Cornelia+writing+prompts

**Discussion Question 1** What makes a woman of the past relevant today? Read Anne Bradstreet’s poem “The Author to her Book.” How does her struggle in a patriarchal society relate specifically to Cornelia Connelly? What about their frustrations mirror your own life today?
 * Cornelia Writing Prompts**

**Discussion Question 2** What in our world is invisible to us (as slavery was to Cornelia)? Read Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and an excerpt from Liz Murray’s // Homeless to Harvard // and discuss the approach both individuals took to eradicate a social issue. What additional groups do you feel continue to be marginalized or forgotten? Or Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions or moral values.

**Discussion Question 3** What personal qualities are essential to make a difference in the world? Research the following people: Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks and Steve Jobs What similarities can you identify amongst the group? Who do you think also made a difference and needs to be added to the group? Why?

**Discussion Question 4** How does one recognize one’s true vocation? A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities.