First Essay REL 315 Or:
How I learned to ask questions about the human condition
For your first essay, choose a particular character from one of the following motion pictures as
the human being on whose life you shall reflect as you respond to the prompts provided in the
detailed instructions below.
Your essay should be around 12 pages and well-argued. The motion pictures in the following list
are available online:
School of Rock (2003)
Little Women (2019)
How to Train your Dragon (2010)
Hidden Figures (2016)
Detailed Instructions
Respond to the following lines of inquiry during the course of your essay. In responding to each
part of this prompt, refer to and rely on evidence from the film – in the form of dialogue,
activities etc. – for the sake of justifying your claims.
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Take the first two pages or so to discuss the “digits,” “alphabets,” “building blocks” or
“elements” out of which your chosen character’s life is built.
Here’s the same question, stated in different terms: Take the first two pages or so to
describe the various parts of your chosen character’s life.
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Take the next four to five pages to:
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Discuss the journey on which your character is embarked on in order to make
their life “meaningful,” “purposeful,” or “coherent.” Discuss the “stages” or “key
features” or “aspects” in their journey of self-becoming. Again, be sure to refer to
illustrative evidence from the film to warrant your claims.
Take the next two to three pages to:
• Narrate, in detail, at least one (but no more than two) key moments or situations
of “transformation,” “evolution,” or “growth” that your character goes through in
their journey of leading a meaningful life. Describe how the situation(s) you’ve
chosen to work with contribute to your character’s journey of leading a
meaningful life.
• Try to be as specific as you can and rely on evidence from the film to describe
these moments or situations. The “shape” of the situations you work with may
vary – they might be slow realizations; your character may go through a key
“conflictual” situation or you might even want to work with a broader pattern – be
attentive and creative in relation to your character’s journey as you describe the
situations, moments, or pattern of transformation, evolution, or growth of your
choosing.
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Take the next two or so pages to do the following exercise: choose a “difficult situation”
“difficulty” or “rupture” in your character’s journey of self-becoming and pick one of
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, or Heidegger and then:
• Describe how Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, or Heidegger would “diagnose” the
difficulty, rupture, or difficult situation your character is embroiled in.
• Describe the suggestions or advice they would give to your character in order to
remedy or heal the difficulty that your character confronts in their journey of
leading a meaningful life. Avoid making overly general suggestions and try to be
as precise and detailed as you can be as you discuss the advice or suggestions the
theorist of your choosing might give to your character.
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The last, concluding part, of your essay prompt will be handed to you before you begin
penning your essay on the 26th of November.
Please also note the following:
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As you conduct your study of the human being you have chosen to work with, make sure
your discussions are detailed, precise, and illustrated through examples that aid you in
making your claims.
You may rely on any of the assigned class reading material or our class discussions to
discuss Nietzsche, Heidegger, or Kierkegaard.
You may exceed the page limits assigned to each of the prompts (or the overall essay) but
please do not write less than the required page numbers.
Lastly: Please bear in mind that some of the claims you make won’t simply be “there,”
staring at you. You will have to, based on your observations, throw hypotheses and ideas
at what you’re reading and then gather evidence that fortifies and nourishes your reading.
Writing the essay:
You shall write your essay in A-13 in the academic block on November 26th, between 3 – 7 pm.
You may bring along any hand-written or printed notes but no digital aids.