Because ethical dilemmas are conflicts that can present the opportunity for dramatic, life changing decisions, they are often used by authors as plot devices. Once students have learned some ethical principles, they can enhance their understanding of both ethics and literature by applying the principles to the ethical situations in the novels they are reading.
Students are tenth graders who are reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
Students will have previously learned the ethical principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice.