Kokoro Lesson Plan

At the beginning of his letter, Sensei remarks that he has two reasons for writing it. Discuss those reasons and how they pertain to the novel's larger themes.

At the beginning of his letter to the narrator, as he will return to at its end, Sensei remarks upon the two reasons he has for writing about his life story: "Often, I was tempted to abandon the task, and so break my promise to you. But every time I dropped my pen thinking I could not go on, I found that, before a full hour had passed, I was writing once more. You may take this as a manifestation of my naturally strong sense of obligation," and "apart from any sense of obligation, there is the simple reason...