“The Politics of Fear” Reading Questions – Due Thursday 9/20 – Eta and Theta Blocks Due Friday 9/21 – Zeta and Epsilon Blocks
Please answer each of the following questions in 5-7 thoughtful sentences.
1. When reading Hobbes and Machiavelli, we discussed as a class how the following strategies helped in getting through Hobbes. While you read, “The Politics of Fear” by Al Gore, choose 1-2 strategies you will use to get through his reading. Explain in 3-5 sentences how you think the strategies will help you get through the reading.
•look up definitions of words
•make a personal connection
•take up to a 5 minute break from the text
•highlight places to focus
•talking to the text to process the main points in your mind
•re-read out loud because some of us remember better reading out loud
•read it slow: take your time, be patient
•skip over adjectives and adverbs, and focus on nouns and verbs - decode the sentence
•don't over-analyze each word, look at the sentence as a whole
•recap in your head what was read or what's happening
•ask another person to read it to you
2. Why does Al Gore say that “[f]ear is the most powerful enemy of reason?
3. According to this chapter, what was supposed to be the function of the press? How is working now according to Al Gore?
4. Al Gore mentions the use of a new technology FMRI, according to his writings, what are the implications for democracy?
5. What mental structures do we have as human beings which dominate our decision making according to new research?
6. Describe the process of how fear operates in our brain. What is the significance of the amygdala?
7. What is vicarious traumatization?
8. According to Al Gore, how is television a vital link in creating fear in our culture?
9. What is probability neglect?
10. According to Al Gore, how has the current Bush administration used fear for their own ends?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Blog #5 - "The Origin of Life and Fire"
“The Origin of Life and Fire” Reading Questions
Due Wednesday 9/12/07 All Blocks!
After reading the myth “The Origin of Life and Fire”, please answer the following questions in 5-7 awesomely crafted, carefully thought out sentences:
1.How does this creation myth reflect the people to whom in belongs?
2.What is the nature of Bumba and the universe he creates?
3.How does this myth view human beings and their purpose?
4.When Bumba visits each village and speaks of the wonders that he has created, what does this reveal?
Due Wednesday 9/12/07 All Blocks!
After reading the myth “The Origin of Life and Fire”, please answer the following questions in 5-7 awesomely crafted, carefully thought out sentences:
1.How does this creation myth reflect the people to whom in belongs?
2.What is the nature of Bumba and the universe he creates?
3.How does this myth view human beings and their purpose?
4.When Bumba visits each village and speaks of the wonders that he has created, what does this reveal?
Monday, September 3, 2007
Blog #4 - Machiavelli Reading
Machiavelli Reading
Eta and Theta – Due Monday 9/11/07
Zeta and Epsilon – Due Tuesday 9/12/07
1) Make a list of vocabulary words you did not know from this reading. Write the definitions in your own words, and make a sentence of those words showing you understand the meaning.
2)Summarize the reading in no less than 250 words (about a page hand-written). Highlight what you think are the main points. Make an attempt to define the purpose of Machiavelli’s writing.
3)In 5-7 sentences, describe the difficulties you had with this reading.
Eta and Theta – Due Monday 9/11/07
Zeta and Epsilon – Due Tuesday 9/12/07
1) Make a list of vocabulary words you did not know from this reading. Write the definitions in your own words, and make a sentence of those words showing you understand the meaning.
2)Summarize the reading in no less than 250 words (about a page hand-written). Highlight what you think are the main points. Make an attempt to define the purpose of Machiavelli’s writing.
3)In 5-7 sentences, describe the difficulties you had with this reading.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Blog #3 - Plato/Hobbes Reading Strategy Questions
Plato/Hobbes Reading Strategies Homework – Due Tuesday 9/4/07 for Eta and Theta Blocks. Due Friday 9/5/07 for Epsilon and Zeta Blocks.
Please answer the following questions thoughtfully as it will help me gauge your perspective on the readings we will have for class and determine future readings for the class.
1.What difficulties do you think you will face in reading the excerpts from both Plato’s The Republic and Hobbes’ Leviathan?
2.What are some reading strategies that you know that would help you overcome these difficulties?
3.Make a list of the words that you did not recognize. Look up the definitions in a dictionary and write the definitions out in your own words.
4.Write 5-7 sentences summarizing the readings from both Plato and Hobbes (don’t worry about being right or wrong, take a guess, these readings are on the difficult side).
Please answer the following questions thoughtfully as it will help me gauge your perspective on the readings we will have for class and determine future readings for the class.
1.What difficulties do you think you will face in reading the excerpts from both Plato’s The Republic and Hobbes’ Leviathan?
2.What are some reading strategies that you know that would help you overcome these difficulties?
3.Make a list of the words that you did not recognize. Look up the definitions in a dictionary and write the definitions out in your own words.
4.Write 5-7 sentences summarizing the readings from both Plato and Hobbes (don’t worry about being right or wrong, take a guess, these readings are on the difficult side).
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Blog #2 - Poor Sailor/The Giving Tree
In no less than one-page (250 words), write about the similarities and differences in the worlds of The Giving Tree and “The Poor Sailor”.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Blog #1 - Doing the Right Thing and Aesop's Fables
Please answer each question in 3-5 thoughtful sentences. I am not asking you to write an essay, but the more thoughtful your writing, the more interesting the class becomes.
1. In the fable, “The Fisherman Who Beat the Water”, what do you think motivated him to cast the nets and dam the river?
2. Aesop states that the moral to this fable is, “It is like this in a city-state; the demagogues thrive by throwing the state into discord”. What does the word demagogue mean (look it up in a dictionary if you have to)? And in your own words, describe what you think this means. What does this moral say about human beings?
3. Refer back to the article we read, “Is doing the right thing hard-wired?” and look at the scenarios of the runaway trolley and the healthy person who would have to be killed in order save five others. How would the Fisherman have responded to both questions? Explain your answer thoughtfully.
4. In the fable, “The Fox and the Woodcutter”, describe in your own words the human behavior(s) Aesop is exemplifying.
5. Has a situation similar to the one depicted in “The Fox and the Woodcutter” ever happened to you? Please explain and focus on your emotional response to the situation you describe.
6. The article “Is doing the right thing hard-wired?” explains that the rarest form of cooperation is reciprocity. How was this fable an example of this idea?
1. In the fable, “The Fisherman Who Beat the Water”, what do you think motivated him to cast the nets and dam the river?
2. Aesop states that the moral to this fable is, “It is like this in a city-state; the demagogues thrive by throwing the state into discord”. What does the word demagogue mean (look it up in a dictionary if you have to)? And in your own words, describe what you think this means. What does this moral say about human beings?
3. Refer back to the article we read, “Is doing the right thing hard-wired?” and look at the scenarios of the runaway trolley and the healthy person who would have to be killed in order save five others. How would the Fisherman have responded to both questions? Explain your answer thoughtfully.
4. In the fable, “The Fox and the Woodcutter”, describe in your own words the human behavior(s) Aesop is exemplifying.
5. Has a situation similar to the one depicted in “The Fox and the Woodcutter” ever happened to you? Please explain and focus on your emotional response to the situation you describe.
6. The article “Is doing the right thing hard-wired?” explains that the rarest form of cooperation is reciprocity. How was this fable an example of this idea?
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