by Judith Viorst

Questions for Philosophical Discussion
by Marina Lawson
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Questions regarding the nature of emotions:

Alexander has a bunch of bad things happen to him first thing in the morning and they put him into a bad mood.

1. Have you ever woken up in a bad mood?
2. Does waking up in a bad mood affect the rest of your day?
3. How do you know that you are in a bad mood?
4. Is it possible to be in a bad mood on the inside but not show it on the outside?
5. Can other people tell you are in a bad mood? How?
6. Based on the answers from the previous questions, can we answer the question "what is a mood?"
   
   
   
   

Alexander sounds jealous because he only had cereal in his box, no toy.

1. Have you ever been jealous of something someone else had?
2. Does being jealous help you get what you want?
3. Can other people tell when you are jealous of them? How?
4. Can we come up with some answers to the question "What is jealousy?" using our discussion of the previous questions?
   

Alexander gets really angry and is mean to his friends when they tell him that they don't like him as much anymore.

1. What do you think Alexander was feeling when his friends were mean to him?
2. How did he respond to his problem?
3. Does treating someone badly back when they've treated you badly help problems?
4. Are there situations where getting angry can actually be a good thing?
5. Do you think Alexander is feeling both hurt and angry at the same time?
6. Is it really possible to feel more than one emotion at once?
7. How can we tell the difference between our emotions?
8. Can other people tell the difference between our emotions?
9. Based on our discussion of the previous questions, can we determine what an emotion is?

Questions regarding how to deal with emotions:

Alexander says that he'll move to Australia.

1. Where is Australia?
2. He wants to move to Australia to get away from his problems, like having to go back to the dentist. Have you ever run away from your problems?
3. Does it help?

Alexander punches his brother for calling him a crybaby and his mother gets angry with him.

1. Why does Alexander's mother get angry with him?
2. Why is violence bad?
3. Have you ever gotten violent with someone?
4. Are there times when it is okay to be violent?
5. Can we come up with a definition of violence?

 

Questions regarding the nature of art:

Alexander draws a picture of an invisible castle and is disappointed when his teacher doesn't like it.

1. Do you think he deserves praise for his picture?
2. Do you think his picture is artistic?
3. Do you think that Alexander may have actually seen a picture when his teacher did not?
4. How could the picture be real to Alexander but not his teacher?
5. Does art always have to be something that we can see?
6. What are the different kinds of art?
7. Using the discussion from the previous questions, can we come up with a definition of art?
   

Questions regarding the nature of mistakes:

Alexander gets upset when his teacher tells him he is making mistakes.

1. Is it bad to make a mistake?
2. How do we know when we are making mistakes?
3. Can mistakes be good sometimes?
4. Is it possible to fix mistakes? How?

 

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