One of the consequences of serious writing by students is that they reexamine their own values. In her book, The Passionate Accurate Story (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1990), Carol Bly lays out a series of procedures and exercises which can aid in creating values-centered stories. She first has readers articulate what is important to them before they try to write stories which will test those values. The following is adapted from her exercise:
Every telling of a story assumes a world view which can be translated into human values. This doesn't mean that the value is accepted without questioning; personal essays and fiction generally put values to the test. The values students hold shape the material they write about. So a first step to writing essays or fiction is to define in precise terms what your values are. I've adapted this assignment from one used by Carol Bly. In her book The Passionate Accurate Story (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1990), Bly first rejects literary analysis as a tool for learning how to write fiction. Instead she proposes "precise consciousness-raising" through making a values list. She writes, “values are by definition emotional: they are how we feel about the given subject. It helps our always-mangy memory, in any case to list the qualities of people or of life which we hold dear or which we deplore. A values listing keeps us conscious of large virtues when we can so easily get lost in small virtues” (39).
Bly then gives an example of small and large virtues in the form of a CIA agent who greets an elevator operator warmly while dealing in "unscrupulous behavior" on a world level. She describes possible kinds of values for a list: “1. Two goals or values which make life good or bearable or would if they were in operation. 2. Two goals or values which cause injustice and suffering or lessening of joy. 3. Two missing goals or behaviors. As a child, you thought grown-up life would have these. Now that you are adult, you don't see them around. 4. Two injustices which you see about you and should keep an eye on, even on your wedding day” (39). Bly then suggests that stories could be written which personify those values or anti-values. Another option is to invent a character who simultaneously holds opposing values.
For their list students should choose those values which differentiate them from others and write them in specific language. They can use many different ways of writing the list, fragments or sentences, descriptions or assertions. For example my values list might include the following: “anger at those who use power arbitrarily,” “I am a conservationist rancher,” or “anti-aggressive.”
Students could spend fifteen minutes formulating their values list. After finishing, the format for the group will be to speak and then comment. Each person should choose a value which she reads and then tells a story which exemplifies that value. The responders should be supportive exploring how the story supports that value, but they should also ask questions which will help the person define her value more clearly. For example, if I were to say that one value is making money, responders might ask why I became an English professor. Be honest but also careful; everyone treasures the values they think they hold.