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Welcome
to the Ark
by Stephanie S. Tolan
SUMMARY
Welcome
to the Ark focuses on four children ranging in age from eight to seventeen, whose
extraordinary gifts isolate them from other children and from normal
expectations of what constitutes rational, reasonable behavior.
Taryn,
a poetry prodigy labeled schizophrenic, is a healer able to communicate with
other life forms; Elijah, an apparently autistic child, "hears" the
deep growl of violence when it occurs in the world around him; Miranda,
world-renowned "baby genius" and linguistic prodigy, has become
alienated not only from other humans, but from her own emotions and natural
empathy; and Doug, flutist and math whiz, has turned the violence he sees in his
family and cultural environment first against its treasured material goods and
then against himself.
ISBN: 0-380-73319-6
HarperCollins
In
a near-future world in which violence is pandemic, these four intensely
sensitive children are brought together in an experimental group home in a
private mental hospital. In the program they dub "the Ark," they
discover their deep mental bond with one another, a bond that eventually
connects them with other unusual children around the world. As they begin to
explore the power of their connection, they discover it offers great hope for
the future of the world, and great danger as well.
REVIEWS
"Tolan weaves the themes of adolescent alienation, the transcendent
power of cooperation, and the threat of social disintegration in this tautly
constructed work of science fiction.... Frightening and grim, a sophisticated
tale of redemption." - Kirkus Reviews
"Tolan blends elements of science fiction with
nonstop suspense in a provocative, disturbingly real story.... Drawing on her
own experiences with exceptionally bright children, she has created a finely
portrayed group of characters who will seem achingly familiar to any child who
has ever felt isolated or disconnected. She also raises tantalizing questions
guaranteed to spur discussion in classroom literature circles." - Booklist
Novels
can help us think about our lives and our world in new ways - SST
GENERAL
DISCUSSION TOPICS
These topics are designed to encourage thinking and the sharing of
beliefs and ideas. They are not about the "right" answer, or about
literary analysis.
VIOLENCE
AND WARFARE
DIFFERENCES
-
How do people usually respond to
people who are different from themselves?
-
Do we respond to people we think
are brighter than ourselves in the same way we respond to people of different
races and cultures?
MUTATIONS
MIND POWER
FAMILIES
SCIENCE
STATUS
OF CHILDREN
SOCIAL
ISOLATION
THINKING
FURTHER, GOING DEEPER
The same
topics and related ones can serve to spur deeper and broader-ranging discussions
that can lead to research to support or refute students’ opinions, beliefs,
and conclusions. Formal debates or research papers may result from these
explorations.
VIOLENCE
-
How do we know the level of
violence in our own society? In societies and cultures of the past? What is the
difference between media, government or police statistics, and historical
reporting? What are possible reasons someone might purposely distort information
about social violence, personal violence, or war? Can you find examples of
distortion either in history texts or in media?
-
Do you agree with Taryn that using
violence to oppose violence is futile? Do you agree with Doug that whoever is
willing to use the most violence inevitably "wins any conflict? Can you
think of a context in which winning by violence is ultimately harmful to the
winner, or in which someone who dies can be said to have won?
SCIENCE
-
How open do you believe modem
science is to phenomena that cannot be studied or replicated in a laboratory? Do
you think contemporary scientists can be limited by their beliefs about material
reality? Do you think there may be realities not yet observable or measurable
with the instruments and methodologies available today? Can you find examples of
cases where science has been held back in its efforts to explain an aspect of
reality by the lack of sufficiently sensitive technology?
-
Do you think we "pretty much
know" now what the universe is like? Or do you think there is much we have
yet to discover, much that might change our current view? What have been some of
the great changes in the way science has explained aspects of the universe?
THE MIND
-
Do you believe that some people are
naturally more intelligent than others, or do you think that with the right
teaching anyone could be an Einstein? Do you feel the same way about
extraordinary athletic ability, extraordinary artistic ability?
-
Do you believe humans are or could
be capable of communicating with mental energy? Do you believe it is possible
for humans to communicate with other life forms, with or without language? Can
you find examples of such abilities?
-
The Latin name for modern humans is
Homo sapiens, which means intelligent, or thinking, man. Do you think
human beings have used their intelligence primarily for good or, as Doug
suggests in calling the human species Homo horrbilis, to do harm?
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Welcome
to the Ark is a work of fiction and Miranda, Doug, Elijah, and Taryn are invented
characters. However, they are based on real people. In working with a group of
extremely bright children, I was able to observe the sort of "thinking
together" that the children of the Ark begin to do. I know someone who is
able to "read" a book merely by holding it in her hands. I can't
explain these abilities, but like Noah and Abigail, I know because of my own
experience that they exist.
Modem
physics has shown us that mind and matter are not as separate as we once
thought. Can anyone (or any group of people) really "reflect" violence
back on those who would use it, or "tame" the violent impulse in
another human being? I don't know. That is an aspect of this book which came
from my imagination. But here's something else to think about-we don't know
exactly what imagination is or how it works.
Copyright 1997 by Stephanie S. Tolan
This
guide may be copied for educational purposes only.
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