Name: Pd:
A MORAL DILEMMA…
Due Date: ______
At some point, each one of you will be faced with a moral dilemma. This is a decision that usually weighs on your conscience because it has no clear-cut answer to it.
For example, you might witness a friend making a poor choice, like smoking a cigarette.
This kind of event puts you in a difficult situation. On the one hand, you are concerned for your friend and do not want to see him or her act in a way that is unhealthy. On the other hand, you don’t want your friend to get angry at you; sometimes, you may even worry that your friend won’t think you’re being “cool” if you object. It is at these moments that it helps to consider others’ advice, especially if it is coming from the very wise.
For this project, you need to reflect on the last time that you were faced with a moral dilemma. It might even be one you are facing now. Consider:
What happened to cause the dilemma?
What decision are you faced with making?
Then, think about the three major Chinese philosophies we’ve covered:
Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Consider:
What advice would Confucius give you?
What advice would Lao Tzi give you?
What advice would Hanfezi give you?
Finally, decide:
Which set of advice do you think is best for YOUR situation?
Why would this one be better than the others?
Are there any modifications (changes) you would make to the wise
man’s advice so that it fit your situation better?
Now, put it all together! Your task is to either
1)
Create a “cartoon/comic strip” that illustrates all of the above- from the origin of the problem down to the advice of the 3 philosophers and your final decision. You should use words and pictures. Be creative. It should be neat, bold, and colorful. You might imagine that you actually run into the philosophers or that you come across their advice in a different way. You will display your cartoon on poster board, or in a booklet, to be graded.
2) Write a script for a skit that demonstrates all of the above- from the origin of the problem down to the advice of the 3 philosophers and your final decision.
You should include necessary props, and character dialogue- you might want to consider adding a narrator to fill in the blanks that you can’t show. This is an individual project, however, you will need to enlist the help of your

classmates to act out your skit. You will need to practice it with them before presenting it to the class. You will turn in your script to be graded.
Rubric for “Moral Dilemma” project
Background
Distinguished Proficient Basic Below Basic
Philosophies
Creativity
Attention to detail
The cartoon/script provides a descriptive background for the dilemma.
The decision to be made is
CLEAR. 4
The author includes believable, thorough advice for all 3 philosophies and demonstrates a clear understanding of the beliefs behind each.7-8
The product is very creative and demonstrates great effort. 4
The cartoon is neat and colorful/
The script is neat and legible.
There are very few or no grammatical mistakes. 4
The cartoon/script provides an adequate background for the dilemma.
The decision to be made is
CLEAR. 3
The author includes believable, advice for all 3 philosophies and demonstrates a clear understanding of the beliefs.
5-6
The product is creative. It demonstrates effort. 3
The cartoon is somewhat neat or contains some color/
The script is somewhat neat and legible.
There are few grammatical mistakes. 3
The cartoon/script provides a background for the dilemma, but the decision to be made is
NOT VERY
CLEAR. 2
The author includes advice for all 3 philosophies. It demonstrates a somewhat clear understanding of the beliefs; the advice from one or two is not very believable. 3-4
The product demonstrates fair effort. It is somewhat creative. 2
The cartoon is might be neat and colorful/
The script might be neat and legible but there are many grammatical mistakes. 2
The cartoon/script fails to provide a background for the dilemma and/or the decision to be made is unclear. 1
The author does not include advice for all 3 philosophies or none of the advice included is believable according to the beliefs of the philosophers.
1-2
The product is not very creative It does not demonstrate much effort. 1
The cartoon should be much neater and/or does not include color.
The script should be much neater and more legible and there are some to many grammatical mistakes. 1