1. Explain a moral lesson that you learned through a story you were told as a child, or, if you are a parent, a moral lesson you have taught your child through the use of a story. Do you think those stories are valuable? Did you learn the lesson you were being taught? Did the adults in your life follow the lessons they were trying to teach you? 2. In 1954, the book The Little Engine that Could was published. Its message was that if the little engine only believed in itself (by repeating “I think I can; I think I can”), then it could accomplish its task of bring toys over a big hill. Search online for and read the Shel Silverstein poem “The Little Blue Engine,” which is a reaction to the book. What are your thoughts about allowing children to read poems like this? Should children only read stories and poems that have a moral lesson? Do you think this poem has a moral lesson? 3. In the primary readings section of the digital textbook, you read Plato’s explanation that people do not know what is good for them when it comes to entertainment (dramas were what his society had available) and that the state (his word for government) should limit what people view. Aristotle, on the other hand, saw some value in certain dramas because of the cathartic effect. How do their views apply to mature-rated video games that contain violence? Is there any benefit to these games? Is there a detriment?
