“And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it towards some overwhelming question (..)”
from: T.S.Eliot, The Love Song of J.A.Prufrock, 1917
Dear students,
here are some (anonymous) overwhelming questions of yours.
I am publishing them here in random order, and I am adding a nickname to each of them, it will be KEYWORD_5E.
Please try and answer any of these questions. Write a reply to this post and address yourself directly to the author, say: Dear KEYWORD_5E, my opinion is…./ as I see it…..
In order to implement your writing skills, please select an approach /a tone for your answer: you may sound, for example, supportive/ committed/ concerned/ emphatic /emotional /sympathetic /matter-of-fact / formal / controversial / paradoxical ……. or any other.
Remember these are overwhelming questions! Your classmates do need your helping hand.
Enjoy!
- What if I was different? (posted by: WHATIF_5E )
- Will you always support me and my choices? (posted by: SUPPORT_5E)
- What if I dare about my future and my love life? (posted by: DARE_5E)
- What will I become? (posted by: BECOME_5E)
- How will my life change after the final exam? (posted by: CHANGE_5E)
- Are we really made to be part of a society? Or is it just something that human beings “built” to feel relevant in the world? (posted by: SOCIETY_5E)
- Why was I born as a human being and not as something else? (posted by: ELSE_5E)
- What’s the meaning of it all? Why shouls I be doing what I’m doing? Why? ((posted by: MEANING_5E)
- Where will I be in ten years? (posted by: 10YEARS_5E)
- Who do I love? (posted by: LOVE_5E)
- Are we alone in the universe ? (posted by: ALONE_5E)
- Why are human beings different one from the other? (posted by: DIFFERENT_5E)
- Will I be able to leave my comforts in order to follow my dreams? Will I be able to fight, to be determined enough? (posted by: DETERMINED_5E)
- What would it happen if we found life signs in the universe? (posted by: UNIVERSE_5E)
- How can we, as human beings, be aware of our existence? Why, and how can a mass of matter (that’s what we are from a certain point of view) have consciousness and awareness of its existence? (posted by: AWARENESS_5E)
- What will it happen if a person decides to live abroad for the rest of his/her life? (posted by: ABROAD_5E)
Spoon River 
dear CHANGE_5E,
i think that after my final exam my life will totally and drastically change. First of all iI will continue my studies at university, trying to achieve the degree in Japanese, but this is only a little part of the plans i have for my future. Infact, the biggest change im thinking to introduce in my life is to move inTO Japan, find a workJOB, have a family and creatE a new life in a country which iI know almost nothing about. So, this is what iI think life reserves for me after the exams, iI hope you like my choices and thank you for reading.
Dear Marco, please try and answer CHANGE_5E about HIS/HER life choices….
Thank you! The teacher
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Dear DETERMINED_5E,
Considering the fact that I am a rational person, who loves to have everything scheduled, my answer is no.
It is important to follow a dream and I try to do it everyday, but only when it is possible. My realistic view brings me to erase the most irrational dreams I have and on the contrary to focus only on the most concrete ones.
For example, I would never leave a permanent job to try an unknown experience without any certainty.
However, it does not mean that I am not a determined person, but only that my logical sense is stronger than my emotional one.
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ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?
Dear ALONE_5E,
I think that your overwhelming question needs a good and articulate answer. You’re wondering about our loneliness in relation to the whole universe, but first, you should ask yourself if we are alone on Earth. So let’s discuss about it.
To feel alone among the people is quite common, let’s find an example. Have you ever taken the bus in a big city? If
yesSO, I’m sure you felt a sense of loneliness due to the attitude of the people inside it in that moment: nobody looked at you nor listened to you. Everyone seemed to be lonely.Nevertheless, sometimes people like to say that they’re not alone in these situations, because they’re with themselves. As a matter of fact, I think that at least once in your life you’ve been talking to yourself when there was nobody with you. You can admit it, it doesn’t mean you’re going insane. In this way, I can answer your question from this point of view: if you are with yourself, you’re never alone on Earth, and never alone in the universe.
Next, if you are wondering about the existence of aliens, that’s another point.
I’m sure you heard something about crop circles, fearsome but intriguing and fascinating events, but perhaps you don’t know the truth about these strange circles and patterns that appear mysteriously overnight in farmer’s fields. Many PEOPLE who prefer an extraterrestrial explanation claim that aliens physically make the patterns themselves from spaceships, but others believe that it is human intelligence that works to create them. Can you see? Actually, there are no certainties, but I want to hearten you.
Let’s pretend that extraterrestrial life exists. It would be a wonderful discovery, because it would mean that life has also developed in other planets and scientists can study new forms of life. Though?, we have a fixed idea in relation to aliens: in our movies we always see catastrophic situations where extraterrestrials are pitiless and ferocious, whereas men are innocent and wiped out by them. The truth is that nobody knows how aliens would behave: they might be harmless, but I assure you that we don’t need alien’s AN ALIEN ; THE ALIENS’ intervention to exterminate millions of people, menWE managed to do so in the past (and unfortunately the situation is not changed).
Now, let’s pretend that extraterrestrials don’t exist. Have you ever wondered about the extinction of mankind? I know it’s difficult to think that one day there will be no men anymore (don’t worry, the solar system has existed for about 5 billion years, and will go on shining for about another 5 billion more). Nobody will think, nobody will look at the stars, nobody will move. As you can understand, it is extremely complicated to imagine the eternal silence of men. Thousand years of evolution, progress, great inventions, and all of what human beings have created will disappear.
So, I hope we are not alone in the universe, because we need somebody who can continue to admire the cosmic beauty when we will no longer exist.
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Dear DETERMINED_5E,
allow me to give you my opinion too. I can understand Mr. Marco Lucatello is a very pragmatic person, but I think in life
swe needaslogical sense as WELL AS A dreamer ‘S attitudes. In this way you will be able to find the right balance!I want you to know dreams are important. They are our inner push towards our realisation. They should be the reason why we get up every morning whit a proactive wit. But you also have to understand that you are the only one who knows the answer to your question. You have to believe in your dreams and fight for them by yourself. If your dreams are true, you’ll be able to sacrifice habits and comforts. You can face advesities and fears. Obviously, there will be bad times too, there will be moments when you wont fellWON’T FEEL strong enough. But that is when you don’t have to give up, instead, you have to fight stronger. Of cOurse, you always have to get your head on your shoulders, but this DOES not mean
syou can’t aim to what you really want. I think people who dreamswithout being ready to sacrifice something,theyare irrationalpersonsPEOLPLE. So, my dear “doubtful determined” get up the courage and become the person who had HAS been able to fight.LikeLike
Dear CHANGE_5E
Your overwhelming question is really interesting.
It happens to me too, to think about it, because I think that my life, after the A-levels, will be completely different. Even though I’m happy to leave the school, on the other hand I don’t want to leave the classmates I lived with for five intense years, because I think that I will feel a sense of emptiness when I won’t see them every morning.
In my opinion I think that your life will change, of course it will change, because you won’t have your classmates with you,but don’t worry because you will make a lot of new friends, who will support you in every bad moment of your path.
Even though at the very beginning you may
willfeel sad, and you will regretMISS your high school‘sfriendS, try to go ahead and try to pursuit your dreams.The last advice I want to give you is that, if you are not ready to go to the university, don’t feel obliged to. It is better to take a pause and maybe to travel all over the world, and when you
‘llcome back, maybe, you will haveyour ideas clearA CLEAR MIND.Dear DIFFERENT_5E
This is one of the questionS I have always posed to myself. It is really interesting to see how different are human beings one from the other.
In my opinion we are lucky to be all different,because it’s really sad to think about a world made of people who look all the same, and think the same things, as if they were robots.
I think that we are different one from another because we don’t think the same things, fortunately we have our own opinions, tastes, passions, and personalities and that is what
differs us toMAKES US DIFFERENT FROMthe others.Many authors of the past asked themselves the same question, and tried to give an answer, Zola for example said that we are different one from another if we belong to different social classes. It is curious to see how Zola gave an answer completely different from mine, what is your opinion? I Hope that my answers are useful.
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Dear DARE_5E,
if you want to dare about your future and your love life, you’ll have to do it!
I think that if we have a big dream, for our future, we’ll have to do something to reach our aims because it’s our life and we have to make it as we really want it.
Certainly this IT is difficult to do especially because the future is uncertain, we don’t know exactly what will happen in 10 years or more, but we don’t have to be scared and we don’t have to give up.
It’s our future, we can do everything to make it as we want it and we don’t have to give up.
In the matter of love, well, we can’t command our heart so if we love someone we’ll have to make it clear, we have to risk if it’s worth it.
This is another thing very difficult to do, but it is not impossible if you really want TO reach your aim.
In conclusion I can say that if you dare about your future and your love life you will certainly be proud of youIT because you won’t give up and this is a really good thing!
I hope to I have helped you
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Dear DETERMINED_5E,
I really like your overwhealming question.
I always think about how much we should push ourselves when pursuing a dream.
Is it worth the effort, the Pain, the sweat and the tears we put into it?
Well DETERMINED_5E if the answer is yes, then you should leave all your comforts behind and go for it.
Dreams are what keep us alive…. At least this is what they mean to me.
A life with no dreams is plain and boring and in my opinion it is also meaningless.
So if you have a dream, something that you really want to do in your life, go and grab it. We have just one life to live , there is no coming back, once you lived it, itsIT IS gone. If you have a dream do anything you can to realizeFULFILL /ACHIEVE it…and if you fail, it doesnt matter because at least you tried.But if you never try you will always live with the doughtDOUBT of what could have happened.
If you really believe in this dream you have, i can absureASSURE you you will find the power and the strength to achieve it….
And if you dont find the power to do it …it means you dont want it badly enough!
Fighting for your dreams does not absure you you will succeed…but it absures you a life with no regrets and lived fully.
A big kiss to you DETERMINED_5E and i iwish you to follow your dreams with no fear nonNOR regrets….
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*nor
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Dear MEANING_5E,
If scientist and critically acclaimed author Richard Dawkins was to answer your overwhelming question, he would probably claim that our life has no purpose but that of preserving our species. Now that’s an overwhelming answer. Feel free to take your time to think it over.
However, I am the one who is supposed to comfort you while you’re hopelessly wandering in search of a meaning.
And although I might slightly share Dawkins’s pessimistic theory, I know it is far from being the answer that a young adult like you might be looking for. Furthermore, I’m a lot more delicate than that and I also happen to be acceptably good at handling such pieces of news.
Forgive my sarcastic tone: I am very fond of it. Believe it or not, laughing at serious topics often makes them sound more important. It also helps us catch the meaningful message they might be trying to convey.
As to that, you might be familiar with those disciplines whose main goal is that of investigating our own perception of reality, hence trying to find a possible answer to most of our overwhelming questions. As a matter of fact, philosophy and theology often focus on our need to find a meaning to all of our actions. In fact, human beings have always felt the need to find a purpose to their own existence. But is this a way to justify their actions, the values they believe in, their ambitions and long term goals? Would they sound less effective if life actually had no meaning at all? Furthermore, shouldn’t accomplishing our goals be the only meaning of our lives?
We might never know. It adds to the mystery of life. Fascinating, isn’t it?
If we had no purpose in life, our first response would probably be that of denying social conventions. We might then get to reconsider our own values and ambitions. Why choosing to get married and start a family? Why pursuing a career? Why acquiring knowledge? Why following a foretold path? Sometimes we might get to wonder why we should be doing what we are currently doing. It often seems like there’s only one way to go. If life had no purpose, so wouldn’t the path we’re often encouraged to walk.
Sometimes the chains that prevent us from living our life to the fullest are mostly psychological, rather than physical. Do we really need to give us a purpose in order to achieve happiness and relief in life?
We probably don’t. What’s the point in justifying our existence? We wouldn’t get to a universally acknowledged answer either way.
Dear MEANING_5E: what you do will never sound as a nonsense, as long as you keep on doing it with passion and legitimate curiosity.
This is the only piece of advice I can give you.
My best wishes.
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dear DARE_5E
theOUR life is only one, and yes,we have to think about our future and our love life, but WHAT if you future wontWILL NOT follow your plainPLANS?
in my opinion we are Young, and sometimes we have to dare.
we can dare in? ABOUT OUR future,in love,in travel,in a lot of thing,so..why DO /SHOULD we have to do all withACCORDING TO a predetermineD plan?
when you dare,you do the best experienceS in your life,and also you learn a lot by these.
in my opinion sometimes you have to dare,because IT is in this way tahtTHAT you learn how to live.
if you follow a precise plan you can do whatever you want,but at the and of your life i’I Am sure you WILL ask yourself this same question..so, IT is right dare as long as we are Young,and as long as we are Learning about life.
i dontI DO NOT know what i want to do in my future, where i want to live, now i dont know nothingANYTHING,and i think in my life i’ll dare a lot,in my future job,in my future love story, in my future homeland..so listen to me,let youRSELF go, and learN how to dare,and DO not do a a lot of projects,not now.
there will be time, to live your life follow your plains. ACCORDING TO YOUR PLANS
i hope i have helped you a little bit.
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Dear CHANGE_5E,
This overwhelming question haunts the majority of young people in their last year of high school.
I am aware that my life will change dramatically.
In my opinion, we must not be afraid to face new experiences.
What has characterized my learning until today, should be an excellent starting point to develop and get to a professional life for us, rewarding and satisfying.
Often what it is “new” causes uncertainty and fear.
I think curiosity must be the engine of our experiences.
Nowadays, people are influenced by uncertainty, not catching it as a positive factor.
In reality , it must be seen as an enrichment step, aimed at obtaining what we will become and we will like to be in the future.
It is also true that each of us can ask himself: how can we seize the doubt as a positive factor withIN a society that does not give us more securitiesMANY CERTAINTIES?
The obstacles historically have justOFTEN/ALWAYS been a growth factor.
In conclusion, it is important to keep in mind that we must not be intimidated by the various fears.
We have to face the situations time after time always remembering that what you choose is what you are passionate about.
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