[Updated] Tuesdays With Morrie Trigger Warning List

Here is the updated version of the trigger warning list for Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

[Important: Please note that trigger warnings are not necessarily to make it so that you can just avoid the content. There is a fairly popular mistaken belief that trigger warnings are censorship. That is not true. Trigger warnings exist so that, if you are sensitive to the content, you are made aware of it before it occurs and surprises you. This gives you a chance to prepare yourself mentally before reading it so that it does not affect you as negatively as it might if you didn’t know that it was going to happen. Also, please note that if you rely on triggers for the shock-value or plot twists (aka, “Well I can’t use trigger warnings because they’re spoilers!”), you aren’t a very good writer and you definitely aren’t taking into consideration the potential sensitivity of your audience.]

Triggers, listed in order of the number of occurrences: death, drugs, ableist language, violence, alcohol, and sexual content.

The paragraph numbers and a general summary of each are listed on the following pages. For reference, the italicized numbers in the parenthesis are the page numbers in my book, and the total number of paragraphs in each chapter are listed below:

Chapter 1 (The Curriculum) - 13
Chapter 2 (The Syllabus) - 55
Chapter 3 (The Student) - 14
Chapter 4 (The Audiovisual) - 55
Chapter 5 (The Orientation) - 31
Chapter 6 (The Classroom) - 67
Chapter 7 (Taking Attendance) - 33
Chapter 8 (The First Tuesday) - 52
Chapter 9 (The Second Tuesday) - 34
Chapter 10 (The Third Tuesday) - 52
Chapter 11 (The Audiovisual, Part 2) - 21
Chapter 12 (The Professor) - 37
Chapter 13 (The Fourth Tuesday) - 73
Chapter 14 (The Fifth Tuesday) - 61
Chapter 15 (The Sixth Tuesday) - 68
Chapter 16 (The Professor, Part 2) - 25
Chapter 17 (The Seventh Tuesday) - 52
Chapter 18 (The Eighth Tuesday) - 33
Chapter 19 (The Ninth Tuesday) - 82
Chapter 20 (The Tenth Tuesday) - 76
Chapter 21 (The Eleventh Tuesday) - 41
Chapter 22 (The Audiovisual, Part 3) - 29
Chapter 23 (The Twelfth Tuesday) - 61
Chapter 24 (The Thirteenth Tuesday) - 72
Chapter 25 (The Fourteenth Tuesday) - 53
Chapter 26 (Graduation) - 13
Chapter 27 (Conclusion) - 19


Death
The main theme of this book is death, so if you aren’t cool with that… this may not be the book for you. As its the main theme, I could do what I just did, which is to essentially put a warning on the whole book. However, I will do my best to warn you of each time death is mentioned or alluded to in the book. Parts where I believe there needed to be an extra warning will have a short summary, while parts that mention death in passing will not. The instances that I noted are in the following paragraphs:
  • Paragraphs 3 (1) and 4 of chapter 1.
  • Paragraphs 1 (5), 9 (6), 21 (7), 32 (9), 40-42 (10), 47 (11), 48 (12), 49, 51-54 (13) of chapter 2.
  • In paragraph 36 (10) of chapter 2, there is a graphic description of how ALS progresses.
  • Paragraphs 7-9 (15), and 12 (17) of chapter 3.
  • In paragraph 5 (15) of chapter 3, there is a short description of some of the effects of pancreatic cancer.
  • Paragraphs 2 (18), 4, 5 (19), 19 (20), 32 (21), 37 (22), and 40 of chapter 4.
  • Paragraphs 13 (27), 20 (29), and 23 of chapter 5.
  • Paragraphs 2 (32), 6 (33), 11, 13, 27 (35), 30 (36), 33, and 39 (37) of chapter 6.
  • Paragraphs 19 (50), 21, and 25 (51) of chapter 8.
  • In paragraph 22 (50) of chapter 8, there is a description of TV coverage of the Bosnian genocide.
  • Paragraphs 1 (55), 9 (57), and 26 (59) of chapter 9.
  • In paragraph 18 (58) of chapter 9, there is a description of some newspaper articles that cover someone being tortured to death and then the corpse being showed off and a homophobic homicide.
  • Paragraphs 3 (62), 5, 15 (63), 16, 17-19 (64), 22, 27 (65), 29 (66), 33, and 42 of chapter 10.
  • Paragraphs 15-17 (71) and 20 (72) of chapter 11.
  • Paragraphs 1 (73), 2, 4, 5 (74), 7, 15 (75), 26 (77), and 27 of chapter 12.
  • Paragraphs 1 (80), 2, 5-9 (81), 11, 12 (82), 13, 15, 16, 21, 22, 24-26 (83), 33, and 49 (85) of chapter 13.
  • In paragraph 3 (80) of chapter 13, there is a mention of a woman killing her husband and children.
  • In paragraph 59 (86) of chapter 13, there is a mention of a murder-suicide and several stillborn births as well as a death from ALS.
  • Paragraphs 12 (92), 16, 18 (93), 46 (96), 60 (99), and 61 of chapter 14.
  • Paragraphs 27 (103), 34 (104), 37, 51 (106), 53, and 54 of chapter 15.
  • In paragraph 59 (108) of chapter 15, there is a mention of reincarnation.
  • Paragraph 23 (114) of chapter 16.
  • Paragraphs 24 (118), and 30 (119) of chapter 17.
  • In paragraph 19 (117) of chapter 17, there is a brief mention of suicide.
  • Paragraphs 2 (123), 6 (124), 10 (125), 11, 25 (128), 32, and 33 (129) of chapter 18.
  • Paragraphs 7 (131), 11 (132), 26 (133), 29, 31, 40 (134), 41, 67 (138), 73 (139), 74, 76, 78, 79, 80 (141), and 81 of chapter 19.
  • In paragraph 1 (130) of chapter 19, there is a brief mention of the death of a minor.
  • Paragraph 7 (142) of chapter 20.
  • Paragraphs 9 (152), 13 (153), 31 (156), and 38 (158) of chapter 21.
  • Paragraphs 10 (161), 16-18 (162), and 20 (163) of chapter 22.
  • Paragraphs 1 (164), 5 (165), 12 (166), 36 (168), 38 (169), 42, 52 (170), 57, and 61 of chapter 23.
  • Paragraphs 1 (171), 4-7, 9 (172), 14, 18 (173), 22, 24, 28 (174), 30, 52 (177), 61 (178) of chapter 24.
  • Paragraph 18 (183) of chapter 25.
  • In paragraph 14 (182) of chapter 25, there is a mention of children accidentally shooting each other and also of a dead baby.
  • Paragraphs 6-9 (188) of chapter 26.
  • In paragraphs 1-5 (187) of chapter 26, there is a graphic description of a death.
  • Paragraph 4 (190), 11 (191), and 13 (192) of chapter 27.


Drugs
Most of the drugs mentioned in the book that are taken in the present are chemotherapy drugs, or those used to help alleviate symptoms of ALS.
  • In paragraph 3 (5) of chapter 2, there is a brief mention of amphetamines.
  • In paragraphs 19 (28) and 22 (29) of chapter 5, there is a brief mention of pills.
  • In paragraph 46 (67) of chapter 10, there is a mention of opiates.
  • Paragraph 45 (95) of chapter 14.
  • In paragraphs 50 (96) and 51 of chapter 14, there are mentions of chemotherapy and drugs.
  • In paragraph 19 (102) of chapter 15, there is a mention of a variety of drugs used to help Morrie.
  • Paragraphs 2 (109) and 11 (111) of chapter 16.
  • Paragraph 53 (135) of chapter 19.
  • Paragraph 50 (148) of chapter 20.
  • Paragraphs 31 (174) and 56 (177) of chapter 24.
  • In paragraph 12 (182) of chapter 25, there is a mention of drugs and morphine.


Ableist Language
There is surprisingly little ableist language in this book and I think I managed to find all of it. The instances I noted are as follows:
  • In paragraph 3 (6) of chapter 2, the word nut is used.
  • In paragraph 6 (43) of chapter 7, the word crazy is used.
  • In paragraph 2 (55) of chapter 9, the word insane is used.
  • In paragraph 41 (84) of chapter 13, the word crazy is used.


Violence
  • In paragraph 22 (50) of chapter 8, there is a mention of a TV report that showed video of the Bosnian genocide.
  • In paragraph 2 (55) of chapter 9, there is a mention of people being beaten up.
  • In paragraph 18 (58) of chapter 9, there is a description of newspaper articles that mention the torture of an old man and violent homophobia.
  • In paragraphs 26 (144) and 28 of chapter 20, there isn’t violence per se, but there is a description of a surgical operation in which there is a lot of blood.


Alcohol
Alcohol or being drunk are mentioned in the following paragraphs:
  • Paragraph 3 (14) of chapter 3.
  • Paragraph 1 (41) of chapter 7.
  • Paragraph 20 (76) of chapter 12.
  • Paragraph 45 (95) of chapter 14.


Sexual Content
There are mentions of or allusions to sex in the following paragraphs:
  • Paragraph 3 (14) of chapter 3.
  • Paragraph 11 (111) of chapter 16.


Love always,
Sam

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