1. CLASS 13
CLASS 13: EWRT 2

2. AGENDA
New Groups
Review: Thoughts on Machiavelli or LaoTzu
Introduce Essay #3: Justice: Due Nov 15
Discussion: Marcus Tullius Cicero "The
Defense of Injustice"
Bio
Rhetorical Strategies
 Questions for Critical Reading
 QHQs
Suggestions for Reading: Thoreau

3. STAND IF YOU
ARE NOT IN A
GROUP
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.

4. 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?

5. 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

6. RESPONDING TO A PROMPT: CICERO #3
 Clarify what Philus means by the term “wisdom,” which
he introduces in paragraph 18. How do you understand
his use of the term and how appropriate is the word
“wisdom” for the ideas he describes? Would most
people today regard the behavior he sketches out as
an example of wisdom? Is it wisdom for you? What
moral or ethical problems arise from Philus’s concept
of wisdom?

7. TAKE IT APART AND BRIEFLY RESPOND TO
EACH QUESTION
1. Clarify what Philus means by the term “wisdom,” which he
introduces in paragraph 18.
2. How do you understand his use of the term
a. how appropriate is the word “wisdom” for the ideas he
describes?
3. Would most people today regard the behavior he sketches
out as an example of wisdom?
4. Is it wisdom for you?
5. What moral or ethical problems arise from Philus’s concept
of wisdom?

8. THE THESIS: LOOK AT THE BRIEF ANSWERS YOU GAVE TO THE
QUESTIONS. THEN, BEGIN TO WORK THEM INTO A SHORT ANSWER.
YOUR THESIS WILL LIKELY BE A COMBINATION OF ANSWERS TO THE
MOST IMPORTANT OR COMPELLING OF THE QUESTIONS.
1. Clarify what Philus means by the term “wisdom,” which
he introduces in paragraph 18.
a. How do you understand his use of the term
I.
how appropriate is the word “wisdom” for the ideas he describes?
2. Would most people today regard the behavior he
sketches out as an example of wisdom?
a. Is it wisdom for you?
3. What moral or ethical problems arise from Philus’s
concept of wisdom?

9. NOT ONLY A THESIS, BUT AN OUTLINE
Now, write a brief directed summary as an introduction, and conclude it
with your thesis.
Expand your list of questions into an outline.
Find textual support for answers that will come from the text
 Clarify what Philus means by the term “wisdom,” which he introduces in
paragraph 18.
 how appropriate is the word “wisdom” for the ideas he describes?
 What moral or ethical problems arise from Philus’s concept of wisdom?
Find examples or support for answers that will come from another source
 Would most people today regard the behavior he sketches out as an example of
wisdom?
Express your opinion where the question asks for it.
 How do you understand his use of the term [wisdom]
 Is it wisdom for you?

10. PUT YOUR EVIDENCE, EXPLANATION, AND
ANALYSIS INTO YOUR OUTLINE
Directed Summary
Thesis
Section 1: Clarify what Philus means by the term “wisdom,”
which he introduces in paragraph 18.
How do you understand his use of the term
how appropriate is the word “wisdom” for the ideas he describes?
Section 2: Would most people today regard the behavior he
sketches out as an example of wisdom?
Is it wisdom for you?
Section 3: What moral or ethical problems arise from Philus’s
concept of wisdom?
Conclusion

11. REVISE, EDIT, FORMAT MLA STYLE, AND MAKE A
WORKS CITED PAGE

13. 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.

14. IN YOUR GROUPS
Discuss the rhetorical strategies
of Cicero.
Discuss the “Questions for
Critical Thinking” on page 129.
Find textual support for your
answers!

16. RHETORICAL STRATEGIES
Argument Dialogue
Compares


(Between Philus and Laelius)
Definition/interpretation

(What is Justice?)
Offers Alternatives

(perform injustice/not suffer it;
perform and suffer; neither perform
or suffer it)
(Justice to policies of
Rome)
Contrasts

(Wisdom with Justice)
Analogy

(virtuous man vs. ruffian)
Evaluation
Counterargument
 (perform injustice and not
suffer it)

(by Laelius at the end to
make his point)

18. WHY DOES LAELIUS CHOOSE PHILUS TO
ARGUE AGAINST JUSTICE?

19. DOES ARGUING AGAINST A POSITIVE
VALUE HELP OUR UNDERSTANDING OF
THAT VALUE’S IMPORTANCE?

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

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

22. ON WHICH SIDE OF THIS ARGUMENT IS CICERO HIMSELF?

23. TO WHAT EXTENT IS PHILUS
A FEMINIST?

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

26. Q. Why does Philus feel that “human beings are
not just, by nature, at all”?
Q. Why does Philus use the example of the two
men, one a good man and one a criminal, to
explain the idea of injustice?
Q. Would this example be as just as effective to
explain the idea of justice?
Q. What truth does having a devil’s advocate in the
text reveal about the nature of justice?

27. TRUE AND NATURAL JUSTICE AND LAW?
Q. Why is justice not natural?
Q. If justice is not natural, can wisdom be
natural?
Q. Can there be a “true law”?
Q. So what does “true law” mean?
Q. What is a universal law?
Q. Does true justice exist at all?

28. Q. When laws vary in each country, how do we
know what is just and what is wrong?
Q. Has our society evolved and grown to inherit
universal-natural laws over time?
Q. If Cicero were still alive today, how would he
go about refreshing the infrastructure and
workings of our polarized government to
maximize the efficiency of law making and
effective implementation?

29. JUSTICE
• Get into your groups
• Divide up the questions in the
“Critical Reading” section of the
Thoreau essay.
• We will reconvene to discuss
the homework
Suggestions for Critical
Reading
Page 157

30.  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
HOMEWORK