The Lives of Animals: Lesson 2 English, Yr 10

Philosophy and Animals

Information to Teachers

It is assumed that students have read the text pri0or to completing the suggested activities.

Lesson Overview

This lesson introduces students to the study of philosophy. Through discussion, close reading, analytical writing, in addition to reflection, students will be given multiple opportunities to share their thoughts and opinions on the various philosophical arguments concerning the human-animal relationship.

Time Allocation

50-100 minutes or 1-2 lessons.

Primary Resource

Voiceless Resources

Other Resources 

Inquiry Questions

  • What is the study of philosophy?
  • What are the benefits of thinking in a philosophical way?
  • Do animals think?

Suggested Learning Activities

1.PRE-TEST / STARTER

Hold a 5-10-minute class discussion on the following two questions. Or, get students to complete this as a written task to test prior knowledge.

Examples could include:

  •  Norma – Holds a Ph.D. in philosophy.
  •  Costello makes mention of a number of western philosophers in her lectures and during the dinner party. These include; Kant, Descartes, Plato, Aristotle, Mary Midgley, Tom Regan, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Nagel, Montaigne, and Plutarch.
  •  Costello’s arguments are philosophical in nature.

 

2.EXPLORE

Case Study: René Descartes – Cogito ergo sum.

a)    Students to watch the School of Life video Philosophy – René Descartes.

b)    Re-read the section on Descartes (pp. 33-35) as a class. Stop to explain/discuss sections or vocabulary, as necessary.

c)    Students annotate the section. Guide them to identify and consider the effect of the following:

  • Metaphor;
  • Analogy;
  • Repetition;
  • Listing;
  • Personal pronouns;
  • Connotations of powerful words.

d)    Students then complete the Worksheet – Philosophy and Animals.

 

3.DISCUSS AND SHARE

Hold a class discussion on the following statements from the novella. Encourage open and honest reflection, good listening skills, and a safe environment for discussing varied perspectives.

  • “Man is godlike, animals thing like.” Pg. 23.
  • “This kind of talk polarize people.” Pg. 22.
  • “Animals have no shame.”/ “Shame makes human beings of us, shame of uncleanness.” Pg. 40.
  • “At bottom we protect our own kind. Thumbs up to human babies, thumbs down to veal calves.” Pg. 45.
  • “Animals are just biological automata.” Pg. 48.

 

This would be a great opportunity to run a Socratic Seminar using the statements above. This takes time and planning. Find out more on how to plan and run a Socratic discussion here: https://betterlesson.com/strategy/4.

 

5.REFLECT

Post-It Note Reflection

Hand out a Post-It note to each student. Give students 5-10 minutes to complete the following:

  • On one side, write down the most important take-away from today’s lesson;
  • On the reverse side, write down a question you still have or something you are unsure/confused about.

Students hand these in as they leave the lesson.

 

6.EXTENSION 

On page 26, Costello touches on the concept of Legal Personhood, that is to give legal rights to animals.

Watch the following video and consider your own views on the issue.

Voiceless Video Animals: Property or Persons?

Voiceless would be delighted to receive any completed student work to feature on the Voiceless website. If you have received parental and student consent, please email work to education@voiceless.org.au

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Australian Curriculum alignment

Learning Area: English
Year Levels: Year 10
General Capabilities:

  • Literacy
  • Ethical Understanding
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
Strands:

Language: Language for interaction

Literature: Responding to literature / Examining literature
Content Descriptions: 

Understand that people’s evaluations of texts are influenced by their value systems, the context and the purpose and mode of communication (ACELA1565)

Reflect on, extend, endorse or refute others’ interpretations of and responses to literature (ACELT1640)

Evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in texts (ACELT1812)

Analyse and evaluate text structures and language features of literary texts and make relevant thematic and intertextual connections with other texts (ACELT1774)
Elaborations:

(ACELA1565)

  • Considering whether ethical judgments of good, bad, right or wrong are absolute or relative through consideration of texts with varying points of view and through discussion with others

(ACELT1640)

  • Presenting arguments based on close textual analysis to support an interpretation of a text, for example writing an essay or creating a set of director’s notes

(ACELT1812)

  • Identifying and analysing ethical positions on a current issue debated in blogs or online discussion forums, including values and/or principles involved and the strengths and weaknesses of the position in the context of the issue

(ACELT1774)

  • Using terms associated with literary text analysis (for example narrative, characters, poetry, figurative language, symbolism, soundtrack) when evaluating aspects that are valued and that contain aesthetic qualities
  • Writing or speaking about how effectively the author constructed the text and engaged and sustained the reader’s/viewer’s/listener’s personal interest
Cross-Curricular Priority 

Sustainability 

Systems

OI.2 – All life forms, including human life, are connected through ecosystems on which they depend for their wellbeing and survival

World Views

OI.5 – World views are formed by experiences at personal, local, national and global levels, and are linked to individual and community actions for sustainability
Acknowledgments

This Australian Curriculum alignment statement is based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) materials, which are licensed under CC BY 4.0. The material has been modified from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed April 2018).

All activities have been created by educators for educators and are linked to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.4). We advise teachers to consult the ACARA website for the most up-to-date curriculum outcomes.

  • Join the Voiceless Community

    For academics, advocates, teachers and students, animal lovers, animal lawyers and everyone in between!
    Sign up below to learn more about our Voiceless Grants Program, our free library of resources on Animal Protection Education and Animal Law Education and other Voiceless related tidbits.

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.