1. AGENDA: 10/8/2013 Vocabulary Redemption Round
E.Q.: •How does Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” thematically reinforce the dangers of pursuing knowledge?
Vocabulary Redemption Round
Finish “The Sieve and the Sand” Jigsaw and Discussion
Allegory Notes
Read Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and role-play!
Matrix film clip and discussion

2. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
Plato wrote down many of the oral lessons (dialectical, anyone?!?!) his mentor, Socrates taught him. He, along with his predecessor and successor are known for laying the foundations of Western thought and science.
Socrates Plato Aristotle
Setting: Ancient Greece
The story is a dialogue between Socrates, the storyteller in the narrative, and Glaucon, a Sophist (wise man). The characters are talking about the human situation in general, that is, whether the Athenian citizens are indeed as enlightened as they think they are.

3. Allegory: a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor
Life in the Cave
The Real World
a comparison of…
Ideas
Reality
Illusions
Forms
Outside World
Shadows

4. Plato’s Cave

5. Plato’s Conclusions
1. Perception is skewed. The world revealed by our senses is not the real world but only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can only be apprehended intellectually.
2. Education’s purpose is to elevate us from false appearances (self-deception), to things as they are (reality), to things as they may ideally be (ideas). Pursuing knowledge is intended to lift us from the earthly/concrete reality to the spiritual/intellectual.
"I don't talk things, sir," said Faber. "I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I'm alive."

6. Connect to Plato to Bradbury!
Shackles/chains
Shadows
Fire
Sunlight
Persons who view the shadows
Persons who leave the cave
Persons who return to the cave
Persons who make the shadows
Parlor (for Mildred)
connection
Choose 2 of the details from the list on the left and creatively think of its counterpart in Fahrenheit 451. Please explain your connection in 3-4 sentences.