| Introduction
Setting the Stage: Questions to Think About
1. What does fiction actually mean?
2. How far is it acceptable to use real people and situations as bases for fictional stories?
3. At what point does fiction become falsehood?
4. Does the truth matter?
Introduction
When we read a piece of fiction, we know, as readers, that the stories contained within are not “real,” that the plot, the situations, the contexts, the characters are made up or fabricated by the author. Most stories we enjoy reading include believable—to a greater or lesser extent—characters, settings and plots; if they didn’t, we probably wouldn’t want to read them.
What if, for example, a piece of homework or writing assignment asks us to give an account of an event or situation that really happened, or asks us to draw on personal experience? Is it acceptable to make that account seem a little more interesting at the expense of absolute truth?
One popular example of fiction using factually based stories and situations is the well-known TV series based on the novel Gossip Girl, which is centered around the Constance Billard School on New York’s Upper East Side. This series is a fictional creation by the author of the books, Cicely Von Ziegesar. Von Ziegesar has also said, however, that this school is based on her own experiences at the very real Spence school. So why do we accept Gossip Girl as fiction, when at least part of it is based in truth and reality?
Being able to decide whether or not truth matters, and to make other ethical choices comes from both understanding the values that are behind moral decisions, and from developing critical thinking skills. Through consideration of the ethical dimensions within authorship and writing, this ethics module will develop and encourage the process of critical thinking. The topics in this module are specifically related to the issues and ethics involved in questions of credibility, the responsibility of authors, “truthful” writing, accurate language etc. These issues are important for high school students to learn because we, as responsible citizens and members of society, should try to understand when creativity becomes falsehood and deception, when we might “do harm” to others, and when we might be dishonest.
This module covers a number of issues related to writing and ethics, via three activities: the first concerns examining the issues surrounding James Frey’s “memoir”/fiction A Million Little Pieces; and the second and third activities ask the students to think about ethical issues in their own writing, with one activity based around the SAT writing test.
Educational Objectives
1. Students will learn to make more informed decisions about the choices they make in their own writing.
2. Students will have a greater awareness that both authors and readers make choices in the way information is presented and understood in writing.
3. Students will better understand the difference between “falsehood,” “creativity,” and “falsification.”
4. Students will learn about deceit and honesty, and how if often seems that there are no unequivocal rights or wrongs.
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