HUMAN 105H, Winter, 20181st-Day Assignment

Dr. Harnett

Readings and Assignments Due on the First Day.

  1. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Purgatorio, Canto XXVII. [on the table of contents page, select Purgatorio Canto XXVII:1-45 The Angel of Chastity, then scroll down to read each of the following sections in the entire canto.]

Assignment: Select 1 quotation from each of the sections of this translation: 1-45, 46-93, 94-114, and 115-142, which will constitute your Facts of the canto (Facts: What it says). Then, for each Fact, write Insights showing your reactions, interpretations, analytical points, connections to experiences you have had or your body of prior knowledge, in a brief paragraph (Insights: What you think about what it says). Follow the format of this table:

Dante, Purgatorio, Canto XXVII / Facts / Insights
1-45
46-93
94-114
115-142
  1. Teodolinda Barolini, "Purgatorio 27 : Remember, Remember!."

Assignment: Read this analytical commentary of Canto 27 and write 3 Facts of main ideas and/or examples, in the form of direct quotations or paraphrases. Then write corresponding Insights in the form of brief paragraphs.

Facts / Insights
  1. Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave” Read the Allegory through this line (you don’t need to read past that point, though you may):

“The process, I said, is not the turning over of an oyster-shell, but the turning round of a soul passing from a day which is little better than night to the true day of being, that is, the ascent from below, which we affirm to be true philosophy?”

Also: an explanation and drawing of the caveat are available online when you search Plato Allegory of the Cave).

Assignment: What does each of these things in the Allegory symbolize, according to Socrates (via Plato)? (A symbol is an object that stands for something else, as a wedding ring stands for eternal love, for example.) Identify each symbol (#1-5 below) as concisely as possible, and complete the remaining items (#6-8) with the most accurate information and plausible interpretations possible. Complete this part of the assignment in the Facts column of the chart below. Most of these Facts come from direct references to the reading. Then, write your Insights about each Fact: connections you draw, things that the item calls to mind, commentary you have, or other relevant ideas that show your thinking on the topic.

Facts / Insights
  1. cave/den

  1. fire

  1. shadows

  1. sun

  1. prisoners

  1. According to Socrates, the prisoners escape into daylight to become enlightened, and then they must go back down into the cave, because______.

  1. Identify and analyze one example of these kinds of insights that Socrates leads Glaucon to derive:

  1. Intellectual insight

  1. Moral insight

  1. What mainpoint does “The Allegory of the Cave” make?