This document provides an agenda and notes for an English writing class (EWRT 2). It includes the following key points:
1. Essay #1 is due Friday before noon and must be emailed in MLA format as a Word document.
2. The class will discuss selections from Lao-Tzu's Tao Te Ching, including his rhetorical strategies and questions for critical reading.
3. The instructor introduces Essay #2 on the topic of government, which will involve discussions of readings from Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli. Students are given prompts to choose from for the essay.
4. The class agenda involves moving students to new discussion teams, presenting information
2. Essay #1: Due Friday before noon.
Send it by email to palmoreessaysubmission by the
due date. Make sure it is in MLA format and saved as
a Microsoft Word Document.
Teams
Discussion: Lao-Tzu "Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching”
(19-31).
Bio
Rhetorical Strategies
Questions for Critical Reading
Introduce Essay #2: GOVERNMENT
Suggestions for Writing: Group discussion
Vocabulary
AGENDA
3. 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.
4. The second essay consists of three class
discussions: Lao-Tzu; Machiavelli, and
the application of the two philosophers‟
ideas to A Game of Thrones.
7. 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.
8. 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 fifteenchapter book explaining the
teachings of the Taoist school.
Nothing more is known about
the second Lao Tzu
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.
9. 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 "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).
11. Look for examples of these
rhetorical strategies as you read
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).
12. Meet with your teams for 5-7 minutes to discuss
“Questions for Critical Reading” before we answer them
together.
13.
14. 1. To what extent does Lao-tzu
concern himself with individual
happiness?
1. How would you describe Lao-tzu‟s
attitude toward the people?
21. Q: What does LaoTzu imply in verse 3
when he states that
“The Master leads by
emptying people‟s
mind and filling their
cores”?
Q: Why does Lao say
“Practice notdoing, and
everything will fall
into place” ?
How does Lao-Tzu
assume that the
world can steer itself
if there‟s no control?
(same idea is
applied to society)
22. Q: What does Lao-tzu
mean when he uses the
word „world‟ in Verse 29?
Q: What does Lao Tzu
mean when he says a
master resides at the
center of the circle at
verse 29?
Q: What made Lao-Tzu
sure that a principally
hands-off government
would work best to bring
peace?
23. 45-46
Center your country
in the Tao
and 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
oppose
and 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?
24. Q: What does Lao-tzu
mean when he says
“All streams flow to the
sea because it is lower
than they are”?
Q: Why is Lao-Tzu so
centered on the idea
of giving more people
say in the
government?
Q: Why don‟t our world
leaders accept the
Tao ways?
25. Q. In verse 80 is Lao-tzu
trying to say traveling is
not good?
Q: Does Lao-tzu oppose
innovation?
26. Q: Despite Master‟s trust in
people, is Master‟s
inclination to be militarily
passive justified?
QHQ:, Lau-Tzu suggests
that leaving people alone
is the answer. Are Lau-Tzu‟s
thoughts specifically?
reflecting advice upon himself
rather than a whole nation?
28. 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.
29. • 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.
Essay #2
Suggestions for Writing
Pages 32-33
31. 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.
32. 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
33. 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;
34. 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?
