How do people make important choices in life? Should they blindly take advice from loved ones or someone in a position of authority? Or is there something higher that deserves our attention even more? One of the few works of fiction in this textbook, "In the Library" was written in 2019 by the textbook's lead author.

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The temperature outside was frigid—a reminder that the official beginning of winter was two weeks away. It was the second last class of the college semester. The students in Mr. Cruickshank-Gonzalez's literature class had just finished handing in their research papers, one by one. Most of the students chose not to call their professor by name since it was such a mouthful, so they settled for "Mr. C-G" or the old standard "Sir." Before moving onto the next item on the agenda, Mr. C-G was somehow moved to do something he'd never done before in his entire career, which had now spanned almost 20 years. He asked his students, "Does anyone want to talk about what they learned from their project?"

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What seemed like a minute of silence passed. To Mr. C-G, the silence was painful. He thought to himself, "What have I done? Why did I just risk total humiliation?" He feared that this act of spontaneity was a gigantic failure in the making.

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And then, a student raised her hand. It was Megan who always sat in the back row. She was known to speak up more often than most. She'd made excellent contributions to class discussions. Mr. C-G couldn't remember all his students' names, but he knew Megan's. Megan began, "I've never been in a library before." The class was completely silent. No one whispered. No one chuckled. Mr. C-G wondered if anyone else in his class had ever visited a library. Responding to Megan's brave comment, Mr. C-G said in amazement, "Really?" "What was it like?" Megan answered—this time, without hesitation. "Well, it made me want to do more reading." "Wow, that's great!" said Mr. C-G. Megan's comment was vindication for all of Mr. C-G's vehement support for the act of reading he'd given students all semester.

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Comments like Megan's were certainly becoming rarer, Mr. C-G thought. He assumed this trend of reading less was the direct result of a crushing proliferation of technology in everybody's lives. Even Mr. C-G was guilty of reading fewer novels than he had been accustomed to enjoying in a typical summer.

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After thanking Megan for her unexpected but earth-shaking response—one that, for Mr. C-G, not only justified the entire assignment but also his choice of career—Mr. C-G said to the class, "You know, Megan's comments remind me of a movie."

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"Matt Damon played this law student who hardly attended class," Mr. C-G continued. "It's not that the student wasn't smart," he said. "Quite the contrary! School just wasn't a priority at that point in his life. In fact, he seemed to be more in his element when he was playing poker. Not only was he good at it. He was passionate about it, too." "Rounders!" yells a male student in the class. "Yes!" returns Mr. C-G, "You got it!"

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"Anyway," continued Mr. C-G, "Martin Landau, an elderly actor, plays the law student's professor. They meet in a bar, and Landau's character treats his student to a drink. He asks his student if he can tell him a story. Landau's character tells his student that he was the son of a rabbi. And his father was the son of a rabbi, and his grandfather, the son of a rabbi. It was obvious what his family expected him to be, not just because of the family legacy but because he had the right attributes. Even the community elders considered his understanding of the holy books to be that of a 40-year-old by the time he was 12. But by the time he was 13, he said he knew he would never be a rabbi. The law student was fascinated at this point, leaned in, and said, 'Why not?' The teacher answered, 'For all I knew of the (holy books), I never saw God there.'"

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"Instead," said Mr. C-G, "the law professor felt God's presence in the courtroom and proceeded to go into law instead. This devastated his family, the law professor told his student. Damon's character asked if his family had accepted his decision since he had become successful in such a 'respectable profession.' 'No,' said the teacher sadly. 'They're inconsolable.' Again, the student leaned in, 'If you could do it all over again, would you make the same choices?' The teacher looked up smiling as if to cue the viewer that this was what the whole movie was trying to say. 'What choice?' If there was anything he'd learned from his experience, said the teacher, it was that 'we can't run away from who we are. Destiny chooses us.'" Mr. C-G added, "Some film critics believe this was one of the most powerful conversations in the history of film."

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Mr. C-G looked back at Megan and said, "I think something important happened that day for you in the library, Megan." Megan looked up to make eye contact with her professor. He continued, "You felt something that I also feel when I'm there." Like the law professor in the movie, I, too, never felt the presence of God in the holy books or the church. I saw him in the classroom and in the library." Mr. C-G broadened his gaze to the rest of the class. "Listen to your inner voices, especially when they speak as loudly as Megan's did to her that day."

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Mr. C-G glanced at Megan who was also looking at him. He nodded as if to thank her for contributing to what was surely a departure from the routine. Before stepping back and looking at the entire class, he caught a glimpse of her warm smile as she began to look at her notes.

 

(Preliminary Essay, based on the article "In the Library", Unit V, p.385-387)

Choose ONE of the topics below and respond with a well-developed Preliminary Essay. Include 2 APA style quotes ( 1 direct and 1 paraphrased) derived from the article provided.

*The essay should present your own ideas, based on your thinking and life experience; however, those ideas should be connected to the article provided

*For the quotes, use the "In the Library" Article ONLY; do NOT include any additional sources from the internet

 

 

Essay topics

 

1.In your opinion, what could be the three things that might make it difficult to "go with destiny" in our lives? Use your own experience in your response and also refer to the article provided.

 

2. What are the three important life lessons that you personally learned from the article? Provide your own thoughts and support them with the APA style quotes, as instructed.