Class 10EWRT 2

AGENDAEssay #1: Due Friday before noon.

Send it via Kaizena in MLA format

Teams

Discussion: Lao-Tzu "Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching” (19-31). BioRhetorical Strategies Questions for Critical Reading

Introduce Essay #2: GOVERNMENT

Suggestions for Writing: Group discussion

Vocabulary

Essay SubmissionsAll out of class essays are to be submitted to me electronically before the class period in which they are due.

1. Before you submit your essay, please save your file as your last name and the number 2, like this: Smith 2. This will help me keep your essays organized.

Smith 2

2. Submit your essay through Kaizena at https://kaizena.com/palmoreessaysubmissiongmail. Or simply use the link on our class website home page.

This system allows me to respond to your essay with both voice and written comments and to insert helpful links. 

3. Sign in to your Google Account,

and allow Kaizena access to your Google Drive.

4. Click on the “Ask Dr. Kim Palmore for feedback” link.

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6. Add your essay to the appropriate EWRT 2 box (Essay #1) from the drop down menu. Then, click the “Ask for feedback” button again.

7. Once I have graded your paper, Kaizena will automatically email you and share with you the link to the Google document in the comments section — located on the top-right corner of the Google document.

Then you will get the box pictured below. Clicking the link will take you to your graded paper.

8. Click on the highlighted sections of the paper to find both audio and written comments concerning your essay and links to materials that will help you improve your writing.

Teams: If you are not sitting with your new team, please move. If you are not on a new team, please stand.

1. You must change at least half of your team after each essay.

2. You may never have a new team composed of more than 50% of any prior team.

3. Please join a table; remember, no more than four people per team.

The second essay consists of three class discussions: Lao-Tzu; Machiavelli, and the application of the two philosophers’ ideas to A Game of Thrones.

Lao-Tzu"Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching”

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Who was Lao-Tzu?

Three Lao Tzus?

The first Lao Tzu was a man named Li Erh or Li Tan, who came from the village of Ch'üjen in the southern Chinese state of Ch'u. Li Erh served as historian in charge of the official records in the Chinese imperial capital of Loyang. He was a peer of the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 B.C.E. ), and he is reported to have given an interview to Confucius when he came to Loyang seeking information on the Chou ritual.

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According to a third account, the original Lao Tzu lived 129 years after the death of Confucius. This man went by the name of Tan, the historian of Chou.

Another man identified as the founder of Taoism was Lao Lai Tzu, who also came from Ch'u. He is said to be a person of the same age as Confucius and is credited with a fifteen-chapter book explaining the teachings of the Taoist school. Nothing more is known about the second Lao Tzu

Actually, it is impossible to prove the historical accuracy of any of these accounts. Lao Tzu is not really a person's name and is only a complimentary name meaning roughly "old man." It was common in this period to refer to respected philosophers and teachers with words meaning "old" or "mature." It is possible that a man who assumed the pseudonym Lao Tzu was a historical person, but the term Lao Tzu also was used as a substitute title to the supreme Taoist classic, Tao te ching (Classic of the Way and the Power).

What are the rhetorical strategies of Lao-Tzu?

Format: resembles poetry, which suggests that the reader must read metaphorically as well as literally.

Aphorism (A compressed statement weighty with meaning).

Paradox (a self-contradictory statement): forces the reader to consider several sides of an issue. The resulting confusion yields a wider range of possibilities than would arise from a self-evident statement. (It encourages critical analysis).

Examples of rhetorical strategies

Meet with your teams for 5-7 minutes to discuss “Questions for Critical Reading” and your QHQs before we answer them together.

1. To what extent does Lao-tzu concern himself with individual happiness?

2. How would you describe Lao-tzu’s attitude toward the people?

29

The QHQWhat do

you think?My QHQ

Q: How [do we] interpret the verse“when they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guideWhen they know that they don’t know,people can find their own way”?

Q: What is the political view of Taoism?

Q: Why does Lao-tzu use both masculine and feminine pronouns irregularly, yet make certain male and female distinctions at other times?

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Q: What does Lao-Tzu imply in verse 3 when he states that “The Master leads by emptying people’s mind and filling their cores”?

Q: How will practicing “not-doing” help everything fall into place? See Verse 3.

Q. Why does the Master want us to take a neutral stance from verse 9?

Question: Why does Lao-tzu not think the world can be improved?

In verse 31 (para. 19-20), what does Lao-tzu think about how people use weapons for themselves?

Q: Why does man always want to prove they are powerful, by using Violence?

Lao-tzu states that “Weapons are the tools of violence; all decent men detest them.” If people detest them then why are they constantly using them for violence?

45-46

Center your country in the Taoand evil will have no power.Not that it isn’t there,but you’ll be able to step out of its way.Give evil nothing to opposeand it will disappear by itself.

If Lao-tzu’s teachings were put into practice, would the country be peaceful, be able to prosper, and survive long?

Q: How does one “become one” with Tao?

Q: Can Lao-tzu’s ideas and ideals apply to our modern society?

Q: From verse 54, Lao-Tzu says that if we want to govern people then we must put ourselves in their position, would this work or will it backfire?

Q: why does Lao-Tzu believe in the people to be able to essentially govern themselves?

Q: What does Lao say about the three things he has to teach: simplicity, patience, and compassion?

Essay 2Due Next Friday at noon.

Essay #2: GOVERNMENT

Essay #2 will be in response to either the excerpt from Lao-Tzu, Machiavelli, or both.

Choose your topic from "Suggestions for Writing" on pages 32-33, prompts 1-6, or on pages 50-51 prompts 1-5.

It should be a least two pages long but not longer than three pages (excluding a works cited page).

It should be formatted MLA style.

It is due next Friday before noon.

Essay #2

Suggestions for WritingPages 32-33

• Meet in your teams to discuss prompt questions 1-6.

• If we don’t finish this in class, please do so on your own at home.

Divide up the “Questions for Critical Reading” for Machiavelli on page 50

VocabularyExam 4: Class 12

Vocabulary

Ad hominem: "against the man"; attacking the arguer rather than the argument or issue.

Appeal to tradition: a proposal that something should continue because it has traditionally existed or been done that way.

Argument: a process of reasoning and advancing proof about issues on which conflicting views may be held; also, a statement or statements providing support for a claim.

Authority: a respectable, reliable source of evidence.

Begging the question: the arguer proves his conclusion while assuming it to already be true. The premise for his argument is based on the truth of his conclusion. In other words, the argument assumes to be true what it is supposed to be proving.

Claim: the conclusion of an argument; what the arguer is trying to prove.

Credibility: the audience's belief in the arguer's trustworthiness

Deduction: reasoning by which we establish that a conclusion must be true because the statements on which it is based are true

Ethos: the qualities of character, intelligence, and goodwill in an argument that contribute to an audience's acceptance of the claim.

Euphemism: a pleasant or flattering expression used in place of one that is less agreeable but possibly more accurate.

Evidence: facts or opinions that support an issue or claim; may consist of statistics, reports of personal experience, or views of experts.

Fallacy: an error of reasoning based on faulty use of evidence or incorrect inference.

False analogy: assuming without sufficient proof that if objects or processes are similar in some ways, then they are similar in other ways as well;

Homework

Read A World of Ideas: Government: Machiavelli "The Qualities of the Prince” pages 35-50

Post #19 Questions (TBD based on teams) for Critical Reading : (page 50)

Post #20 QHQ Machiavelli

Study Vocabulary (Test class 12)

Consider Essay #2: Which of the prompts about Lao-Tzu would you choose?