Students should also read this New York Times article as an added resource. As well, as this pull quotation from the author:
Ausubel: Death and what happens to us after we’re gone is the biggest question there is. Biggest by many, many powers. Maybe we simply disappear and maybe we go to a fluffy white cloud place, where all our childhood dogs are waiting along with everyone we’ve ever loved (and they all somehow get along), or maybe we come back as stinkbugs or sparrows. Until each of us gets there, the answer to the questions is None/All of the Above. When I was writing “Safe Passage,” I had the sense that Alice, the main character, found a kind of peace in her strange surroundings, and that she walked out into that peace (or swam, in this case) and there was something there, as opposed to nothing. As long as there is something, as long as there is matter, there is no ending. Birth into what, we don’t know, but, at least in the world of this story, death is a rebirth.
Informal Essay #1: Identify the juxtaposition apparent in Ausbel's story. Use this OneStory interview and the pull quote attached below for help. How does the author use imagery that creates comparison by highlighting very contrasting ideas? How does that effect create a unique and emotional image of death? What is your impression of this image? How does the Times article do the exact same thing? Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Feel free to explore your own take on death and the after life while pursuing answers to these questions.
Narrative revisions due Wednesday.
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