Instructors in medical humanities, health sciences, and pre-med programs often use short fiction to introduce ethical reasoning. "The Use of Force" works well because it presents a doctor in a realistic dilemma, with a sick child, anxious parents, and a patient who refuses care. Students must weigh urgency against autonomy and consider what a professional owes to someone who cannot give informed consent. Grading the resulting essays requires attention to both ethical reasoning and writing quality.

An effective assignment asks students to evaluate the doctor's decision using ethical concepts they have learned, such as beneficence, autonomy, and proportionality. The story supplies the facts, and students supply the framework. A strong essay applies the concepts to specific details rather than defining them in the abstract. Weak essays tend to list principles without showing how they relate to the scene.

It is also worth asking students to separate the ethical question from the literary one. Whether the doctor acted rightly is not the same as whether the story invites us to admire him. His admission of anger complicates the case for his professionalism even if the diagnosis justified the exam. Essays that keep both questions in view show the most mature thinking.

Grading Ethical Reasoning Fairly

The central challenge is evaluating reasoning without penalizing a student for reaching a conclusion you disagree with. A student may argue that the doctor was fully justified, and another may argue that he crossed a line. Both can earn top scores if the argument is coherent and grounded in the text. State this in the assignment so students feel free to commit to a position.

• Applies ethical concepts to specific facts in the story
• Considers the child's perspective as well as the doctor's
• Weighs the medical risk against the means used to address it
• Acknowledges the parents' role and the limits of their consent
• Reflects on the doctor's own admission about his motives

Where Students Commonly Go Wrong

Many students treat the story as a simple case where the end justifies the means, because the diagnosis turns out to be serious. That argument ignores the fact that the doctor could not know the outcome in advance. A strong response separates what the doctor suspected from what he later learned. Feedback can ask whether the same reasoning would hold if the throat had been healthy.

Other students respond with pure moral outrage and neglect the medical danger. Their essays are heartfelt but one-sided, which weakens the argument. A comment asking what the doctor should have done differently, given the risk, pushes them toward a more complete analysis. This kind of question develops both ethical and writing skill at once.

Connecting to Professional Practice

For students headed toward clinical careers, the story raises questions they will face in practice, such as how to proceed when a patient resists and what role emotion plays in a professional's judgment. A reflective component can ask students to describe how they would handle a similar situation and what safeguards might help. This brings the story out of the abstract and into the realm of professional identity. It also gives you a chance to assess reflection, which many programs value.

Be clear about whether the assignment is a literary analysis, an ethics case study, or a hybrid. Each has different expectations for evidence and structure. A hybrid assignment may need two rubrics or a combined one with distinct rows. Clarity here prevents confusion and makes scoring more consistent.

Giving Feedback on Reflection and Writing

Feedback on reflective writing should address depth, honesty, and specificity. A reflection that says only that the student would try to remain calm lacks detail. A better one describes what calming actions the student would take and why. Prompt students to be concrete by asking what they would say or do in the room.

Keep comments brief and focused on the next step. In a course with many students, consistent feedback tied to a shared rubric will serve better than long individualized essays about each paper. Reusable comments adapted to each student's work can save hours without losing clarity. The aim is for every student to understand how to reason more carefully the next time.