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for political outcomes. Moral consciousness behind political action is a first step in
changing the system’s incentives and citizen behavior within the political system towards
participation and the goal of social justice.
Prior to addressing the novel, the students engage in writing exercises
encouraging them to relate directly to politician’s dilemmas and then to take personal
responsibility for actions within and beyond the political system
Writing Exercise on personal/political moral dilemma
Students were asked to write about a personal moral dilemma. They were
required to analyze the dilemma, the decision, and the settling or unsettling aspects of the
resolution. Dilemmas centering on divided loyalty, cheating and forgiveness were the
prominent themes. Divided loyalty was often expressed in terms of a romance
relationship where the writer didn’t know whether to continue to pursue the romance, or
whether to tell a mutual friend, who was formerly attached to or wanted to attach to, one
of the romance participants. Of course the details varied but students tended to weigh the
decision based upon time knowing the friend, expected response of affirmation or
condemnation or devastation, and degree of responsibility for announcing a truth that
may change relations between friends. Often the perception of loyalty meant hiding the
truth and students wrote of the revealed truth leading to inevitable devastation, attack and
regret over the initial decision not to tell. While the initial act of romantic connection
was not questioned, the fallout of protecting perceived ‘loyalty’ over truth was the central
moral dilemma.
Convention