Parable of the Sower Lesson Plan

How do these chapters begin to shape the group's view of outsiders?

Begin this discussion by asking students how Lauren has been taught to regard outsiders: her father has made it clear that people from outside the neighborhood (and perhaps some within, as well) are not to be trusted, and are likely only out to cause harm to her and to steal her things. However, this perception begins to change as we move farther away from the compound.

We begin to meet characters who are not so different from Lauren and her cohort: scared, determined people simply looking for a means of survival. In fact, it is through her better nature that Lauren finds her first followers of...