Proceed With Caution

This is not a love letter nor a confession.

That is how I wanted to start the test I am making for my Literature class. I want it to begin with the words "Dear love,".

Would my high school students feel special when they read it before they answer the test? I hope so. I want them to feel loved and assured before they proceed with this test called Love.

The test is... well, longer than the usual test I prepare for them. This one's difficult and requires a lot of thinking, just like the idea of love. They might get confused about how this specific test was written - long, difficult, and confusing.

But I believe that a test, just like love, is misleading. Do you agree?

Tests make us think, much like love.

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How many times have you thought of whether your crush likes you back or not?

Was that gesture just a friendly act, or does it mean they love you back?

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Love itself is misleading because...

It is so often confused with simple friendship - the way you two conquer everything through thick and thin. The nice gestures. The so-called platonic one.

It is often mistaken for infatuation - when you feel giddy over the presence of your crush. Don't tell me you haven't felt this way before?

Sometimes it is lust - when you anticipate something just by staring at their most admirable feature.

What love is, really?

That is one of the things I want my students to ponder. We were predisposed to think that we would know the definition of love, that love is love once it's there where in fact, it is really misleading, just like the questions and options I am about to include in the test I'm making.
It is overwhelming.
It is unsettling.
It is confusing.

At this point, I want to end the test with another question, not for my students to answer though, but for them to think about.

Is loving (and answering the test) within the domain of reason?
or within the domain of feelings?

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I am not sure as to why I am doing this - finding common ground of love and test. Perhaps I want my students to still feel the Valentine's vibe but at the same time I want them to be creative in answering the test while I introduce to them the context of love from a different perspective.

Oh well, this is just me trying to become that cool Literature teacher.

Thanks for reading!~

_{Cover Image edited on Canva}