summer assignment

You Read the Book, Right?  Now What...
2015 Summer Common Reading Response

Jamison writes, “Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us—a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain—it’s also a choice we make to pay attention, to extend ourselves.  It’s made of exertion . . . Sometimes we care for another because we know we should or because it’s asked for, but this doesn’t make our caring hollow.  The act of choosing simply means we’ve committed ourselves to a set of behaviors greater than the sum of our individual inclinations.”

 What a great way to start college—by thinking about how to live with others and with our evolving selves.


Jamison describes empathy as “a kind of travel.  It suggests you enter another person’s pain as you’d enter another country, through immigration and customs, border crossing, by way of query:  What grows where you are?  What are the laws?  What animals graze there?”

What she hopes for us:  “I want our hearts to be open.  I mean it.”

To prepare for your own SCR experience at K, answer these questions:
1.       Pick out a passage that jumped out at you and say why.  How does what you have chosen connect to the major theme of the book:  practicing empathy?
2.       What stories, people, or images stick with you?  Which one did you find most compelling and why?
3.       Imagine situations as a college student when you might have to practice empathy. How might your current idea of empathy change as you grow during your college years?
4.       What would you like to ask our author?  Bring a discussion question to share with your group.
 There are no right or wrong answers here.   We simply ask that you bring your most authentic self to the page.   It’s all about connecting with the book and the other students you will be working with in the fall.
No longer than two pages (typed).  Label each question.  Remember to put your name on your paper.

While we encourage you to read the entire book, our panelists and discussion groups will focus on these six essays:  “The Empathy Exams,” “Devil’s Bait,” “Pain Tours I,” “The Immortal Horizon,” “Fog Count,” and “Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain.”  Please center your response on them.



Your response is due no later than August 31 via the Hornet Hive.  Your SCR discussion leader will use it to frame your group's conversation.


Instructions for uploading your document are below.  Follow them carefully!
(Please also bring a printed copy of your response with you to your SCR discussion group during orientation.)




1. Write your response.  Make sure to put your name on your document!

2. Save your response in one of the following formats: MS Word (.doc or .docx), Rich Text (.rtf) or Text (.txt).

3. Include your name in the name of your saved file, e.g., "SallySmithResponse.doc".

4. Before you can upload your document, you will need to know which First-Year Seminar you are enrolled in. If you don't remember:
Go to WebAdvisor on the Hornet Hive.
Select "Academic Profile".
Select "My Class Schedule".
Select term as Fall 2015.

SPECIAL NOTE TO TRANSFER STUDENTS ONLY: In the step below, please select the folder named "Transfer Students."

5. When you are ready to upload, click HERE.
Click "Browse" to select your essay from its saved location.
Click "Choose Folder" to select your Seminar (you might need to click on the + sign next to “Essays” if you do not see the list of Seminars yet).
Click on the name on your Seminar to highlight it.
Click "OK" to select your Seminar’s folder.
Click “OK” to finish the upload.

NOTE: It is extremely important that you choose a folder, otherwise your SCR discussion leader will not be able to retrieve your response.