The document provides an agenda for an English writing class. It includes a 15 minute vocabulary exam, discussions on Lao Tzu/Machiavelli examples and preparing for a discussion on philosophy and A Game of Thrones. There will be a class discussion, tips for essay #2, group preparation for Cicero, and homework assigned. The class will divide into new teams to discuss applying the readings to A Game of Thrones and dividing labor for analyzing Cicero.

1. EWRT 2
*

2. *Vocabulary Exam #4: 15 minutes
*Discussion Lao Tzu/Machiavelli: Examples
and preparation
*Group Preparation for discussion of
Philosophy and A Game of Thrones.
*Class Discussion
*Essay #2 writing tips
*Group Preparation for Cicero
*Homework
*AGENDA

3. *You win or you die
*

4. *
A strategy of using textual evidence

5. *“He must, therefore, never raise his thought from this
exercise of war, and in peacetime he must train himself
more than in time of war; this can be done in two ways: one
by action, the other by the mind,” says Machiavelli.
*“Do you recall your history Bran”
*“And that’s Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt. He was the last
King in the North and the first Lord of Winterfell, after he yielded
to Aegon the Conqueror. Oh, there, he’s Cregan Stark. He fought
with Prince Aemon once, and the Dragonknight said he’d never
faced a finer swordsman.

6. In teams, discuss your ideas
about applying Lao-Tzu and
Machiavelli to A Game of
Thrones.
You have about 10 minutes!
Make sure you have textual
support for your assertions!
Eddard Stark
Catelyn Stark
Robb Stark
Jon Snow
Robert Baratheon
Cersei Lannister
Joffrey Baratheon
Tyrion Lannister
The Night’s Watch
Khal Drogo
Daenerys Targaryen
Viserys Targaryen
Petyr Baelish
Lord Stannis
Syrio Forel

7. *The
Starks

8. *Lao-Tzu states that a true master, or
leader, “enters a battle gravely, with a
sorrow and compassion, as if he were
attending a funeral” (21).
*When Eddard executes criminals, as a
responsibility of being the Lord of
Winterfell, he understands the
importance of their life and is
emphatic to their last wishes (13). It is
also shown that Eddard despises the
tournament, he thinks of it as
unnecessary violence and lives lost.
Eddard Stark

9. Eddard Stark tries to
explain to King Robert that
the Targaryan siblings do
not deserve to be killed
because they are innocent
children. Eddard is
essentially following the
words of the Tao and
putting these words into
action.
One example from the
Thoughts from the Tao-te
Ching that relates to A Game
of Thrones is the line that
says, “His enemies are not
demons / but human beings
like himself. He doesn’t wish
them personal harm” (25).

10. *“it would be good to be
considered generous”
(Machiavelli 43).
*“You are far too generous,
Lady Stark. The honor of
carrying a great lady like
yourself is all the reward they
need” (Captain of the ship
Catelyn took south; Martin
165).

11. “But as for the exercise of the mind, the prince
must read histories and in them study the
deeds of great men, he must see how they
conducted themselves in wars; he must
examine the reasons for their victories and for
their defeats in order to avoid the latter and to
imitate the former, and above all else he must
do as some distinguished man before him has
done, who elected to imitate someone who
had been praised and honored before him, and
always keep in mind his deeds and actions; just
as it is reported that Alexander the Great
imitated Achilles; Caesar, Alexander; Scipio,
Cyrus” (39 Machiavelli).
Robb Stark
Robb is getting ready for war to avenge his
father’s imprisonment, he reflects on what
he knows about past wars, (Roberts
rebellion) and lays out a plan for them, he
knows the land he is traveling in and what
would best suits his troops. Robb also looks
up to his father and tries to imitate him so
the rest can respect and admire him (412-
415 Martin PDF version).

12. *“If you want to govern
the people, / you must
place yourself below
them. / If you want to
lead the people, / you
must learn how to
follow them” (Page 30,
Verse 66).
*
*“Jon was showing Dareon
how best to deliver a
side-stroke [...] “Your
feet should be wider
apart,” he urged. “You
don’t want to lose your
balance. That’s good.
Now pivot as you deliver
the stroke, get all your
weight behind the blade.”
(Martin 259)

13. *“everyone sees what you seem to
be, few perceive what you are,
and those few do not dare to
contradict the opinion of the many
who have the majesty of the state
to defend them [...] for ordinary
people are always deceived by
appearances and by the outcome
of a thing; and in the world there
is nothing but ordinary people; and
there is no room for the few, while
the many have a place to lean on”
(Machiavelli 47).
*“‘My words lied. My eyes and my arm
shouted out the truth, but you were
not seeing [...] Watching is not seeing,
dead girl. The water dancer sees”
(Syrio Forel; Martin 363).
Syrio Forel

14. *“For governing a country
well there is nothing better
than moderation.” (Lao Tzu
28)
*“Ned was aghast.
‘Aerys Targaryen left a
treasury flowing with
gold. How could you let
this happen?’”
Littlefinger gave a
shrug. ‘The master of
coin finds the money.
The king and the Hand
spend it.’” (Martin 133-
134) *Robert Baratheon

15. *“ And, moreover, he need
not worry about incurring
the bad reputation of
those vices without which
it would be difficult to
hold his state; since,
carefully taking everything
into account, one will
discover that something
which appears to be a
virtue, if pursued, will
end in his destruction;
while some other thing
which seems to be a vice,
if pursued, will result in
his safety and his well-being”
(Qualities of the
prince 41).
*This Philosophy of Machiavelli can
easily be seen in King Roberts
demeanor, when he talks about
murdering a young girl named
Daenerys Targaryen: ‘”I will kill
every Targaryen I can get my hands
on, until they are as dead as their
dead dragons, and then I will piss
on their graves’” (Martin 113).
“Give evil nothing to oppose and it
will disappear by itself.” (Tao-te
Ching 29) We can connect this to
when King Robert ordered the death
of the last Targaryens, “To put an end
to the Targaryens!” (353) King Robert
was the greatest cause that would
push Daenerys to seek out a war
against the Seven Kingdoms because
they opposed her.

16. *“Alexander VI did nothing
else, he thought about
nothing else, except to
deceive men, and he always
found the occasion to do
this. And there never was a
man who had more
forcefulness in his oaths, who
affirmed a thing with more
promises, and who honored
his word less; nevertheless,
his tricks always succeeded
perfectly since he was well
acquainted with this aspect
of the world”(Qualities of a
Prince 48-49).
Petyr Baelish
*“As his men died around him,
Littlefinger slid Ned’s dagger
from its sheath and shoved it
up under his chin. His smile
was apologetic. ‘I did warn
you not to trust me, you
know’” (Martin 49).

18. *Machiavelli says, “fear is
held together by a dread
of punishment which will
never abandon you” (11).
When Ned Stark confronts
Cersei, she responds saying
“[you] love your children,
do you not?” (486). Now it
is clear to Ned about who
assaulted his son. The lack
of fear Cersei has is
obvious when she admits
to the King’s Hand in
person.

19. *“It is much safer to be feared
than to be loved when one of
the two must be lacking”
(Machiavelli 44).
*“ So long as I am your King,
treason shall never go
unpunished.”(726)
*Joffrey bring Sansa to the
gate house and forces her to
look at her father and Septa
Mordane’s rotting heads, “I
want to show you what
happens to traitors” (747).

20. *“a prince must not
worry about the
reproach of cruelty
when it is a matter of
keeping his subjects
united and loyal”
(12).
*As Joffrey summons for
Eddard’s head, he turns to
the audience and exclaims,
“So as long as I am your
King, treason shall never go
unpunished” (726).
Machiavelli points
out, “…out of
excessive mercy,
permits disorders to
continue, from which
arise murders…” (45
The Prince), “The
madness of mercy”
(634 GOT) permitted
Joffrey to take over
the throne and
Eddard to die under a
false accusation.

21. *Tyrion
Lannister
*Lao-Tzu says, “Whoever
can see through all fear /
will always be safe,”
(Jacobus 26).
*“The inspiration came to
Tyrion Lannister suddenly.
‘…tell her that I wish to
confess my crimes” (Martin
417)

22. Lao-Tzu and
Tyrion Lannister
One of Lao-Tzu’s
points of view tells us
that, “The Master sees
things as they are,
without trying to
control them” (24 Lao-tzu).

23. If a nation is
centered in
the Tao, and
it nourishes
its own
people and
doesn’t
The Night’s Watch
“the Night’s Watch
would take no part in
the battles of the
realms it guarded”
(Maester Aemon; 553).
meddle in the affairs of
others, it will be a light to
all nations of the world”
(Lao-Tzu 29).

24. * “It is much safer to be feared
than to be loved when one of
the two must be lacking”
(Machiavelli 44).
When Khal Drogo dies, Ser
Jorah states, “Princess, hear
me. The Dothraki will not
follow a sucking babe. Drogo’s
strength was what they bowed
to, and only that.” (484).

25. “A prince either spends his own money and that of his
subjects or that of others; in the first case he must be
economical; in the second he must not restrain any part of his
generosity. And for that prince who goes out with his soldiers
and lives by looting, sacking, and ransoms, who controls the
property of others, such generosity is necessary; otherwise he
would not be followed by his troops” (Machiavelli 44).

26. *
*“Cesare Borgia was considered
cruel; nonetheless his cruelty has
brought order to Romagna,
united it, restored it to peace
and obedience. [...] Therefore, a
prince must not worry about the
reproach of cruelty when it is a
matter of keeping his subjects
united and loyal; for with a very
few examples of cruelty he will
be more compassionate than
those who, out of excessive
mercy, permit disorders to
continue.. ” (Qualities of the
prince 43).
*When the khaleesi wanted
to order her dothraki
soldiers to stop raping
women and reap their
rewards It is said by Ser
Jorah himself about
Daenerys that: “‘You have
a gentle heart, but you do
not understand. This is how
it has always been. Those
men have shed blood for
the khal. Now they claim
their reward.’” (Game of
thrones 456).

27. *
*“The Master is above
the people, and no one
feels oppressed. She
goes ahead of the
people, and no one
feels manipulated. The
whole world is grateful
to her.”(32)
*This can be best show
by Daenerys’s decision
of freeing the slaves
and tell them they are
free to go if they want
to.(673)

28. *“a prince, therefore, must not have
any other object nor any other
thought, nor must he take anything
as his profession but war, its
institutions, and its discipline [. . .]
not only does it maintain those who
were born to that position, but many
times it enables men of private
station to rise to that position”
(Machiavelli 40).
*“I’d let his whole khalasar fuck
you if need be, sweet sister, all
forty thousand men, and their
horses too if that was what it
took to get my army. (Viserys
to Daenerys about wedding
Khal Drogo)
Viserys Targaryen

29. *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?
*

30. *

31. *Write about literature in the present
tense.
*Write in third person (avoid “I” and
“you”)
*Be specific: Avoid “thing” and words
with “thing” in them: something,
anything, everything.
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Coordinating Conjunctions
Remember, you need a comma and a coordinating conjunction to
connect two complete sentences:
Machiavelli holds that the skill of war making is what a prince must
*necessarily* make his career on, for war making is the primary means by
which he can advance his state.
Use a comma after an introductory clause:
As the Lord of Winterfell, he carries out the execution of the deserter
himself rather than assigning the dreadful task to one of his subordinates.

32. Form new teams for this unit. Remember, 50% of
your team must be new to you!
THEN, DISCUSS THE DIVISION OF LABOR FOR CICERO
Questions for Critical Reading (page 129)
We will come back together to go over the homework
before we leave!

33.  Read A World of Ideas: Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The Defense of Injustice" (119-129)
 Post #23 Questions for Critical Reading:
*HOMEWORK
(page 129)
 Post #24 QHQ Cicero
 Essay #2 is due by noon on Friday via
Kaizena