Class 15: EWRT 2

AGENDA

0 Essay #3 Questions or Comments 0 Group Discussions: Justice and A Game of Thrones

0 Get into your teams to consider the application of Cicero and Thoreau to A Game of Thrones

0 Class discussion: Cicero/Thoreau and A Game of Thrones

0 In-class writing: Generating Prompts

Essay #3 Questions or Comments?

Why look at GOT through the lenses of philosophy texts

0 EWRT 2 aims at providing the tools for both meaningful reading and critical thinking. Intertextuality expands the scope of text interpretation beyond the reader, carrying it to the meeting place of texts.

0 The challenge of developing intertextual aptitudes develops conceptual, curricular, and methodological perspectives.

0 Using a theoretical or philosophical lens, that is viewing a novel from a particular perspective, fosters thinking development, the use of broad lateral thinking, associative thinking, focusing, and critical thinking.

0 The practice of frequently using intertextual aptitudes helps to develop a habit of mind that includes complex thinking, creative insights, and speculative conclusions.

Group Discussions: Justice and

A Game of Thrones

Get into your teams to consider the application of Cicero and Thoreau to A Game of Thrones. Make sure to find textual evidence to support your claims.

Cicero!Thoreau

Acts of civil disobedience

Injustice

DiscussionJustice and A

Game of Thrones

Cicero and Jon

0 Laleuis describes the only God given law, “To attempt to invalidate this law is sinful. Nor is it possible to repeal any part of it, much less to abolish it together [...] As a consequence, even if he escapes the normal punishment for wrongdoing, he will suffer the penalties of the gravest possible sort.” (129).

0 When John hears the news about his father being beheaded, he attempts to run away from the wall to be with his family. John’s brothers chase after him and persuades John to return to the night’s watch, “They’ll cut off your head if they catch you, you know [...] but it doesn’t matter. Once you say the words, you can’t leave, no matter what.” (779).

Cicero, Ned, and Joffrey

0 Philius mentions, “‘Laws are not imposed on us by nature- or by our innate sense of justice. They are imposed by the fear of being penalized. In other words, human beings are not just, by nature, at all'” (150).

0 Joffrey Baratheon is an example of this philosophy when he condemns Ned Stark as a traitor for telling Cersi, her son Joffrey is not the true heir to the throne. Joffrey worries and condemns Ned as a traitor towards Robert, Cersi, and Joffrey. Joffrey orders the kingdom to assassinate Ned Stark because of his fear

Cicero, Arya, and Sansa

0 “Laelius: Yes, I can see what you have reason to fear. You are afraid of that, if you repeat the customary arguments against justice, you might be supposed also to improve them”(123, Verse 3)

0 “His eldest daughter stepped forward hesitantly. She was dressed in blue velvets…She blinked at her sister and at the young prince.”I don’t know,” she said tearfully, looking as though she wanted to bolt, “I don’t remember. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t see…“You rotten!” Arya shirked. She flew at her sister like an arrow, knocking Sansa down to the ground, pummeling her.“ Liar, liar, liar, liar.”(131)

Cicero, Eddard, and Joffrey

0 [Cicero] describes the [two]men by stating, “ one a paragon of virtue, fairness, justice and honesty, and the other an outrageous ruffian.” (Cicero 128)

0 For one, there was Ned Stark who was an honest man, but following his moral compass led him to death. There’s Joffrey who is aware of the significance of maintaining a good reputation but he himself has a rotten personality. Joffrey knows it is not right to abuse Sansa, but has someone do the dirty deed anyways.

Cicero: Eddard and Joffrey

0 ” Let us imagine that there are two men, one a paragon of virtue, fairness, justice and honesty, and the other an outrageous ruffian. And let us suppose that [...]the good man is an evil villainous criminal, and that the bad man, on the other hand is a model of honourable and propriety” (128).

0 ” King Joffrey looked her up and down. “your sweet words have moved me,” he said gallantly, nodding, as if to say all would be well. ” I shall do as you say, but first your father has to confess. He has to confess and say that I’m the king..” (2238 ipad version).

Cicero, Ned, and Cersei

0 “For a start,” said Ned, “I do not kill children. You would do well to listen, my lady. I shall say this only once. When the king returns from his hunt, I intend to lay the truth before him. You must be gone by then. You and your children, all three, and not to Casterly Rock. If I were you, I should take ship for the Free Cities, or even farther, to the Summer Isles or the Port of Ibben. As far as the winds blow” (Martin, PDF 334).

0 For we have to choose one of three things. We can perform injustice and not suffer it. Or we can both perform and suffer it. Or we can neither perform it nor suffer it. The most fortunate choice is the first, to perform injustice, if you can get away with it. The second best is neither to perform it nor suffer it. And the worst is to engage in an everlasting turmoil consisting of both performing it and suffering it (Cicero, 127).

Cicero and Cersei

0 Cicero depicts “two men, one a paragon of virtue, fairness, justice, and honesty, and the other an outrageous ruffian. And let us suppose that their country is so misguided that it believes that the good man is an evil, villainous criminal, and that the bad man, on the other hand, is a model of honorable propriety”

0 In A Game of Thrones, Eddard stark is the paragon of virtue, while Cersei is the ruffian. Towards the end of the book, Cersei’s plot to take the throne succeeds, while Eddard is beheaded for attempting to do the right thing. Based on this event in the story, who would you rather be?

0 “[Laws] are imposed by the fear of being penalized” (Cicero 126).

0 “Do as [Daenerys says], […] before you get us all killed” (Ser Jorah to Viserys: Martin 498).

Cicero: Shedding Blood in Vaes Dothrak

Thoreau, Robert, and Ned0 King Robert brings up a subject on

whether to kill Daenerys or not since she is pregnant. “The other councilors were all doing their best to pretend that they were somewhere else. No doubt they were wiser than he was” (Martin 351). Ned speaks first that this shouldn’t be done. Becoming furious by his rejection, Robert urges other councilors to speak: “Have the rest of you mislaid your tongues? Will no one talk sense to this frozen-faced fool?” (352) After all, “[Ned] and Selmy stand alone on this matter” (354) and Robert makes his decision to kill her.

0 The philosophy of Thoreau is applied here. Ned rejects the decision on killing fourteen-year-old girl because he makes his decision based on his conscience that he thinks “men first and subjects afterward” (Thoreau 178). When the subject was brought to the table, the councilors remained silent because while their consciences were telling them ‘no’, ‘yes’ was the answer that seemed more desirable. Eventually, majority says yes, and King Robert makes the decision based on the opinions of majority “which the rule of expediency is [only] applicable” (178).

Thoreau, Ned, and Robert

0 Thoreau says, ““Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” (para. 16),

0 Ned and Robert took over the realm and fought the Mad King. While they fought the ruler rather than the laws, I think the same ideas still work. Many people in the realm were not content to obey the Mad King, so they “transgressed” him by taking over the kingdom and killing him. Ned and Robert could not “endeavor to amend” the Mad King’s ideas because he was mad, so there was little use trying to negotiate with him.

Thoreau, Ned, and Cersei

0 [Thoreau] says “…I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn” (Thoreau 145),

0 I think of Ned talking to Cersei in the godswood. Cersei tries to gain him as an ally, a strategic move that ultimately would have been wise for Ned, but he refuses because of his loyalty to Robert.

Thoreau and Eddard

0 Thoreau claims, “A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it (139-140).

0 Ned responds to Marq Piper, asking for vengeance [in response to Ser Gregor Clegane burning down common man fields] , when he argues, “I thought we were speaking of Justice. Burning Clegane’s fields and slaughtering his people will not restore the kings’ peace, only your injured pride (Martin 469).

Thoreau and Eddard

0 “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison” (146).

0 Eddard Stark was thrown into prison for trying to keep his honor and remain loyal and just to the king, yet was thrown into prison for his actions.

Thoreau and Danerys0 “They pass other women

being raped. Each time Dany reined up, sent her khas to make an end to it…”(680)

0 “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still have other concerns; but it is duty to wash his hands of it, if he gives it no thought no longer” (Thoreau 143).

0 “’The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,’” Ser Jorah told her. ‘It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace’” (Martin 151).

0 “Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform […] are not a hundred thousand politicians […] but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity” (Thoreau 141).

Thoreau and the Dothraki

Thoreau, Tyrion, and The Wall

0 “Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lamp of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs.” (pg. 2 Thoreau)

0 “The Nights Watch is a noble calling!” Tyrion laughed. “You’re too smart to believe that. The Nights Watch is a midden heap for all the misfits of the realm” (104 Martin).

Using Machiavelli or Lao-tzu, and A Game of Thrones, write one or two good questions that you might consider answering for your final paper. .

Using Cicero or Thoreau, and A Game of Thrones, write one or two good questions that you might consider answering for your final paper.

Thinking Ahead: Generating Prompts

Brainstorming Essay Prompts: Example

0 Is civil disobedience a practical and worthwhile response to injustice? 0 Identify an example (or two) of Thoreauvian-style “Civil

Disobedience” in A Game of Thrones. 0 Argue for its success or failure as both a social protest and a

personal undertaking. That is, does it disrupt or change the status quo? Do the personal risks and sacrifices outweigh the consequences of the disobedience?

0 Finally, argue either for or against “civil disobedience” as an approach that should be used in contemporary society?

So ends the unit on Justice with Cicero and Thoreau.

So Begins the Unit on Privilege and

Perspective: Plato and Woolf

Form new teams for this unit. Remember, 50% of your team must be new to you!THEN, DISCUSS THE DIVISION OF LABOR FOR PLATOQuestions for Critical Reading (453-54) We will come back together to go over the homework before

we leave!

Homework0 Essay #3 Due Friday before

noon 0 Read A World of Ideas: Plato's

"Allegory of the Cave" (443-453)

0 Post #29 Questions (TBD) for Critical Reading: (pages 453-54)