Ambition, Power, and the Common Good

Everyone has the ambition to be someone. Sometimes, that ambition can lead that person into a power position. However, using that ambition and power for positive situautions is what is important. It leads us into the common good, or what is good for everyone. In this subtheme, students will look at the uses of ambition and power and how society should try to achieve the common good.

Guiding Questions

•  What is the nature of ambition and power?
•  What gives a person status? Is status achieved the same way in all societies? Within a society?
•  How do ambition and power drive us? How do they challenge us?
•  What is meant by “The common good”? Who decides what the common good is? Is the common good best for every individual in society? What is the appeal of being in the position of “ruling” other people? What disadvantages accompany being the authority figure?
•  How does lack of power affect particular individuals or groups?
•  What is the reality of being colonized or “ruled”?
•  What is the advantage in treating others as we wish they would treat us? Why is this often difficult?

Lessons

1. Something for Others
2. Feeling Powerless
3. Powerful Because
4. Lord of the Flies - Innocence Exists
5. Lord of the Flies - Creating Order (Ch. 1-2)
6. Lord of the Flies - Demise of the Group (Ch. 3-4)
7. Lord of the Flies - Losing Power, Gaining Power (Ch. 5-7)
8. Lord of the Flies - A New Chief in Power (Ch. 8-10)
9. Lord of the Flies - Civilization is Lost (Ch. 11-12)
10.Lord of the Flies - Off the Island (Final Project) Option 1 or Option 2