Short Writing

Question One: Imagine all the tributes in The Hunger Games agreed to commit collective suicide as a means of protesting against the games. Would the act of collective suicide, freely chosen, be more ethical than participating in the games, killing each other for entertainment? In other words, which is more ethical – collective suicide as protest or participation in the games? PLEASE DO NOT WASTE TIME ARGUING THAT THE TRIBUTES WOULD NEVER AGREE TO COLLECTIVE SUICIDE. This is not your job. Your job is to assume that they would, and to consider whether that decision would be more ethical than participating in the games. Please write a two paragraph response to this questions.  Question Two: In Kindred, Rufus does a lot of horrible things. In your estimation is Rufus a fundamentally bad person, or is he just a victim of his environment? Before answering this question, consider a few things carefully. Remember that in American history, white Southerners who believed slavery was wrong risked their own lives while helping slaves escape via the underground railroad. Since many of them did so, one cannot simply argue that white people back then did not know any better. Obviously, many did know better, and did something about it. Also note that no white person other than Rufus had the benefit of having a black person from the future help him or her see past racist assumptions. Please write a two paragraph answer to this question.