The Possibility of Evil

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about the possible social consequences of privilege?

Teaching Suggestion: Students will likely be able to identify privilege in terms of race and gender, but it is more difficult for some students to think about socio-economic privilege because they are likely either hyper-aware of their own family’s status, or unaware. This question doesn’t necessarily ask for a knowledge set; rather, this pre-reading contextual question prompts students to predict what challenges privileged people face.

• "How Economic Inequality Harms Societies" – a TED Talk that uses scientific data to break down how economic inequality breeds distrust
• "John D. Rockefeller: A Character Study" –  journalist Ida Tarbell’s analysis of how extreme wealth doesn’t lead to kindness, with a focus on tycoon John D. Rockefeller

2.  What do you know about how the subconscious mind works?

Teaching Suggestion: The psychological tie-in is important to student understanding of how the main character in the story essentially lies to herself. Her delusions of grandeur and the gap between her sense of herself (a.