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Subject:
Literature & Language
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Literature and morality. Moral Education in Literature.

Essay Instructions:


The topic for the final exam is literature and morality. Do you believe that the study of literature in any way contributes to moral education? Below you will see a quote concerning moral education for children. If you want to read the entire article, you can. The citation is below, and you can find the essay in Project Muse. In your response, refer to threereadings from this semester. How might each of the readings contribute to moral education? You may choose any poem, play or story we have read. Notice the quote focuses on “responsible decision-making about moral issues.” It is not just a question of teaching morality: it is a question of how literature teaches morality. That idea should help you focus your response. And remember, this is an essay exam. Essays have a beginning, middle and end, plus they have that old nemesis word, a thesis.
The Quote:
"Depictions of old age and death, the inclusion of controversial topics like homosexuality, and the portrayal of characters who face tough moral dilemmas are increasingly common in children's and adolescent literature. As a result, books for young people are filled with unresolved problems, conflicting value positions, and alternative value systems, and that raises many questions about the teaching of values in schools that have been designed to maintain and perpetuate a democracy. What is the place of moral education in the schools? Can children's literature, a rich source for societal critique, help to encourage moral responsibility? If children's literature is to be a part of moral education, how might that best be achieved?

I believe that moral education must be a primary focus in today's schools, for the classroom may be the best opportunity we have to give young people the tools they need to live in our rapidly changing society. But for me, "moral education" does not mean the inculcation of a particular set of values, the clarification of each individual's values, or the promotion of the development of values along a predetermined, linear scale. It means, instead, the systematic analysis of differing value positions, the evaluation of the means and methods used for differing purposes, the evaluation of purposes, and the proposal of new or alternative purposes and values. The purpose of this method is to teach responsible decision-making about moral issues."


Epstein, Virginia Burke. "Moral Reading: Children's Literature as Moral Education." Children's Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 11 no. 2, 1986, p. 68-72. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/chq.0.0497.
Poems:
Kathryn Howd Machan, “Hazel Tells LaVerne
John Donne, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Sharon Olds, “Last Night
Stories:
Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find
Susan Minot, “Lust
“Saving Sourdi by May-Lee Chai

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Subject and Section
Professor’s name
Date of Submission
Moral Education in Literature
Morality refers to a societal norm that follows what is perceived as right and neglects what is perceived as wrong. This system is dependent on a variety of factors such as religion, culture, and upbringing. One act may be acceptable to one religion but deplorable to the other. Despite the difficulties in the analysis of various types of morality, psychologists and philosophers still tend to be consumed by its mystery (Haidt and Kesebir). Because of this natural curiosity, many of them were able to incorporate such ideology into literature that all individuals in the world have access to.
The majority of the works of words that have the primary theme of morality are the children’s books. Most of these have conflicting ideologies and controversial concepts that provide the child the opportunity to choose on which path is correct and wrong depending on the moral values that he has learned in life. These books can serve as guidance and hindrance at the same time.
Despite these disputes, these books have been largely used by schools to teach moral education to children by reading it to them or discussing the moral issues present in the stories. It is an excellent platform to open the minds of the children to break the stereotypes present in the society.
One example is O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find which is a classic paradigm of how morality is portrayed in literature. It is about the two perspectives of goodness which depends on the person. This story revolves around the family who got lost in the woods and was found by a number of hostile men who were about to kill them. The grandmother recognized one of them and asks him whether he would fire a gun to a lady. The Misfit answered no. However, he still fired the gun against the lady in the end. Despite his brash attitude, ...
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