Summary Of Mary Pipher's Essay 'Growing Our Souls'

Pipher, Mary. “Growing our souls.” Writing to Change the World, New York, 2006, Riverheads Books, New York, 2006. pp. 49-59. Print.
In the chapter “Growing Our Souls,” Mary Pipher explains how circumstances in people’s lives, whether tragic or joyful, serve as inspiration for different activist causes. She shares how certain events in her life led her to fight against different social movements such as free speech and civil rights. She defines true rebels as people who can act towards the change—they stand for their beliefs. Then, she criticizes American culture’s view of ‘healthy people’ who accept the world as It is. For Pipher, growing the soul means increasing the capacity for empathy and passion towards the good. She urges people to write their own stories that shape them the person they are today.
Pipher, Mary. “Introduction.” Writing to Change the World, New York, 2006, Riverheads Books, New York, 2006. pp. 1-15. Print.
In Mary Pipher’s introduction of her book “Writing to Change the World,” she is determined to inspire and encourage her readers to change the world through writing. The

He tries to lead his students away from writing about religious issues since the evidence may not be considered persuasive enough in an educational setting. He notices that driving his students away from writing about their religious beliefs, their work lack passion. He recognizes that religion is important because it shapes people’s identity and culture as it influences interactions with others. He discovers that allowing students to navigate through issues of faith that are important for them makes them engage in secular intellectual work. This perceptive essay emphasizes the relationship between faith and identity as well as the role that literacy plays in the expression of