This week we are discussing a wonderful TED talk by author Lidia Yuknavitch. To those who feel like they don’t belong: there is beauty in being a misfit. Yuknavitch shares her own wayward journey in an intimate recollection of patchwork stories about loss, shame and the slow process of self-acceptance.

After you have watched the short TED Talk, respond to the following questions:

1. What is Yuknavitch’s thesis or main argument?
2. What does Yuknavitch use to back up her claims? What kind of examples does she share with her audience?
3. Does Yuknavitch try to appeal to your logic, your emotions or both? Think about the big three rhetorical strategies (ethos, pathos, logos) and discuss: Does Yuknavitch effectively appeal to her audience? (Remember to use specific examples.)
4. Do you consider yourself a misfit according to the definition Yuknavitch gives? Why or why not?
5. Yuknavitch artfully says, “Even at the moment of your failure, you are beautiful. You don’t know it yet, but you have the ability to reinvent yourself endlessly. That’s your beauty” (Yuknavitch). Do you agree with this statement? What do you thing Yuknavitch is saying about the upside or benefits, even though it is painful, of failure?
6. What was your biggest takeaway or AHA moment from this Talk? What interested you or surprised you the most?

“The Beauty of Being a Misfit” | Lidia Yuknavitch

Requirements:

• Your initial response should be 150-300 words per question.