Friday, Feb. 20

--Started class with our LAST 3 Cups quiz over ch. 21-23 (combined with reading from last class). See me for makeup if absent today.
--We then broke into groups of 4. Each group got a specific discussion question/prompt about the book, and was responsible for making a poster to share their ideas with the class. If you were gone today, you can make up this activity by choosing TWO of the prompts (shown below) and writing your own ideas about them on a piece of notebook paper. You can use a note-style format for this, or write your ideas in a paragraph if you'd prefer.
--HW: Rough drafts of interview stories are due on Tuesday, so make sure to work on those this weekend!


Prompt 1
A book club had the following to say about 3 Cups of Tea: “While no one could argue the merits of what Mortenson accomplished, several in our group felt the style of this book was biased and self-serving, lacking in any objectivity. For us, this lead to a rousing debate about the state of ‘nonfiction’ in today's writing.”

Do you agree with this group that the book was biased and not objective? What do you think nonfiction writing should look like? What are some of the qualities you think good nonfiction should have, and how does 3 Cups of Tea show (or not show) these qualities?

Prompt 2
The authors of Three Cups of Tea write that “the Balti held the key to a kind of uncomplicated happiness that was disappearing in the developing world.” This peaceful simplicity of life seems to be part of what attracts Mortenson to the villagers. Discuss the pros and cons of bringing “civilization” to the mountain community. What will the Balti people gain from becoming more connected to the rest of the world? What will they lose?

Prompt 3
Much of the book is a meditation on what it means to be a foreigner assimilating with another culture. How does Greg balance his own cultural ideas with those of the Pakistani people he meets? Does he ever cross the line? Discuss your own experiences with foreign cultures—things that you have learned, mistakes you have made, misunderstandings you have endured. How do we find a balance between listening to our own cultural values and respecting other cultures’ beliefs? What can we learn about how to do this from reading Three Cups of Tea?

Prompt 4
At the heart of the book is a powerful but simple political message: we each as individuals have the power to change the world, one cup of tea at a time. Yet the book powerfully dramatizes the obstacles in the way of this philosophy: bloody wars waged by huge armies, prejudice, religious extremism, cultural barriers. What do you think of the “one cup of tea at a time” philosophy? Do you think Mortenson’s vision can work for lasting and meaningful change? Can his approach help solve all of the problems of the world? What kinds of things might it NOT work for? Why?

Prompt 5
Mortenson hits many bumps in the road—he’s broke, his girlfriend dumps him, he is forced to build a bridge before he can build the school, his health suffers, and he drives his family crazy. Discuss his repeated brushes with failure and how they influenced your opinion of Mortenson and his efforts. Do you think Mortenson would have been as successful as he was over time without the failures he experienced? What do Mortenson’s repeated failures show us about him?