Octavian: Discussion Question 2

Aside from the issue of slavery, what are the moral implications of Octavian and his 'experimental' upbringing? Have his educators/owners crossed the line of moral conduct? Where would you draw the line between moral and immoral research in this context?

Octavian Discussion Question 1

When Mr. Sharpe takes over, the nature of Octavian's education changes drastically. He is no longer given whole pieces of books or information to learn from. Instead he is tested over fragments. Do you see any connections between this situation and testing in today's education?

Octavian Nothing: Websites for Historical Context

Here are some websites to give you more historical context for Octavian Nothing:

digitalhistory.uh.edu
www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/chron18.cfm

historyplace.com
www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/index.html

theamericanrevolution.org
www.theamericanrevolution.org/tline.asp

The Massachusetts Historical Society
www.masshist.org/revolution

Historian Douglas Harper’s website “Slavery in the North”
www.slavenorth.com

The novel opens with a quote from Rousseau’s Emile, or On Education. Rousseau’s theories of “natural education” and the corrupting nature of society are explained at the following site:
www.infed.org/thinkers/et-rous.htm