Meeting Plans for Great Discussions

OCN wants to help improve the quality of your discussions while at the same time reducing the amount of time it takes to prep for meetings. Below is a set of meeting plans for the school year. Each plan includes:

  • An outline of the main ideas from each reading
  • Discussion questions
  • A sample email you can use to promote the meeting
  • A passage from Ayn Rand's fiction that concretizes a main idea from the reading

Instructions for intended use:

  1. At the bottom of the meeting plan is a sample email you can use to promote the meeting.
  2. Print out a copy of the meeting plan for everyone and pass out during the meeting.
  3. Different formats that have proven successful for different clubs, so it's worth some experimentation: (a) Ask members to read the essay in advance. In the meeting, talk through the outline as a means to summarize the essays; address little confusions and questions along the way. (b) Read the essay out load as a group, and stop to summarize the paragraphs comparing to each outline point.
  4. The essays are ordered in a logical sequence to build-upon one another, but feel free to pick-and-choose.
  5. Review some of our articles on leading group discussions. In particular, Four Tips for Leading Group Discussions, How to Study Ayn Rand's Writings and A Discussion Is Not a Debate.

All of the meetings below are from essays available in The Ayn Rand Reader except a few which are available online for free. Order the book from Amazon.

 

 

(Any meeting plans below without links are coming soon.)

Note: Some meeting plans below include links to essay text. You may distribute *links* to these essays, but please do not PDF or copy & paste the contents of the essay. These essays are copyrighted.

  1. Philosophy Who Needs It & Introducing Objectivism (special thanks to Colleen Smith)
    We suggest covering both essays in a single meeting. They are short enough you can read them both aloud as a group and/or listen to the audio.

    Listen to Audio (for 'Philosophy Who Needs It')
    View Text or Listen to Audio (for 'Introducing Objectivism')
  2. Roark's speech on selfishness
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 71-78
  3. Why 'Selfishness'?
     Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 79-83
  4. The Objectivist Ethics - Part 1, paragraphs 1-33
    Because of the density of this essay we suggest you discuss over three separate meetings. We have broken the essay into 3 meeting plans.

    A condensed version in Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 84-93
    View Full TextorListen to Audio
  5. The Objectivist Ethics - Part 2, paragraphs 34-66
    (sources mentioned above)
  6. The Objectivist Ethics - Part 3, paragraphs 67-end
    (sources mentioned above)
  7. Galt's speech, "Anti-altruism" (special thanks to Chip Joyce)
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 94-102
  8. The Age of Envy (special thanks to Chip Joyce)
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 114-124
  9. How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 144-150
  10. Excerpt from Galt's speech, "Axioms of Objectivism"
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 291-297
  11. Faith and Force: Destroyers of the Modern World
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 298-305 or Listen to Audio
  12. Of Living Death - Part 1 (special thanks to Chip Joyce)
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 325-334 or Listen to Audio
  13. Of Living Death - Part 2 (special thanks to Chip Joyce)
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 334-340 or Listen to Audio
  14. Excerpt from Atlas Shrugged, "The Meaning of Sex" & Excerpt from Galt's speech, "On Emotions" (special thanks to Chip Joyce)
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 322-324
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 340-341
  15. Man's Rights (special thanks to Stephen Mytyk)
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 432-438 or View Text
    Listen to Supplemental Audio
  16. The Nature of Government (special thanks to Colleen Smith)
    View Text
    Listen to Supplemental Audio
  17. Collectivized Rights
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 439-444 or View Text
  18. Excerpt from Atlas Shrugged, "The Meaning of Money"
    View Text
  19. What is Capitalism? - Part 1
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 418-424 or Listen to Condensed-Version
    Listen to Supplemental Audio
  20. What is Capitalism? - Part 2
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 424-431
    (sources mentioned above)
  21. The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age
    View Text
  22. Conservatism: An Obituary
    View Text
    Listen to Supplemental Audio
  23. Don't Let it Go
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 484-493
  24. Attila and the Witch Doctor - Part 1
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 306-315
  25. Attila and the Witch Doctor - Part 2
    Ayn Rand Reader, pp. 315-322