This document provides an agenda for a class discussing two philosophers, Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli. It includes details about an upcoming essay assignment, teams and a point tracking system for participation. It discusses Lao-Tzu's background, rhetorical strategies and excerpts from the Tao Te Ching. It also outlines discussion questions, essay prompts, vocabulary terms and homework reading Machiavelli in preparation for the next class.

1. Class 10
EWRT 2

2.  Essay #1 Due (3-4 pages)
AGENDA
 Teams
 Introduce Essay #2: GOVERNMENT Due
Nov 1
 Discussion: Lao-Tzu "Thoughts from the Tao-
te Ching” (19-31).
 Bio,
 Rhetorical Strategies,
 Questions for Critical Reading
 Suggestions for Writing: Group discussion
 Vocabulary

3. ESSAY #1
You may turn in a hard copy
today.
You may send it electronically by
Saturday at noon.
 palmorekim@fhda.edu
I will send you a confirmation
receipt by email.

4. A Game of Points
1. For essays 2-5, we will use teams to earn participation
points. Your teams can be made up of 3 or 4 people.
1. The teams will remain the same through the discussion
of material for one essay.
2. You must change at least half of your team after each
essay.
3. You may never have a new team comprised of more than
50% of any prior team.

5. The first essay consists of three class
discussions: Oct 25 Lao-Tzu; Oct
30, Machiavelli, and Nov 1, which is the
application of the two philosophers’
ideas to A Game of Thrones.

6. Points will be earned Answers,
for correct answers comments, and
to
questions, meaningf questions must be
ul contributions to posed in a manner
the discussion, and that promotes
provocative learning. Those
questions. Each who speak out of
team will track their
turn or with
own points, but
cheating leads to maliciousness will
death (or loss of 25 not receive points
participation points). for their teams.

7. At the end of each class,
you will turn in a point
Sit with sheet with the names of
your team
members everyone in your group
in class to
facilitate and your accumulated
ease of
group points for the day.
discussions It is your responsibility to
make the sheet, track
the points, and turn it in.

8. If you are not on a team,
please stand.
 One established team has only three
players. If you want another player, please
choose now.
 The rest of you, please get into teams of
three or four.
 Please make sure you are sitting with your
team members.
 The game starts today, so make sure one
of your team members is tracking points.
 Make sure your name is on the point sheet.

9. 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 one page long but not longer
than two pages (excluding a works cited page).
 It should be formatted MLA style.
 It is due November 1 (next Thursday)

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

11. Who was Lao-Tzu?

12. 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.

13.  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
 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.

14. 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).

15. What are the rhetorical
strategies of Lao-Tzu?

16. Rhetorical Strategies
 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).

17. The Master does nothing, yet he
leaves nothing undone

18. Meet with your teams for 5-
7 minutes to discuss these
questions before we
answer them together.
Questions for Critical Reading

21. 29

26. • 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 31-32

27. Vocabulary
Exam 4:
Thursday, November 1

28. 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.

29.  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

30.  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;

31. 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
Consider Essay #2: Which of the prompts
about Lao-Tzu would you choose?