最近同学生一起在读旅美中国作家哈金的Waiting. Waiting 曾获得美国National Book Award, 美国书卷奖，美国文学最高奖之一。小说的空间和时间横跨六七八十年代中国的农村和城市。 主人公Kong Lin 挣扎于农村的妻子（为了作孝子，答应了父母安排的婚姻）和城里的女友两段感情之间。父母去世后，Kong Lin经过18年的努力和等待终于同原妻离婚，娶城里的女友为妻。但是没过多久发现自己并不真正爱自己的第二夫人。茫然和失落占领了他的生活。Kong Lin 怀疑自己对爱的理解，不再明白自己生活的追求。一切到头都是空的。

根据和扩展这个主题，我让学生们在课堂里最后10分钟free write. 写作要求如下：

There are many social norms people abide by. During the era of  the 60s and 70s in China, opposite sex was not allowed to hold hands or spend time privately before getting married. In the case of Lin Kong, he followed every rule set by the society and aspired to be a model citizen. Indeed he was a model in many aspects. However, after 18 years of waiting and investment, he himself felt lost and unhappy. He was uncertain about his second marriage and about his newly born sons. He questioned his own understanding of love. He wanted to get free, but it was too late. As an aging man, he was on the verge of losing hope and purpose of life.

Free write for a few minutes on the theme of hope and purpose of life. How important is each one to you and what motivates you to pursue your future? What if no matter what you do now, your life will remain boring and hopeless until your death?

下面一篇是其中一位学生的写作：

It's too dark to talk about this situation. What if all things I have ever done are nothing? My family, my friends, all the people I have ever loved, all the achievements that I've done, all the happiness I've experienced, all the pains I’ve ever stand. They are all nothing. I think I’ll just kill myself if my world winds up like that. Now I can kind of understand and have some sympathy on Lin Kong. He is even older. But it’s just a little bit.

To talk about hope and purpose of life. They are important to me in daily life, very important. I spend my every day with the hope of coming festivals, weekends, holidays, even tomorrow’s ice cream in dining hall. Purpose are things like getting an A+ in history or finishing my homework earlier or not staying up late. I mean, they are small but they are so important. They are the power that drives me moving forward. People have to maintain some hopes and purposes, more or less, to keep themselves moving according to the boring daily route.

However, I seldom seriously think about the purpose of my future these days, since I came to America. I know it’s not a good thing but I just do not know what will happen in the future. Maybe next day I will do something really bad and be kicked out. Or, maybe I get a super good grade in AMC and receive Harvard’s offer. Or, maybe something really bad happens to my family and I am not able to study abroad anymore. It’s really horrible.

I’m scared, really scared. I don’t know what will come out in the end. What if all things I’ve done are all wrong just like the situation Lin Kong is facing? I want to borrow Doraemon’s time machine.

I wanna go to the future…

作为老师，一个很大的鼓励和奖励是能够同学生交心。特别是作为语言老师，比数理科老师更容易更有机会了解学生的内心世界。

我是迫不及待地读了学生的写作; 就这篇来讲，还有一点让我兴奋的是该学生对主人公的同情：“Now I can kind of understand and have some sympathy on Lin Kong. He is even older. But it’s just a little bit.”重点不在于最后的同情，而是该学生产生同情的过程。刚开始读这本书时，学生们都是理直气壮地声讨Kong Lin喜新厌旧的行为。在慢慢了解了更多地情况之后，班里的4个女生也从反对他离婚的声音转变成赞成。这样的改变让我深思了许久。我感兴趣的是什么因素能够根本性地影响十几岁孩子对事件的判断。

对我来讲，除了教语言，还有一层责任是帮助学生从不同角度看同一件事情，而且是要让他们自己去发现新角度。老师是不应该把自己的世界观强压于学生的，但是不自主的渗透还是难以避免的。