ewrt 2 class 13 cicero

CLASS 13 CLASS 13: EWRT 2

AGENDANew GroupsReview: Thoughts on Machiavelli or Lao-

TzuIntroduce Essay #3: Justice: Due Nov

15Discussion: Marcus Tullius Cicero "The

Defense of Injustice" BioRhetorical Strategies Questions for Critical Reading QHQs

Suggestions for Reading: Thoreau

STAND IF YOU ARE NOT IN A GROUP1. 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.

REVIEW DISCUSSION

Do you agree with Machiavelli’s thesis that stability and power are the only qualities that matter in the evaluation of governments? If not, what else matters?

Can we have Lao-Tzu’s peace, even though there is ambition, materialism, war, and famine on earth? How is it possible?

ESSAY #3: JUSTICE

Essay #3 will be in response to either the excerpt from Cicero, Thoreau, or both.

Choose your topic from "Suggestions for Writing" on pages 129-30, prompts 1-9 or on pages 157-58 prompts 1-6. The prompts are also listed on the website.

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 Friday (Nov 15) of next week

Who

was

Mar

cus T

ulliu

s

Cicero

?

Rome

106-

43 B

CE

MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) was one of the most important orators, intellectuals, and philosophers in the Roman Republic.

He was highly educated and served as Quaestor (a financial administrator) in Sicily, Aedile (an official) in Rome, and as Praetor (Lawyer). He was eventually elected Consul in 63.

In 44, when Caesar was murdered, Cicero championed the Republic. He tried to win over Octavian, but failed. He also gave his greatest speech, the Philipics, aimed at Marc Antony. However, this backfired, as the Second Triumvirate was formed, and Cicero's name was on the list of enemies. He fled Rome, but he was captured and executed.

Cicero's oration, philosophy, rhetoric, poetry, and letters create a vast collection of works that are matched by few in the modern world.

IN YOUR GROUPS

Discuss the rhetorical strategies of Cicero.

Discuss the “Questions for Critical Thinking” on page 129. Find textual support for your answers!

Whic

h

Rhetor

ical

Strat

egie

s

Does

Cicer

o

Use?

Argument Dialogue (Between Philus and Laelius)

Definition/interpretation (What is Justice?)

Offers Alternatives (perform injustice/not suffer it;

perform and suffer; neither perform or suffer it)

Evaluation (perform injustice and not

suffer it)

Compares (Justice to policies of

Rome)

Contrasts (Wisdom with Justice)

Analogy (virtuous man vs. ruffian)

Counterargument (by Laelius at the end to

make his point)

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES

Questio

ns for

Critica

l Rea

ding

WHY DOES LAELIUS CHOOSE PHILUS TO ARGUE AGAINST JUSTICE?

DOES ARGUING AGAINST A POSITIVE VALUE HELP OUR UNDERSTANDING OF

THAT VALUE’S IMPORTANCE?

WHAT IS PHILUS’S REPUTATION AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT HIS ARGUMENT?

HOW DO IDEAS OF JUSTICE DIFFER IN THE DIFFERENT LANDS PHILUS MENTIONS?

ON WHICH SIDE OF THIS ARGUMENT IS CICERO HIMSELF?

TO WHAT EXTENT IS PHILUS A FEMINIST?

WHICH OF LAELIUS’S STATEMENTS IN THE FINAL PARAGRAPHS OF THE SELECTION SEEM WEAKEST TO YOU? WHAT ARE THE STRENGTHS?

QHQS

1. Why does Cicero state that “the most fortunate choice is the first, to perform injustice, if you can get away with it”? (127).• How does Cicero’s choice reflect his character

and belief about justice?

2. Why does Philus reject “the argument that, although laws vary, good men naturally follow the true, authentic path of justice, and not merely what is thought to be just” (Ciciero 13)?

3. When laws vary in each country, how do we know what is just and what is wrong?

TRUE AND NATURAL JUSTICE AND LAW?

1. What truth does having a devil’s advocate in the text reveal about the nature of justice?

2. Does the concept of “natural law” belong in the context of justice within any given society? If natural law is inseparable from justice then how necessary are laws that are man made (positive law)?

3. Can there be a “true law”?1. So what does “true law” mean?

4. What is a universal law?5. Does true justice exist at all?

1.Has our society evolved and grown to inherit universal-natural laws over time?

2. If Laelius were alive today, and could see all that has happened in the thousands of years since his death, would he still believe there exists a single and completely correct system of laws?

3.How can we reconcile the needs of a peaceful coexistence with the values of individuals?

JUSTICE

Suggestions for Critical ReadingPage 157

• Get into your groups• Divide up the questions in

the “Critical Reading” section of the Thoreau essay.

• We will reconvene to discuss the homework

HOMEWORK

Read A World of Ideas: Henry David Thoreau "Civil Disobedience" (133-157)

Post #25 Questions (TBD) for Critical Reading: (page 157)

Post #26 QHQ Thoreau