I believe peace in the world begins with peace in each of us as individuals. So I developed Peace Through Fiction as a dialogue method you can use to increase peace in yourself, your students, and people in your community.
The Peace Through Fiction dialogue method uses novels and stories to guide you into thinking about your own life experiences. It helps you naturally create more peaceful ways of relating to yourself and other people.
Peace Through Fiction is portable – these directions fit on one piece of paper. You can use it with any novel or story, with any age group, and any level of literacy. It is easily translated into any language. It works well with both written fiction and oral stories.
How do I do Peace Through Fiction?
1) Read a novel or listen to a story.
2) Think about the Peace Through Fiction questions and answer them by yourself. You can write down your answers, or simply think about them for a while.
3) Optional: Share some of your answers in a dialogue with a small group, using the agreements shown below.
Peace Through Fiction questions:
POSITIVES: Which character did you like best and why? How does that character remind you of a person you like; of yourself; and of a person you dislike?
NEGATIVES: Which character did you dislike most and why? How does that character remind you of a person you dislike; of yourself; and of a person you like?
WORLD VIEWS: Which character reminds you of someone famous who interests you? In what subject is this real-life person involved? (For example, justice, politics, sports, music, education). On that subject, what could you personally do to increase peace in yourself, and between yourself and other people?
Peace Through Fiction dialogue agreements:
* Listening to other people’s answers with an open heart and mind.
* Respecting each other’s different choices, even if you don’t agree.
* Asking questions to find out more about each other, instead of arguing.
* Supporting and trusting each other.
* Having fun!
Peace Through Fiction uses the reading theory called "text connections." Text connections happen when the reader makes a personal connection between the story and something in their own life. You read deeper, and find more meaning, when you make real-world connection from the characters in a story to yourself in real life.
If you use Peace Through Fiction with books and stories, you'll find it starts to change the way you think about the real things in your life. It will change the way you react to other people, and the way you handle your life experiences. Along the way, you become more peaceful, and you bring more peace to the world.
Who can I contact to ask questions about Peace Through Fiction?
Please contact Nicole Hunter by e-mail at: nicole.hunter.books@gmail.com
Peace Through Fiction dialogue method by Nicole Hunter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.PeaceThroughFiction.com.
Fascinating concept. I will try it. Hope your trip to Tanzania was fruitful. http://deepthoughtpub.blogspot.com
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