Paul Loeb - The Impossible Will Take a Little While. Here are some classroom study questions that have worked well for teachers throughout the country while assigning The Impossible. Soul of a Citizen has its own separate study questions here. Faculty have said they're very useful to adapt and select from while assigning the book. I'm continually honing and revising them, so if you develop other questions or instructional materials or undertake service learning projects that would seem worth sharing with other schools, please email and send them to me. A broadcast journalist for more than four decades, Bill Moyers has been recognized as one of the unique voices of our times, one that resonates with multiple generations. Here are section- by- section questions: Introduction. Section One: Seeds of the Possible. Section Two: Dark Before the Dawn Section Three: Everyday Grace. Section Four: Rebellious Imagination. Section Five: Courage is Contagious. Section Six: The Global Stage. Section Seven: Radical Dignity. Section Eight: Beyond Hope. Section Nine: Only Justice Can Stop a Curse. Overview questions- -after students have read the book. THE JOURNAL looks at an update of the Kerner Commission Report, which blamed the violence on the devastating poverty and hopelessness endemic in the inner cities of. The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, a book by Paul Rogat Loeb. Citizen Activism and Social Movements, Civic Engagement. Official website; Appearances on C-SPAN; Jorge Ramos at the Internet Movie Database; Lamb, Brian (July 6, 2010). Q&A with 'Jorge Ramos'. Sawhney, Hirsh (July. The fact that the Daisy spot is still discussed today is a testament to its power, but what was the immediate impact and reaction? A Harris Poll taken a week after. Special questions for writing, composition, and rhetoric teachers. One note: Most faculty assign the entire book and it works very well because the pieces are well written enough, so students don't get bogged down. But if reading time is scarce, you can always assign selected sections or pieces or give students a choice within each section category. In case it's useful, here's an annotated Table of Contents describing each piece. What stops us from acting on issues we care about? Have there been issues, small or large, where you've wanted to take a stand, but didn't? Why do you think you didn't? If there were issues where you have taken a stand, what got you involved? Or do you hold back from acting because you think your efforts are futile? Were you surprised to see a portrait of Desmond Tutu as so down- to- earth? Do you think of global heroes as saintly and detached? Are you hopeful in your personal life, for your own individual future? Do you have more or less hope in terms of this country's future, or the future of the world? Were you surprised to know that some of the Eastern European revolutions started with the defense of a rock band? Any lessons from this? Did you know the real Rosa Parks story, or did you only know the myth? How does it change your view to know Parks didn't act alone? Does it change your image of how people become activists? Did you know there were photos of lynchings that spectators circulated to their friends? What does that say about that time? Are there any current analogues? How do we know when an action matters? Do the stories Paul tells of his friend Lisa suggest that the major impact of much of what we do may be hidden or delayed? Can you think of other situations where a person who clearly made an impact on history first got involved in a seemingly lost cause, or where the results of their attempts to work for change were unclear until long after their initial efforts? Were you surprised at Paul’s experience getting out the vote in 2. If you were eligible, why or why not? Have you been involved as a volunteer in any local, state, or national electoral campaigns, on any side? And if you were involved, how did that make you feel in terms of your ability to make an impact? Do you get revived by a connection with the natural world? What lessons does this connection give in terms of working for its preservation? Have you been surprised at the shifts in responses to gay marriage? Whether you agree with it or not, why do you think they’ve happened? Why do you think the Tea Party was so effective at changing the national dialogue in 2. Are there lessons for other citizen movements of similar or different political perspectives? Were you surprised that the Tea Party and Sierra Club could work together in Georgia? Can you research or think of other examples of unexpected political alliances? Do you feel you can do anything about climate change? Have you tried to do anything, large or small? How did those actions make you feel? Did you know that Gandhi was influenced by Tolstoy and that he in turn influenced the American civil rights movement? Can you think of other examples of historical chains of influence? Read Henry David Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience online and write about how he's influenced global movements for democracy justice. Explore the following themes: Those who make significant advances to improve the world learn to do so after a series of small steps over time, rather than in one, sweeping dramatic move (e. Rosa Parks)Hope is an “orientation of the heart” and mind, rather than a way of life. We may make our most powerful contribution by inspiring other individuals to voice the courage of their convictions. Embracing the pleasures of life can help us keep on acting for change. Select a quote from the following that resonates with a specific experience in your own life. Explain the connection between the quote and your personal experience. The impossible will take a little while. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. So if you disagree with a particular stand in a particular essay, research it further, but also think about how one of the other authors might respond. You might even want to write out a response from their perspective. Do you feel you have options for political change? Could we see the process of working for change as ? What's the relationship between what keeps Ackerman volunteering at the suicide hotline and the strength she tries to give to Louise? How is the card Louise sends an example of how rarely we know our real impact? In her essay, Ackerman emphasizes the importance of human choices, explaining, . How does society influence our personal choices? How often do you define your choices in terms of the impact on a larger common future? Have you ever lived in a neighborhood where needless death is routine? Are you surprised by the fierceness of a love where children can leave Rice Crispies for dead friends or explain ? What would it take to open more possibilities in the lives of the children Kozol describes? Why are people like Kozol and Mother Martha still hopeful, after all they've seen over the years? Is their hope justified? Why does our society mourn some deaths but not others? Why do you think Kozol entitled the excerpt (and book by the same name) ? Kozol states that he returns to Mott Haven ? Have you ever found value in returning to difficult places or situations? Why do we allow them to do this? Is part of the reason that lives of children like those Kozol and Edelman write about are invisible? If we see a poor, dirty and neglected child, or a kid who looks headed to be part of a gang, do we think of them as a potential King or Gandhi? Or assume that their situation is their own fault, that in the words of a student I once interviewed, that ? What makes us decide that there's nothing we can do about these situations? Is Benjamin Mays right that it demeans us not to dream, and dream of a better world? Why do we accept this? Why does our society encourage us to dream mostly about private possibilities, like financial success? What would it take for more of us to dream of justice and act on it? What are today's mountains of ice that fuel indifference to injustice? What would it take for more of us to be on fire enough to melt them? Did you know the U. S. What could be done to address this? Optional project: Research how much of our national governmental budgets go to programs that benefit children? What does this say about our national priorities? Do you agree with Edelman's reading of the Bible, as a series of stories in which the powerless triumph over the powerful? How might you accomplish these hopes? Ask your parents or older people in your community whether they've noticed impacts on the local habitat/ecosystem from climate change, like if they're hunters or fishermen or spend lots of outdoors outdoors. Do plants bloom at different times. Is there less snow or more or less rain. See this link to some terrific regional maps from the National Climate Assessment report. And follow this link to see how hot your city is projected to be by 2. Since you can’t work directly for the Earth as a prospective employee, what do you think Hawken means by saying “the Earth is Hiring”? Are there things you can do now, while in school to respond to his call, or to prepare yourself to respond down the line? Do you ever look at the stars at night? Do you ever experience a sense of awe at nature? Does that experience give you anything useful for tackling the problems of the world? When Hawken writes that instead of recruiting limos, the earth sends you “rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine,” compare that to what keeps Desmond Tutu going. What is the lesson to you of the Adrienne Rich poem that Hawken quotes? Is it “perverse” to believe your actions can matter? Identify a way that you, too, might ? Can you think of any contemporary parallels? Is “stealing the future” a fair description of much of our economy? Did you know about Interface Global, the company Loeb sites in his introduction? Can you think of other examples of companies that work to heal the future, at least in some of what they do? Consider a research project on this subject. Does it change your perspective on your connection to other human beings to know that you are literally “breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono”? What would it mean for you to take Hawken’s message of responsibility “and run as if your lifedepends on it”? What's our response when we find someone who faces actual physical paralysis yet finds ways to act? Do we view people who work for change as ? Why are we often so afraid of the physically ill or economically vulnerable? Identify a problem in your daily surroundings or community, like Goska being unable to get back and forth to the food bank. Is there anything you could do today to make a positive difference? Are any local groups trying to do something?
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