Dune

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Debate: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Spice”

In this activity, students will debate the benefits and drawbacks of the spice.

The coveted spice melange has an immense impact on the universe’s politics, economy, and human evolution. This precious resource grants incredible abilities and poses significant risks and ethical questions. Your challenge is to engage in a debate over the benefits and drawbacks of the spice, using evidence drawn directly from the novel to defend your position.

• After assigning sides, search the text for instances where the spice is mentioned or plays a role. Take notes on how you could use this example to support your claim.
• With your team, plan your arguments. What are your main points? What evidence supports them? How will you respond to the other team’s arguments?
• Each team will introduce their positions in the debate and present their three main arguments.
• After you present your main arguments, each team will have a chance to ask questions to the other team.
• Each group will summarize their main points and make final statements on why their perspective about the spice is correct.

After the debate, reflect in your notes or reading journal on how the debate impacted your understanding of the novel. Did it change your perspective on the spice, or did your viewpoint remain the same?

Teaching Suggestion: After you assign teams, consider having the teams break the novel into sections and assign a section to each person. Splitting the novel this way will help each student engage and help the team find evidence throughout the entire novel without making the task overwhelming. To structure the debate, you may want to give each group a few minutes to introduce their arguments and allot a specific amount of time for each of the three main arguments. You can ask a responsible student to moderate the debate and ask follow-up questions or moderate the debate yourself. The moderator should ensure that the debate stays respectful and interject with additional prompts if the debate stalls or becomes unbalanced.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students with learning differences, consider providing a graphic organizer to help them organize their evidence from the text. You may want them to write out specific points they will say during the debate.