The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. In your own words, define “domestication.” In what context have you heard it before? What is the purpose of domestication?

Teaching Suggestion: The purpose of this question is to prepare students to engage with the theme Self-Limiting Agreements Learned Through Human Domestication. Students’ personal context will help them to make text-to-self connections to Ruiz’s ideas. If learners have little context for the processes involved in domestication, or if there is a desire to have an extended class discussion, the following links may be helpful. Teachers might use these videos to build a collective understanding of domestication, its methods, and purposes.

• This video from History is a short discussion of one of the theories of how humans domesticated wolves into dogs.
• This video from SciShow is a compilation of topics related to the domestication of both plants and animals. You might want to select a portion that will connect with student interests. This deep dive will lend itself well to extended class discussion to build context for domestication.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who have difficulty with abstract ideas, teachers can create an anchor chart that students fill in as a class to develop a common understanding of the purpose and power of domestication.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

What truths about the world were you taught as a child that you still embrace now? What truths were you taught in childhood that you reject now?

Teaching Suggestion: This question provides additional context building for students while preparing them to engage with The Necessity of Choice in Making and Breaking Agreements. It might be especially useful if students have not reflected on their choices and beliefs before reading this text. The text prompts readers to engage in these sorts of reflections constantly, so a bit of exercise with this process will be helpful.