Freshman Reading Project Prompt
Freshman Reading Project Essay/Reflection Prompt
Please select ONE of the prompts below for your First-Year Reading Project assignment. If you elect to complete one of the essay prompts, your final essay should be 600-800 words. Your completed assignment is due at the start of your small group discussion.
If you were not able to attend the assembly, or if you haven't yet signed up for a small group discussion, please do so right away. Check your Baylor email for instructions and a link to the sign-up website.
A recording of the talk by Dr. Tara Foley at the 2026 Honors First-year Assembly can be found online. Go to the 1:02 minute mark.
Prompts:
Your work should be original and should not be produced in part or in total with the assistance of artificial intelligence/AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, or some other resource). For this assignment, the use of artificial intelligence constitutes a violation of the Honor Code at Baylor University.
Prompt Option 1:
“Survival is Insufficient” : The Traveling Symphony has this line from Star Trek painted on the side of one of their caravans. What does this mean to some of the main characters we meet?
Choose 2 or 3 characters from the novel and discuss the main ways they carve out a new, “more than survival” life in the aftermath.
Now imagine you survived a pandemic like the one in this novel. What would “survival is insufficient” mean to you? What things, people, activities would you need to feel your new life was “sufficient,” and why? Now that you’re in this “new world” of college, how will you pursue those things here?
Prompt Option 2:
Several characters claim that the events of their lives were “meant to be.” The Prophet argues that “all of our activities... all of your suffering, it’s all part of a greater plan.” Elizabeth states, “I think this is happening because it was supposed to happen.”
Is Fate, as seen in Station Eleven, an external actor or simply a way to reconcile/justify one’s state in life with a greater sense of purpose? Compare the beliefs and actions of 2-3 three characters to support your answer.
Prompt Option 3: Creative Option
Create a “Post-Apocalypse Survival Guide” (that is, one for about the time period when this novel’s present action takes place – not quite the immediate aftermath, but a time when things have settled down a little bit but also the old world’s infrastructure has largely crumbled). Include a one-page introduction and 5-8 points you think are most important for surviving and thriving in the new world. Write, draw, paint, or otherwise decorate your guide to match what you imagine it would look like if you were actually creating it in a postapocalyptic world.
While not required, students who elect to pursue the creative option are highly encouraged to take advantage of and explore the available resources at the Baylor MakerSpace (https://libguides.baylor.edu/makerspace/spaces-and-supplies)