As a new teacher, I’d often present a famous quotation to students. Something like:
Neither a borrower not a lender be. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Then, I had two questions I might ask:
- What do you think Ben Franklin meant by this?
- What does this mean to you?
Neither question is very good! I regret using these with my students.
The Problems
“What do you think Ben Franklin meant by this?” is a low-level question. Students are merely summarizing or paraphrasing. Maybe that’s Apply on Bloom’s Taxonomy? Now, this question could be a starting point, but it’s not an ending point.
The second option, “What does this mean to you?” is particularly embarrassing. It’s completely subjective. There are no wrong answers. It’s fluff. If Jimmy writes, “To me, it means to borrow a moderate amount of money,” what am I supposed to say? Usually, when I asked this question, I really meant, “Rephrase the quote in your own words.” Which is just question one again! 🤦♂️
How I’d Do It Now
I want to get to some controversy going! (This is a technique I rely on frequently: Find The Controversy!)
- I could ask, “When is this saying wrong?”
- A variation: “Who would disagree with this?”
- Often, quotes are taken out of context. I’d show the quote by itself. Then, I’d show it in context. How does that change the meaning?
- People change their minds throughout their life. Did this same person say something that contradicts this quote of theirs?
- Quotes are often misattributed. Can we prove that the person said this?
Hopefully you can see how any of these directions will lead us towards some juicy thinking.
Leveraging Controversy for Higher-Level Thinking
Now, rather than just rephrasing, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” I’d point my students towards controversy.
- I’d point out that Benjamin Franklin both borrowed and lent money in his lifetime. Can one give hypocritical advice?
- I’d certainly want to give my students context. Franklin wrote this under a fake persona Richard Saunders in Poor Richard’s Almanack. This writing was intended to be humorous. Does that change how we understand the quote?
- In one annual almanac, Franklin predicted the death of a rival publisher. Then, the next year, wrote from the perspective of his rival’s ghost, confirming the prediction. (The rival had not died.) 😆
- Is it possible that Franklin’s quote was actually a joke?
- Now that we know that Franklin was a prankster, which of his other quotes do we need to investigate next… (list five choices)
Hopefully it’s obvious how much more powerful this is than my original idea: “Rephrase this quote.”
Build a Sequence: Einstein Edition
Now, of course, I’m not just going to ask one question. Nor will I ask five unrelated questions! I want to create a sequence of questions that aims high, but is nicely scaffolded.
Let’s take a famous Einstein quote:
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- Reword this question for a 5-year-old. (A better version of my “Explain the quote.”)
- When would this saying be wrong? (Notice how this question will stop students in their tracks. They have to think.)
- How could you adjust the saying to fit that situation as well? (Now we are adapting the quote.)
- Write a quick email to Albert Einstein explaining the changes you’ve made and why you made them.
- (want to keep going?) Now, write an email back from Einstein. He disagrees.
I think that’s pretty good! Compare that to my original options: “Explain what this quote means” and “What does this mean to you?
If you want to get specific with this quote, Einstein’s desire for simplicity sort of derailed the end of his career. He was reluctant to follow the rising theory of quantum mechanics because it is bizarrely complicated. Despite its complexity, quantum mechanics has stood the test of time! By putting “simplicity” before “truth,” Einstein wasn’t able to keep up with new ideas in his field.
It is much more interesting to dig into the nuance and controversy of a quote than to merely rephrase it!