The Ability to Respond

Professor Sexson's speech concerning the word "responsibility" wasn't his first, nor was it one to overlook. If you think about the word as a found poem of sorts as "The Ability to Respond" it answers almost all of the questions the class has brought up. Think of a topic, The Ability to Respond answers it.

For example, every story ever written or told has a conflict. If it doesn't have a conflict, it's not really a story worth retelling now is it? With said conflict, there is a character or set of characters that show their Ability to Respond to move along the plot of the story. At the end of each story, the class comes in to decide whether a character has responded "correctly". Hamlet, Alyosha Karamazov, Connie, Cinderella, Creon, and every character from fiction and real life have all been faced with a conflict and responded in a certain manner. The class sporadically touches on the meaning of life and I'm guessing that Professor Sexson would say that we are on this planet simply to test our ability to respond. The right and wrong responses are up for debate, but as long as were responding (reading, gaining experiences, overcoming suffering, etc.) we are fulfilling are purpose in life. This theory is very similar to Father Zossima's idea that mankind is already living in paradise and that we simply must enjoy what life throws at us.

So the question remains: How will you respond?