First World Suffering Is Real

Transcript

Vocabulary spotlight

atrophied

/ˈætrəfid/

adjective

Extremely weakened or reduced, especially because muscle or another body part has deteriorated. Here, the woman’s body had lost most of its muscle.

Her body was atrophied. 0:56

Additional example

After months without movement, his leg had become visibly atrophied.

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Practice exercises

Why do I question the instinct to rank one person’s suffering as automatically greater than another’s?

Exercise 1 of 6

Your daily English task

Reflect on hidden suffering

Write two sentences answering this question: Can suffering that is not visible be just as serious as visible tragedy? Give one reason for your view. You may also post the same response in this video’s YouTube comments; I can reply with corrections and help you improve your English.

For example

Yes, hidden suffering can be just as serious because loneliness and a lack of purpose may affect someone every day, even when other people cannot see it.

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Choose a prompt and submit one response for teacher feedback.

A moment that changed how I see suffering

Reflect on a time when you noticed that someone’s difficulties were different from what they appeared to be. Explain what you first assumed, what you later understood, and how the experience affected your view of suffering.

180–260 words 2–3 paragraphs

What to include

Write from your own perspective and distinguish observation from interpretation.
Show how your thinking developed rather than simply describing the event.
Use precise language for emotions, uncertainty, and changing beliefs.
Explain what you first thought about the situation and why.
Describe what led you to reconsider your first impression.
End by explaining what this changed in your own thinking or behaviour.

Useful moments

Prompt 1 of 3

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Transcript

Vocabulary spotlight

atrophied

Additional example

Practice exercises

Why do I question the instinct to rank one person’s suffering as automatically greater than another’s?

Sort each statement according to the role it plays in my comparison of different kinds of suffering.

Match each condition from my discussion with the consequence I associate with it.

Complete my argument about why a short life is not necessarily meaningless.

Build a sentence explaining why a short life may still be described as rich rather than meaningless.

Order the stages of my reflection after seeing the video of the suffering child.

Your daily English task

Reflect on hidden suffering

Submit a writing assignment

Create a free account to save words and submit writing.