celebrity television shows and web sites such as TMZ probe deeply into the lives of celebrities and try to uncover every detail of even their most intimate and vulnerable moments. Many radio and television talk shows do so, as well. Even purportedly serious news shows will spend hours on Michael Jackson and other celebrities. Why are people so interested in the lives of celebrities? Is the interest in celebrities the same as an interest in noted artists, scientists, inventors, authors, or other accomplished persons? How is it the same? How is it different? Whose life interests you the most? Why? Whose life would you like to know less about? Why?

Day 3. One segment on CBS’s Sunday Morning show February 7, 2010, featured The Real Deal on Reality TV: The True Story About Non-Fiction Television's Attraction for Participants and Audiences. Jeff Greenfield, who reported the story, noted that reality shows have grown exponentially over the past decade. Greenfield pointed out that “One reason for their popularity is financial: an hour of reality can cost a few hundred thousand dollars, compared to the one to three million for a scripted drama.” That may explain why television producers love reality shows, but why do so many people watch them? A few reasons were proposed: Martin Kaplan noted that “Humiliating, lurid things that happen get our attention.” Omarosa Manigault said, “The fabric of reality TV is conflict, so make sure that you're either in the fight, breaking the fight up, or starting the fight.” Mary McNamara opined that “What these shows are basically about is . . . the most mundane behavior.” What do you think? Why do so many television viewers choose to watch reality shows? Are people who are willing to be accosted, humiliated, or embarrassed showing humility, or are they showing vanity? How can you tell? Can a person be both humble and vain? Why or why not?

Day 4. In mid-October, 2009, numerous television news channels were fixated for hours, watching a silver disc-shaped balloon float across Colorado, believing that a 6-year-old boy was suspended in the balloon. It later turned out that the whole episode was a hoax, staged by the boy’s parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, in their effort to be featured in a reality-tv show. Eventually, the hoax was revealed, and the couple was found to have cost the police and other civil servants inordinate time and effort, taken away from legitimate work. Just a little more than a month later, Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed President Obama’s formal state dinner for the Indian Prime Minister. They, too, were seeking publicity to gain a role on a reality-tv show. They are now the subject of intense Secret Service and other investigations. Why do some people unhesitatingly cause other people distress and extraordinary efforts in order to gain celebrity or fame? What can society do about these kinds of incidents? What can the friends and loved ones of publicity hounds do to help them avoid these incidents? Jot down a story idea for what might happen to a publicity hound; include a plot twist that leads the publicity seeker to reevaluate her or his self-centered pursuit of publicity.

Day 5. Most of the world’s faith traditions value humility as a virtue. Just a few examples include the following quotes: “Have I not taught you how the inhabitants of Paradise will be all the humble and the weak . . . ?” (Islam, Hadith of Bukhari); “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Christianity, Matthew 5:5); “Be humble, be harmless, Have no pretension” (Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita, 13.7-8); “Be of an exceedingly humble spirit, for the end of man is the worm” (Judaism, Mishnah, Abot 4.4); “Confucius said, ‘A gentleman does not grieve that people do not recognize his merits; he grieves at his own incapacities’” (Confucianism, Analects 14.32). “To know when one does not know is best. To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease” (Taoism, Tao Te Ching 71); “The fool who knows that he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man; the fool who thinks he is wise is called a fool indeed” (Buddhism, Dhammapada 63). Why is humility seemingly so universally prized? Do you value humility in the people you work with? Do you value it in your friends and family? Do you value it in other people you know? If so, why? If not, why not?

Day 6. Outstanding parents encourage their children to be polite and appreciative of what they receive, but they rarely seek — and even more rarely receive — lavish praise from their children. What motivates good parents to work so hard for the benefit of their children, when they typically receive so little appreciation and recognition for their efforts? Think about your own parents. What motivated them to be generous of their time, effort, and resources on your behalf? If you are a parent, what motivates you to be generous of your time, effort, and resources on behalf of your children? Other than on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, neither you nor your parents are likely to receive much recognition for your parenting. Likewise, most workers receive little recognition and reward for their hard work or even for their dedication to doing well in their work. Why does society offer so little recognition and reward for the extraordinary efforts of ordinary folks? What steps can you take to recognize and reward the humble efforts of the people around you?

Day 7. Just a brief search of a quotations website led to nearly a dozen quotes suggesting that being humble may allow you to achieve more — though you will probably have to sacrifice being acknowledged for your achievement. Following are just a few:

• “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” — Harry S. Truman
• “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.” — Andrew Carnegie
• “There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” — Indira Gandhi
• “We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.” — Madeleine L'Engle
• “You must accept responsibility for your actions, but not the credit for your achievements.” — Denis Waitley

What have you been able to achieve without taking credit for your achievement? Would you have been able to achieve as much if you had insisted on taking credit? What more could you achieve if you would not mind if you got no credit for your achievement? Most of us crave at least a little recognition for what we do and what we achieve. When are you more likely to feel you need credit for your achievements? When are you more likely to be willing to achieve more, even if you do not receive credit for doing so?

Read over what you have written about humility this week. What makes some people more likely to be humble? What makes some people less likely to be so? Under what circumstances are people more likely to be humble? When are they less likely to be humble? What might impede your willingness to go without credit for your efforts or your achievements? What might motivate you to be more willing to go without credit for your efforts or your achievements?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 5, Perseverance, Day 1. On February 1, 1960, four African-American college students sat down in the European-American section of the segregated lunch counter in a Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolina. In accord with the strict segregation policies of the day, the white waitress refused to serve them. The white store manager told her to ignore them, hoping the black students would soon grow weary of sitting without being served and would leave. They did eventually leave that day, but the following day, they returned — and brought another 27 peaceful protesters with them. Within a few days, the daily “sit-ins” grew to hundreds of students showing passive resistance to segregation. The following week, the sit-ins spread to other Southern towns, in North Carolina and beyond. Despite occasional violent reactions to the sit-ins, the protesters persevered in their peaceful resistance to legal segregation. News of the protests began reaching beyond Greensboro and neighboring towns and even to the mainstream media. By mid-March, U.S. President Eisenhower expressed his support for desegregating the lunch counters. Nearly six months after the sit-ins began, the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro was desegregated on July 26, and thereafter, black and white patrons could sit wherever they pleased. Eventually, these protests and others led to more widespread desegregation and eventually to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which mandated desegregation in “public accommodations” everywhere — that is, in businesses and any other places that serve the general public. Throughout the protests, many white townspeople attempted to humiliate, intimidate, threaten, and otherwise deter the protesters from continuing their nonviolent actions. Why did these students and other protesters persevere, despite the very hostile response they received? How do you think you might have reacted if you had been a student protester? How do you think you might have reacted if you had been a white patron of the lunch counter when the first black students sat in?

Day 2. George de Mestral, the inventor of Velcro, has often been commended for his keen observation skills, his curiosity, and his remarkable innovation to have developed Velcro. He deserves these commendations. In 1941, after taking his dog for a walk, he noticed that some burrs clung to his clothes and to his dog’s fur. Curious as to why the burs so readily grasped fabrics and fur, he looked at them under a microscope and found that each bur had hundreds of tiny hooked endings that could grab onto any passing strands. He then innovated the notion of creating a product that had a series of hooks on one side and a series of loops to which the hooks could attach on the other side. Highly commendable. What’s really amazing about him, though, is that he spent the next ten years developing it into a product that could be manufactured, and he patented it in 1951. It did not appear on clothing until the early 1960s, and its use wasn’t widespread until after the U.S. space program started using it. Perhaps George de Mestral should be most celebrated for his perseverance in developing Velcro.

Day 3. The 2009 winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine were Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak. Both Blackburn and Greider have dedicated their professional careers to investigating “how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.” On the day their award was announced, an interviewer asked Greider, “I gather that the first evidence for the activity that was later shown to be telomerase came Christmas day, 1984. Was it normal that you would work every day of the year?” Greider responded, “Most of the time. I was just very excited about what I was doing at the time. We had kind of been chasing potential activities and ... so I had actually done the experiment several days before but then it takes a few days for the autoradiograph to develop. So I went in on Christmas day just to see what was there.” What motivates some people to work so hard and so long in their chosen fields? What kinds of work might excite you enough to be willing to work on a holiday? What kinds of work might motivate you to persevere in doing something across many years?

Day 4. Have you stayed in the same job, the same career, or the same general field for a long time? If so, why? If not, why not? Do you have any hobbies or other activities you have pursued for a long time? If so, what has motivated you to continue? If not, what are other aspects of your life in which you have persevered? What kinds of things deter you from persevering? What kinds of things motivate you to persevere?

Day 5. Quite a few television “reality” shows test contestants’ perseverance and willingness to continue despite tremendous challenges. What motivates the contestants to persevere, in the face of degrading, humiliating, and often physically painful or at least uncomfortable situations? Why do so many people enjoy watching these shows? Would you be interested in participating in such a show? If so, why do you feel that you would want to participate? If not, what reward could possibly motivate you to be willing to do so? What challenges would you be willing to face? What challenges or experiences would deter you from persevering?

Day 6. Journalist Ida B. Wells continually confronted Jim Crow policies in the South, even winning a lawsuit against a railway company that physically removed her from a whites-only car (her 1884 victory was overturned on appeal in 1887). After friends of hers were lynched, she published antilynching commentaries in her newspaper, pointing out that the victims were savagely murdered for their financial success, not for perpetrating any alleged or perceived crimes. Soon after, her Memphis newspaper offices were destroyed and she was threatened with her own murder if she returned. She moved, but she continued both her journalistic work and her antilynching campaign. In the North, she also widened her scope to oppose Northern racism, as well. Even after marrying and having children, Wells-Barnett (one of the first women to retain her own surname after marriage) continued to speak out and to write about the horrors of lynching and her opposition to racism, North and South. Why do some people continue to be politically active, long after their youth, and despite having family obligations, when most people do not? What political, social, or environmental causes might inspire you to participate actively despite other demands on your time and energy? What are some of the other demands on you that might impede your active participation in worthy causes about which you feel strongly? What steps might you take to overcome these impediments, to persevere in aiding causes you deem worthy?

Day 7. Visual artists from Michelangelo to Above have persevered in their artistic pursuits despite financial challenges and many other obstacles. Many other uncelebrated or posthumously celebrated artists, creative writers, and others persevere in their artistic pursuits despite harsh criticism or neglect, financial hardship or physical limitations. What keeps these people motivated to continue despite the lack of financial or other support? Is there anything you do that you would continue to do no matter what obstacles got in your way? If so, what motivates you? If not, what might motivate you to continue an activity despite impediments? Some people who single-mindedly pursue their art, their activism, or their profession fail to nurture long-term familial relationships or friendships. That is, though they persevere in their art, their activism, or their profession, they fail to persevere in their personal relationships. In which aspects of your life do you most diligently persevere? Are you more likely to persevere in maintaining your personal relationships or to persevere in other pursuits?

Read over what you have written about perseverance this week. In what kinds of activities, habits, and practices are you likely to persevere? What kinds of obstacles are likely to impede your willingness or your ability to persevere? What does your own perseverance tell you about what is important to you?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.


Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 4, Forgiveness. The topic of last week’s “Writing Prompts” was “Generosity and Charity.” While focusing on charitable giving, it failed to address an important aspect of charity: charitable forgiving. This week’s prompts address that topic.

Day 1. The Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I, harshly punished the German people, requiring them to repay the 2005 equivalent of $393.6 billion U.S. dollars, which both economically devastated that nation and humiliated the German people. Many historians consider this harsh punishment to be a key contributing factor to the rise of German nationalism, followed by Nazism, and eventually World War II (WWII). Alternatively, WWII was followed by forgiveness of the German people and aid in helping Germans to rebuild their nation and reconstruct their economy. Germany has since been viewed as a strong ally of the nations that defeated it in WWII. What are the practical implications of having nations show forgiveness to other nations? In your opinion, what are the moral implications of having nations show forgiveness to other nations? Is it morally right to forgive a nation for having been the aggressor in war? Is it morally right to punish the persons living in a country where the rulers of that country initiated a war? Does it make a difference whether those rulers were democratically elected or not? Does it make a difference whether those rulers were democratically elected by just a tiny majority, so that a large minority did not choose those leaders?

Day 2. Several documentarians have filmed encounters between Holocaust survivors or their children and former Nazis or their children (e.g., a documentary including an encounter between a Holocaust survivor and a former Nazi physician who had performed medical experiments on inmates of a concentration camp; a book, The Meeting: An Auschwitz Survivor Confronts an SS Physician, by Susan E. Cernyak-Spatz, Translator, based on a filmed interview between a former prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau and a former Nazi head of a hygiene institute; a conversation between Holocaust survivors and the daughter of a Nazi commandant of a concentration camp). (See also descriptions of several movies about the Holocaust, including some involving former Nazis or their children.) Think about how each party to such a discussion might feel, what each might want to say, and what each might hope to hear. Write down some notes of what you would plan to say if you were the child of a former Nazi. Write down some notes of what you would plan to say if you were the child of a Holocaust survivor. What thoughts would be racing through your head as you approached your conversation partner?

Day 3. Following decades of apartheid, oppression, and violent repression by the white minority, black South Africans gained majority rule of their nation. In 1995, the newly reborn nation established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This commission established a process through which victims of oppression and gross human rights violations could give testimonial evidence of their experiences. In addition, perpetrators of violence were invited to give testimony and to request amnesty for their human-rights crimes. If the perpetrators fully disclosed their actions and met several other criteria, amnesty was possible. The aim was to seek truth from victims and perpetrators, in order eventually to achieve reconciliation. Many victims were distressed at the amnesty process, and many observers felt that the perpetrators inadequately accepted responsibility for their actions. Many other observers have held that this process helped to avert calamitous violent retribution following the end of apartheid. What do you think? What should be the key aims for any governmental body established to investigate violent human-rights abuses? What should be the key aims of a governmental body designed to create policies that would prevent future abuses? What should be the key aims of a governmental body designed to create policies that would truly help victims heal and recover from their victimization? Can all these aims be met by one agency, at one time? If so, how? If not, why not? To reconcile with a former oppressor, must you offer amnesty? To give amnesty, must you forgive a former oppressor?

Day 4. When Palestinian terrorists launch attacks against Israel, Israel’s government retaliates against all Palestinians, showing Israel’s superior power in many domains: its military might and its ability to kill anyone or to demolish any building at any time; its power to blockade food, medicine, and other basic supplies from reaching Palestine; its power to bar people from going to tend or to sell their crops; and its power to prevent Palestinians from having gainful employment or otherwise sustaining themselves and supporting their loved ones. In turn, some Palestinians retaliate against any Israelis they can reach through terrorist attacks, unhesitatingly terrifying, killing, or maiming Israeli children and other Israeli civilians who had no direct involvement in Israel’s use or abuse of power. On both sides, the retaliations typically harm innocents who didn’t take the actions leading to the retaliation. Some have compared this situation to the situation in Northern Ireland, with British troops occupying Northern Ireland and imposing British power on Northern Ireland’s inhabitants. What helped to create the conditions that led to peace in Northern Ireland? What did individual people do to facilitate the peace process there? How did forgiveness play a role in this process? How might Israelis and Palestinians learn from the Northern Ireland experience to create peaceful, prosperous, and harmonious lives for themselves and for their children?

Day 5. Often, perpetrators of violence — whether a gang member or an international terrorist — act violently when seeking retribution for having felt humiliated or for having been made to feel powerless. For some people, killing or maiming a person may be forgivable, but it is absolutely unforgivable to disrespect or humiliate someone or to make someone feel powerless. Why is that so? In your view, what action or actions are truly unforgivable? Under what circumstances could this horrifically unforgivable action become forgivable in your eyes? What are your thoughts on how to help people forgive, despite having been humiliated or otherwise injured? What steps might enable individuals to forgive their sworn enemies?

Day 6. Think of a time when you felt hurt by a friend or some other loved one. Were you able to forgive her or him? If so, why and how did you do so? If not, how did your inability to forgive affect you? How did it affect your loved one?

Day 7. Think of a time when you hurt a friend or some other loved one — intentionally or unintentionally. Was she or he able to forgive you? If so, why do you think she or he did so? What did you do to help this person forgive you? If not, how did this inability to forgive affect you? How did it affect your loved one?

Read over what you have written about forgiveness this week. Do you feel differently about forgiveness when it applies to nations or to political groups than when it applies to you and your friends? Are you as ready to forgive yourself as to forgive others? How does the withholding of forgiveness affect the person who refuses to forgive? What have you learned about forgiveness at this time in your life?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.

Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 3, Generosity and Charity, Day 1. In 1913, organist, physician, and preacher Albert Schweitzer founded a hospital at Lambaréné, French Equatorial Africa. Other than when he and his wife were imprisoned in a French prisoner-of-war camp during World War I, he dedicated the rest of his life to both earning funds for his hospital and working in it as a physician. In 1950, Mother Theresa (née Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu) founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, where she dedicated the next 45 years of her life to serving the poor of India. In 1985, physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer and humanitarian Ophelia Dahl (daughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal) founded a hospital in Haiti, which treats patients unable to pay for treatment. In 1987, Farmer, Dahl, and three other people cofounded Partners In Health, “a non-profit health care organization dedicated to providing a ‘preferential option for the poor,’” reaching beyond Haiti to Rwanda, Mexico, Guatemala, Lesotho, Malawi, Peru, and Russia. What motivates some people to dedicate their lives to helping people in great need? Why do so few people do so? What are some needs you see that might inspire you to give of yourself to help meet those needs?

Day 2. George Soros has donated $7 billion of his own money, more than half of his net assets, to worthy causes. Warren Buffet has already donated billions of dollars to charities, and he has pledged to give 85% of his enormous personal wealth to the Gates Foundation. Bill and Melinda Gates have themselves donated more than $24 billion to their foundation. Well-known celebrity philanthropists include Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Bill and Camille Cosby, and Lebanese-American actor Danny Thomas and his daughter Marlo. What motivates these famous philanthropists to be so generous with their financial resources? Some have cynically suggested that celebrated philanthropists do so to enhance their public image. Even if that were true, does that diminish the value of their generosity? If you were thinking about making a charitable donation, would it make a difference to you if others knew that you were or were not making the donation? (Be honest with yourself.) Would it make a difference to you if someone thanked you for your donation? What would make it more likely that you would give again in the future?

Day 3. Steel entrepreneur and industrialist Andrew Carnegie provided the funds that established more than 2,500 libraries throughout the United States (1,689), the United Kingdom (660), Canada (125), Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, Fiji, and in the Caribbean. Mining magnate and philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and his niece Peggy Guggenheim founded art museums, based chiefly on their own art collections. Railway mover and shaker Henry E. Huntington founded both Huntington Hospital, a “nonprofit, community-based medical center,” and the Huntington Library, “an educational and research institution” that also hosts art collections and botanical gardens. Real estate and financial-industry tycoon Eli Broad has donated hundreds of millions to M.I.T., to Harvard, and to numerous art museums. Countless other philanthropists sustain orchestras, operas, ballet and other dance companies, and other performing arts and artists. What motivates philanthropists to found and to contribute to community cultural centers? If you had the resources to found some kind of community cultural center, what kind of center would you found? Where would you found it? Be specific. For instance, in what neighborhood and on what street would you found your center? Who would you hope to have participate in the activities, events, or exhibits at your center?

Day 4. In 1995, Oseola McCarty, a washerwoman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, established a trust estimated at $150,000 to provide scholarships to needy students wishing to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. What do you believe motivated McCarty’s generosity? (For further information on her, see also The University of Southern Mississippi.) How does her generosity compare with that of Soros and Carnegie, Gates and Guggenheim, who have donated billions to charitable causes? How are Paul Farmer, Oprah Winfrey, Andrew Carnegie, and Oseola McCarty the same? How do they differ? Of all the generous and charitable persons mentioned so far, whom do you most admire? Why?

Day 5. According to research by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, for Google, conducted in 2003 (for households with incomes less than $200,000) and 2006 (for households with incomes greater than $200,000),

• Of the total $253 billion people donated to charities in the United States in a given year, $89.5 billion was donated by households earning less than $100,000/year; $111.4 billion was donated by households earning between $100,000 and $1 million/year, and $51.3 billion was donated by households earning more than $1 million/year.
• Though households with smaller incomes donated more money overall, households with incomes greater than $1 million/year donated nearly 8 times as much money to arts organizations, compared with households with incomes less than $100,000/year ($7.9 billion vs. $1 billion, respectively).
• On the other hand, households with incomes less than $100,000/year donated more than 4 times as much money to organizations and causes focused solely on providing for people’s basic needs, as compared with households with incomes greater than $1 million/year ($9.3 billion vs. $1.9 billion, respectively).
• Households with incomes between $100,000/year and $1 million/year contributed nearly 2 times as much to education-related organizations and institutions, compared with the combined total given by households with smaller incomes and with larger incomes ($30.3 billion, $2.7 billion, and $12.9 billion, respectively).

See this table for more details on charitable contributions to various organizations (e.g., health-related, combined-purpose, and other causes), by household income.
Why do you think that people with differing household incomes choose so differently when making charitable contributions? What does this suggest to you about what motivates people to give to charitable organizations? What kinds of charitable organizations most readily motivate you to donate your money (or your time)? What does this choice tell you about your own values? If you were trying to help your favorite organization increase its donations, from whom would you seek donations? How would you do so?

Day 6. Physicians who choose family practice or general practice earn far less money than physicians who choose dermatology, plastic surgery, or other specialties. Attorneys who choose to work as public defenders earn far less money than prosecuting attorneys, and prosecutors typically earn less money than attorneys who practice corporate law. People with Ph.D.s who decide to become college professors often earn less money than people with B.A.s or perhaps M.A.s who work in the financial industry. Teachers and social workers with baccalaureates and even advanced degrees generally earn less than similarly educated middle managers in major industries. When people choose to work in a field in which they earn less money but that they believe will help people more, are they being generous? What does a person’s choice of career imply about that person’s generosity? Is it more generous to earn lots of money and donate most of it to charity, or is it more generous to choose a less profitable profession and to donate very little money to charity? What career (or careers) have you chosen? How does your career choice express what is important to you? What other factors affected your choice of careers (e.g., educational and employment opportunities, family obligations)?

Day 7. Ernie B., a teacher, has always had his own personal “microlending” program for his current and former students, as well as for all his students’ parents and children. His “lending” policy is that he never loans anyone anything that he cannot afford to give freely and open-heartedly. This policy is wise because the rate at which borrowers repay him is probably far less than 10% of the many tens of thousands he has lent during more than three decades of teaching. He rarely lends more than $100 at a time, even more rarely more than $1,000, and almost never has lent anyone more than $5,000. He has often borrowed money (on credit cards or credit lines) to extend these loans, paying up to 19% interest on his own loans but never receiving a penny of interest on the rare loans that have been repaid to him. In addition, he often buys his students food, diapers or formula for their small children, bus passes, and other necessities. He rarely gives to established charities, however, so his official tax-deductible contributions appear relatively small. Many of his fellow teachers donate exorbitant amounts of their time to mentoring students and other young people and to helping young people in other ways. Who are some of the generous people you know? With whom are they generous? Do they give to family, friends, acquaintances, charitable organizations, or others? Are they generous with their time, with their financial resources, with their skills, or with other resources? What are some of the resources generous people may share?

Reread what you have written this week about generosity and charity. What are some of your talents, which you might share with others? Do you feel more able to be generous with your time or with your financial resources? Do you have to donate money or time in order to be generous? What are some other ways in which you may be generous or charitable?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link for this discussion.

Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 2. Loyalty, faithfulness, and obedience have played dramatic roles in human lives throughout history. The insightful dramatist William Shakespeare used loyalty and betrayal, faithfulness and distrust as fundamental themes in several of his tragedies: King Lear, Othello, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and even Romeo and Juliet.

Day 1. Often, during times of national strife (e.g., the Civil War, World War II, the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union and other Communist nations), the U.S. government has required some people to take a “loyalty oath,” or a “pledge of allegiance.” What do you think of having people pledge their allegiance or swear their loyalty to the nation? Do you think that people become more loyal when they pledge their allegiance to the nation? Why or why not? What inspires you to feel loyalty to someone or something?

Day 2. Sometimes, people who refuse to sign a loyalty oath are not hired for jobs working for the government or for government contractors, or they are fired from these jobs. Many people (including some Supreme Court Justices) have questioned whether any government should be able to demand that people swear an oath or pledge their allegiance because such oaths violate the U.S. Constitution (both the First Amendment, guaranteeing free speech and freedom of religion, and the Fourteenth Amendment, ensuring that the rights of citizenship may not be infringed “without due process of law”). What do you think? Does your government have the right to require you to pledge your allegiance to the nation, the state, or the government? Why or why not? Is pledging your allegiance to your nation more or less the same thing as pledging to be faithful to your marriage partner when you marry? How are these two pledges the same or different? Does it make a difference whether you are required to pledge your loyalty, or you voluntarily choose to pledge your loyalty? Will both pledges have the same effect?

Day 3. On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex. Over the next two years, investigations by the F.B.I. and a special U.S. Senate committee revealed that President Richard M. Nixon, aided by H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman (White House Chief of Staff) and John Ehrlichman (Nixon’s other top aide, officially the Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs), not only authorized the illegal break-in, but also took extraordinary steps to cover it up. As a result of these investigations, on April 30, 1973, Nixon submitted to political pressure and very reluctantly asked Haldeman and Ehrlichman to resign. Eventually, both men were convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice and served 1½ years in prison. Nixon did not pardon either man. On August 9, 1974, Nixon was forced to resign, as well. White House observers believe that Haldeman and Ehrlichman took these extraordinary steps out of deep feelings of loyalty to Nixon. What do you think? Were they being loyal to Nixon? Were they being disloyal to the American people? Should Nixon have shown loyalty to Haldeman and Ehrlichman by pardoning them after they were convicted? Who deserves your loyalty? What should you be able to expect in return for your loyalty, if anything?

Haldeman and Ehrlichman may have obeyed Nixon’s orders, but they disobeyed the U.S. Constitution and violated federal laws. How do you know whom you should obey and to whom you should show loyalty?

Day 4. During the 1930s and 1940s, the National Socialist German Worker's Party (known as the Nazi Party) ruled Germany, under Adolf Hitler’s leadership. To carry out his grisly mission to kill all Jews, Roma (gypsies), communists, homosexuals, and physically or mentally disabled persons, Hitler relied on several men, including Heinrich Himmler, overseer of the Gestapo and other police and security forces, as well as of concentration camps; Adolf Eichmann, who managed the logistics of transporting millions of Jews and other people to concentration camps; and Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s chief deputy. After World War II ended and Hitler’s government was defeated, both Hitler and Himmler committed suicide, and Eichmann escaped to Argentina, but Hess faced trial in Nuremberg, Germany (1945–1946).
At the Nuremberg trials, Hess and other defendants asserted that they should not be held responsible for their barbarous deeds because they were just “following orders.” When Adolf Eichmann was caught and brought to trial in 1961, he, too, insisted that he was only “following orders.” These men were telling the truth: They were following the legal orders of their government. They were convicted anyway, though. Should they have been? We prize obedience in soldiers, employees, students, children, and pets. Where should people draw the line when deciding whether to be obedient and loyal to an authority? What are some things that you would never do, even if your parents, teachers, employers, or government asked you to do them? Why wouldn’t you do those things?

Day 5. Think of situations when a friend or family member told you a secret and asked you never to tell anyone else. Now, think of a time when you did tell someone else the secret. What happened? Did the friend or family member find out that you revealed the secret? If so, how was your relationship affected by your decision to reveal the secret to someone else? If not, what were some other consequences of your revealing the secret? What did this experience teach you about loyalty? Now, think of a time when a friend or family member revealed a secret of yours to someone else. How was your relationship affected by having that person reveal your secret? In each of these situations, were you able to reestablish trust with the other person? If so, how did you do so? If not, what could the secret teller have done to reestablish trust?

Day 6. Think about some secrets that you think should not be kept (e.g., children being sexually molested, wives being beaten, friends being threatened with violence, acquaintances planning to commit suicide, family members planning to hurt themselves or someone else). How have you handled a situation like that, or how would you handle a situation like that? What were (or possibly would be) the consequences of revealing the secret? How did (or would) the revelation affect your relationship with the person who told you this secret? If the secret were not revealed, what would be the consequences of not revealing the secret? What is some advice you would give someone facing a situation like this?

Day 7. Think about a time when your friends, coworkers, or other people were doing something — or planning to do something — that violated the law or your religious or moral beliefs and that had the potential to hurt themselves or someone else. What did you do? (Only you will see your answer, so be honest with yourself.) How did your feelings of loyalty to these people (or this person) affect your decision to act as you did? What were the consequences of your actions? What if these people (or this person) expected you to join in the illegal and harmful behavior? How were your loyalties affected, or how would they be affected? How did (or would) your loyalties affect what you did?

Look over what you have written this week about loyalty, faithfulness, and obedience. How do these virtues relate to being “trustworthy”? From whom do you expect loyalty? What do you do to deserve loyalty? To whom do you feel loyal? What do these people (or does this person) do to deserve your loyalty? Even if you’re loyal and faithful to someone most of the time, what are some situations when you might consider acting disloyally?


Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you enjoy and enhance your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link at the beginning of this discussion.

Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Week 1, Courage, Day 1. Think about a few famous women and men of courage, such as Harriet Tubman, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, or Rosa Parks. From what you know about one or more of these famously courageous people, what can you infer about courage? What are some acts of courage? What makes an act courageous, rather than just foolhardy? What motivates some people to show courage, to take risks? Why do some people show courage when others fail to do so? Write what you know about courage, based on what you have learned about courage from popular culture and from mainstream history.

Day 2. Who are some less famous women and men who have shown courage, such as Congresswoman Barbara Lee or Senator Russ Feingold, war resisters Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV or Stephen Funk, peaceful protesters Shirin Ebadi or Neda Soltani, or protectors Miep Gies or Raoul Wallenberg? What about Saudi wife, mother, and poet Hissa Hilal?
Whom do you admire who has shown courage in their work or in their private lives? Why do these persons (or does this person) particularly inspire you with their courage?

Day 3. What act or acts of courage have you observed personally? What were the consequences of these actions? What makes this act or these acts courageous, rather than foolhardy?

Day 4. Often, we think of the actions of adolescents as being foolhardy, but people take foolish risks at all ages. For instance, think of the recent risky behavior of so-called financial experts, or of politicians who fail to avert obvious impending disasters. What act or acts of foolhardiness have you observed personally? What were the consequences of these actions? What makes this act or these acts foolhardy, rather than courageous? What motivated these foolhardy actions?

Day 5. When have you been foolhardy? What prompted you to be so foolhardy? Did you anticipate the possible harmful consequences of your actions? Were you aware of the risks you took when you acted? If you were not aware of those risks, why weren’t you aware? If you were aware, why did you ignore or overlook those risks?

Day 6. Courage implies full awareness of risk. It’s not courageous to charge into battle if you don’t know you might be killed or maimed for doing so. When have you been fully aware of the risks you faced, yet you showed courage? What prompted you to be so courageous? Why did you ignore or overlook the potential risks and act valiantly anyway? What were the consequences of your actions? If you had known then what you know now, would you still take the same actions?

Day 7. Think about suicide bombers, mercenary soldiers, and assassins who target those with whom they disagree. Do these people show courage? Why do you believe that they do or do not show courage? When is courage a fault, rather than a virtue? When is fear and temperance virtuous?

Look over what you have written this week about courage. How does your reaction to popular notions of courage compare and contrast with your own views of courage, based on the courageous acts you have admired, observed, or even enacted?


Well, my friends, I managed to overcome my fears and risk failing in this new endeavor. So far, I have failed utterly only once within the first two days.

Please let me know how I can improve this discussion to help you more in your writing. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and other comments. Please contact me, or respond at the comments link at the beginning of this discussion.

Copyright 2010, Shari Dorantes Hatch, Hatch Developmental Writing. All rights reserved.

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Are writing prompts in general helpful to you? Is this writing prompt in particular helpful to you? How else may I help you improve your writing or enhance your enjoyment of writing?