Real-life problem
– A Buddhist, a Christian Priest, and an Epicurean of no particular title walk into a bar. Write a conversation in which the three deal with a practical, real-life problem, and each tells the others how a person should deal with the problem and live their life. Each of the three also tells the others one point that they agree with in their approach and one point they disagree with.
*This is a creative writing assignment, but you should not spend valuable space in your paper describing the (pointless) bar setting or making the paper interesting as a work of fiction. The point is to explore these different viewpoints on how to live life. Your grade will be based on how well you represent the three different viewpoints – each viewpoint should be treated equally; there shouldn’t be one viewpoint that ‘wins.’ (It’s also appreciated when students managed to write a polite, friendly conversation and not an angry – usually simplistic – argument.) Remember also that you should be emphasizing practical, specific advice for what others should DO – not just describing theoretical differences. Hence the requirement that you come up with a practical problem for your characters to solve. This could be anywhere from whether or not to get a divorce, go into business, or any other real-life issue people grapple with.
