07 Jul Reading Response to Pages 22-32 of Plato’s Apology
This assignment is to read pages 22-32 of Plato’s Apology, (the pages are attached) and answer questions with a strong focus on explaining why it matters or is significant to us. In other words, every question is actually asking What is Aristotle trying to tell us?
Please see the document labeled Sample so you understand what the assignment calls for and the level of writing I need it to be at. My instructor is a difficult grader so please do not bid on the assignment unless you can deliver the same level of quality.
Aside from the last question, each of your answers should be supported by a quote that is 120 characters or less. After stating the quote, it needs to be explained. So the response to each questions should be in the form of:
- Response (answer but much more focus on why it matters to us)
- Short quote (to back up your response)
- Explanation of the quote
Here are the questions. I have also attached them as a word document.
Reading Response A 1.1: Apology, (pages 22-32)
Reading Questions
1. Who are Socrates first accusers? Support your answer with passages from the text.
2. In your own words explain what Socrates first accusers are accusing him of.
3. What does Socrates do in response to hearing the news from the Oracle at Delphi? (See Page 26)
4. What do the poets and writers lack, according to Socrates that prevents them from being wise?
5. Does Socrates questioning of Euthyphro in the previous dialogue (i.e. Euthyphro) support the claims he is making here? Support your answer by appealing to specific passages from the two texts.
6. Why does Socrates ask if the man exist who would rather be harmed than benefited by his associates?
7. In what way does Meletus believe that Socrates corrupts the young?
8. How does Socrates respond to this charge?
9. What evidence does the text provide to support Socrates contention that he believes in spiritual things?
The following are guidelines on how to answer the questions in the Reading Response:
You should view these questions not as questions being asked by an instructor who already has the correct answer in mind but rather as questions being asked by someone who has read the texts and is still trying to figure out what is being said and WHY IT MATTERSthis means, for instance, that it will generally not be helpful to simply say in response to the question something on the order of what was literally said in the text since the person raising the question will have already encountered that and yet the question remains.
In one way or another then every question (REGARDLESS of how it is phrased) is attempting to get you to provide the questioner with some assistance in figuring out what is being said at that point, how it relates to other things in the text, WHY ANY OF IT IS SIGNIFICANT TO US, what it really means, etc. Put another way, and perhaps more simply, you should view each question as my attempt to ask you for your views concerning what so-and-so (the author, character, etc.) is really trying to tell us. THINK: WHY DOES THIS MATTER TO US? NOT why does this matter to the story. The point of asking what the author is trying to communicate is meant to highlight the presumption that the author is trying to say something that he deems to be significant.
It will not be satisfactory if you simply state our view. Rather, you should be prepared to say WHY you think that is what is being said or WHY we think its significance is thus and such. Absent any capacity on our part to say why we think that is the right thing to say about the text our conversation cannot progress beyond the mere stating of our opinions. Consequently, you should explain why you think your view of the text is justified.
