Fall 2018 Pull Questions

The Messenger, by Matthew Jordan

The Torrey Honors Institute by no means encourages mastery of a book. While this outlook on reading can be comforting, it can also lead to a sort of perpetual sluggishness that would make my college life a post-lunch stroll. The youth, I believe, takes a bit too much pleasure in saying: “Well, I read the book and that’s how it is. All memories and annotations are paused eternally between the front and back cover.” This is where the pull question comes in. I think the name of the question is fitting- it’s an uncomfortable name for an uncomfortble activity. The pull question is defined in the syllabus as such:

“While much of your Torrey work (reading, session, and notebook) is primarily exploratory and expansive, Pull Questions are a key opportunity for you to tie down your opinions and practice the craft of writing. Tutors ask Pull Questions at the end of every session, and their questions are writing prompts that help you pull together your thoughts from the book and session. Your semester’s detailed reading list tells you the exact Pull Question requirement, usually one per book.

Pull Questions are written responses to the tutor’s prompt, typically 300-600 words. You should answer the question well, with an eye to the book that prompted the inquiry.”

( http://academics.biola.edu/torrey/academics/syllabus/writing/#pq )

Pull questions help the student to pull their thoughts and experiences from the book together into one page. Some look like a session reflection while others are the student’s chance to talk about something he thinks was skipped over. Regardless, it is an uncomfortable activity for those who find writing uncomfortable. I count myself in that group. You may, then, ask why I am writing this. If you asked me that, I could not give you a good answer. I guess it depends on the day.

I’ve included a list of the questions I answered this semester because I am proud of them. However, I feel that including all of the questions as well as their 400 word answers would make the post far too long. If you find one of the questions particularly interesting, I would be happy to email it to you.

• Homer’s Iliad: What is it about getting what he wants that teaches Achilles to respond differently to Priam (than Agamemnon did to Chryses)?
• Homer’s Odyssey: Is home completely a place of truth-telling?
• Sophocles, Antigone: Why is it important that Antigone is a woman?
• Sophocles, Oedipus the King: Is there self-knowledge you don’t want?
• Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War: What is Thucydides’ view of Justice?
• Plato, Meno: Does Socrates have a method? If so, how does he use it?
• Plato, Symposium: How do the first five speeches prepare the way for Socrates?
• Plato, Republic: Would the gods favor a just man or an unjust man who gave good sacrifices?
• Euripides, Bacchae: Would Dionysus contest any of Plato’s images of the order of the soul?
• Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics: Pick out a habit that it would be good for a college freshman to put into practice. Do this for 21 days. What virtue is that habit tied to?
• Genesis: What are the similarities between the story of the garden and the tower of Babel and how does this shed light on the problem Adam and Eve create?
• Exodus: From who and with what are the Israelites purchased?
• Leviticus: What is the significance of understanding that rescue precedes commandments and how does that help you understand the law?
• Numbers: How do you remember God’s holiness in your own life today (given God’s frightening holiness in Numbers)?
• Deuteronomy: Why does the promised land carry a blessing and a curse?
• Joshua: What is the significance of the monuments in Joshua? Do we have similar things in modern evangelical life? Should we?
• Hebrews: For the rest of the day, practice God’s presence and see if that makes a difference in how you approach potential times of suffering.