Summer Reading 2014 AP Psychology Instructor: Mr. J. Sealand (jsealand@lexingtoncatholic.com) Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. The writing prompts are broken into two parts, just as the book is broken into two parts. You will have multiple potential questions/prompts for each half; you need to choose only ONE from each list and respond to it. Each response should be 2-­‐4 pages double-­‐spaced, size 12 Times New Roman font, with 1” margins; your name, date, and prompt choice should appear only in your 0.5” header. On the first day of class, you will therefore be turning in TWO separate written responses. The first writing prompt is for the first half of the book, which includes the Preface and Part I: Experiences in a Concentration Camp. Choose ONE of the following prompts: 1. Frankl describes an inmate’s reaction to life in the concentration camps as coming in three phases. Describe these three phases, including the most poignant anecdotes for you personally, as well as which stage you feel would have been the most difficult for you and why. 2. Many ideas for survival and experiences in the concentration camps seemed conflicting, such as art and humor being present, pleasure at the long, frozen march upon admittance to a new camp, prisoners being brutal/cruel to other prisoners, and the prisoner’s “time experience,” where short times were endless and long times went quickly. Why were each of these things happening, and what were they all about? What would have been the most difficult for you to experience and why? 3. A central focus of both halves of the book is that each individual has a uniquely human opportunity to choose his attitudes in response to opportunities/situations. This includes suffering, future goals and responsibility. Write about those themes, as well as Frankl’s identification of two Races of mankind, as they relate to his experiences in the book and your experiences in your personal life. The second writing prompt is for the second half of the book, which includes Part II: Logotherapy in a Nutshell and the Postscript. Choose ONE of the following prompts: 1. Existential frustration and the existential vacuum are discussed at great length in the second half. What might Dr. Frankl say to someone struggling with Nihilism, thinking all life is meaningless? What of an unemployed man who feels useless? Couch your response in terms of today’s “Mass Neurotic Syndrome” and one’s need for tension to be mentally healthy. What aspect of your life did/does this make you think of? 2. Frankl uses the metaphor of a logotherapist as an opthamologist as opposed to a painter in terms of his goals. He also describes a pessimist’s view on life shortly before discussing a tragic optimism. What would he say about people being useful as compared to people being valuable? Write about the first two sentences while answering the question. What about this can be applied to your life? 3. The Meaning of Life. The whole reason many people read this book. How can one come to know this meaning? What might a logotherapist say about the shifting nature—or “transitoriness”—of life, and about actualizing one’s potentialities? Was any analogy particularly helpful in helping you understand this? How could this help influence your personal life? 4. What would Dr. Frankl have to say about our Declaration of Independence and its statement that we all have a right to the “pursuit of Happiness?” One of the writing prompts from the first half asks about ideas that seem conflicting or contradictory; none are more so than the concept of paradoxical intentions and hyper intentions. Write about these (as you answer the question) and how this help you with something you may be going through right now in your personal life.