Text: SAT Preparation for Critical Reading

1. Introduce students to the guidelines for responding in seminar, using the attached transparency. These guidelines were written to deal with the way students all talk at once when some particularly controversial question is raised or when someone in the group gives an interesting answer and everyone wants to respond at once..

2. Direct students to sit in a circle and to put their name on the index card. They can either tape the card to their desk or fold it in half and stand it on the desk. They will either flip the card forward, if taped, or if folded, face the name side of their card to the circle, when they want to speak.

3. When students are ready to begin seminar, direct them to have out one sheet of paper and then to turn to page 2 of the seminar book and complete question 1.

4. When the question has been answered in writing, direct students to page 3. Read the passage out loud to the students; then direct students to reread the passage silently. They will not need more than two or three minutes.

5. Using the transparency attached, and revealing only one question at a time, work the students through the seminar questions. As students debate and discuss, refer them back continually to the text, especially in the first set of questions.

The seminar questions proceed from Clarification, to Opinion, to Relevancy.

You may not need all questions in all categories, but you do want to be certain to get past the clarification to opinion and relevancy.

6. At the conclusion of the seminar, direct students to reread their response to Question 1 on page 2. Ask them to decide, on the same sheet of paper, with which statement they now agree and give an explanation. If they feel the same, they must respond with further explanation as to why they remain so. They ought to comment on the seminar itself in justifying their opinion.

Questions of Clarification:

1. What does Francis Bacon mean by "wild justice' in line 1?

2. Does Bacon believe that a person should never take revenge?

3. Which, according to Bacon, is more generous, to tell a person you intend to get even, or to keep them guessing?

4. What does Bacon say are the benefits of not getting revenge?

5. What is Bacon's principal attitude towards revenge? (There are several choices on page 4, question III.

6. Explain in your own words Bacon's main point in lines 18-23.

Questions of Opinion:

1. How is Bacon correct in assuming that he who takes revenge destroys the law? Or do you disagree?

2. In what ways do you agree with Bacon's opinion in line 10 that evil people hurt others for their own pleasure and not just to inflict pain?

3. What concerns Bacon the most about just anyone taking revenge?

4. Bacon does suggest there may be times when revenge is allowed (line 13). When might such a time exist, and what kind of revenge would be appropriate, according to Bacon?

5. Explain how revenge keeps the wounds open, as Bacon suggests in line 23 - 25. Have you found this to be true in your life?

6. Do you agree that there is a difference between public revenge, which Bacon calls 'good,' and private revenge, which he calls 'not good'? Explain the difference.

Questions of Relevancy

1. What makes some people desire to take revenge so strongly? (Consider in your answers the actions of Montressor, the rivalry between Ulrich and Georg, and the potential for revenge on the part of the Princess)

2. What kinds of harm, injury, or insult to us tend to make us want revenge?

3. Why doesn't the justice system of the United States satisfy the desire for revenge on the part of her people?

4. In the short stories you have read, was the lust for revenge justified at all? How did the law provide recourse for the characters who felt wronged?

5. What kinds of people tend to want revenge? What kinds of people tend to overlook, forgive, or forget the wrongs done to them?

6. Since there are degrees of wrong and injustice, define the degree of injury you would be able to tolerate before you would try to take revenge upon someone.

7. Do we tend to want revenge more if it is our friend who has harmed us or if the injury is from an unexpected source? Why?

8. In your opinion, which takes more strength and character, avenging a wrong or ignoring it?

9. Describe a community in which everyone knows that everyone else will take swift and complete revenge if any harm is done to them or their property. Do you wish to live in such a community? Why or why not?

10. If you feel that revenge is at times justified, describe a system that teaches people how to get revenge constructively. If you feel that revenge is not justified, describe a system that teaches people how to overlook injuries and how to forgive.