John: This Is a Particularly Useful Section to Discuss in Tandem with the Principal Concepts

Chapter 13

John: This is a particularly useful section to discuss in tandem with the principal concepts of writing Bill discusses in the early chapters of the book. The opening activities in this chapter, designed to help students and teachers reflect on attitudes and beliefs they bring with them to consideration of the supernatural and the language they use to engage in such discussions, not only generate a framework from which to discuss the readings that follow, but they also are apt to kick up issues related to reasons people read and write (Why do we feel the need to challenge certain ghost stories?), how critical analyses are developed (How can ghost and UFO sightings be explained and what is plausible or not about those explanations), audience concerns (What keeps people from believing my account of the ghost that used to shake by bed?) , and significance of language choice (Why does the acronym “UFO” make something seem more farfetched than “Unidentified Flying Object”?). Certainly discussions of ethos and the nature of truth (established through faith, evidence, proof) can all be fueled by reflection on topics presented in this chapter.

Bill: Definitely. I think this is a valuable section in particular to use in connection with matters of evidence. The issues John has suggested above are the very ones that prompted me to create this chapter. John’s reference to his own ghost story hints at one of my goals in the Overview. I usually will tell the ghost story in the Overview to students when they elect to explore this topic, as the subject matter does not work as well if it is stigmatized at the get go. The university is not generally considered a place where students can readily have stories of the supernatural discussed, so the instructor needs to initiate the conversation. Instructors carry with them credibility, so when an instructor relates his or her story, students will not be as reticent to tell theirs. My tale in the Overview gives instructors something to use if they have never had such encounters. My favorite memory from working with this topic was a student who swore to me she had seen a leprechaun. She had never told anyone else and wrote a pretty good essay, both about the experience and why she chose to conceal it all these years.