11.19 - Ayn Rand Research

We started today's class with the following writing prompt:

In your opinion, what is the most important thing in life?
How does someone achieve, find, or hold on to this?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed students' responses. The range of responses from class was:

Love
True Love
Love, Happiness, Peace, Food
Happiness
Food
Food and Water
Success (Power/Money)
Non-ignorance
Knowledge

We then watched Mike Wallace interview Ayn Rand (video below).

While watching this video, everyone considered the following question:

What would Ayn Rand say the most important thing in life is?
According to Rand, how would someone achieve this?


After we watched the video and everyone had a chance to respond to the prompt, we discussed students' responses.

We then discussed how Rand's response helps to give us some perspective on her philosophy, Objectivism. This lead us back to our research on Ayn Rand where everyone is gathering information on what Objectivism, her social/political philosophy, is and how she came to develop this philosophy.

In class, everyone use the Ayn Rand Research sheet to record their facts. I also had a number of research documents available for people to use in gathering this specific information about Rand.

Ayn Rand Research sheet
Ayn Rand Research documents

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish finding seven facts that provide information on Rand's social/political philosophy of Objectivism and what influenced her to come up with this philosophy.