Philosophy Project

As you continue your work on Seneca and Cicero, I want to give you the guidelines for a project that is due Wednesday, October 6.

Part I: Poster

Each of you must pick one school of philosophy...Stoics, Epicureans, or Academics...and create a poster explaining what they were all about. Each of you should pick a different school, so decide among yourselves who will do what. The poster should have a combination of graphics and text according to the rules for posters at state convention. These will be displayed in the hall outside our classroom, and if you go to state, you can enter your poster in the art contest.

Part II: Paper

The paper is a more in-depth survey of your chosen school of philosophy. It should include famous philosophers and works associated with that school. It must also include a section in Latin, with translation, from either Lucretius, Seneca, or Cicero and a discussion of how that passage illustrates your chosen school of thought.

If you have questions, please ask or post here.

De Rerum Natura

I thought it was very interesting the way he described and used many examples to describe what you cannot see with the naked eye. The fact that he was accurately able to understand some of the basic principles of atoms is amazing especially without any experiments or technology.This piece was very challenging becuase everything was so abstract. There were many pronouns and a lot adjectives and particples. It was hard to find what they modified.
Compared to the Aeneid, they both used comparisons that are found in nature and that anyone would be able to understand. However Virgil used mostly concrete diction that created a picture in the minds eye while Carus used abstract diction and that pushed your mind to be open in order to explore what he was talking about. Virgil used alot of figurative language as well as many constructions and phrases. This was due to the need to create a time line for the story. Since there was no real time line to De Rerum Natura, it was difficult to see where Carus was going with what he was saying. This made it especially difficult to translate.

New Texts, etc.

When you are finished with the Lucretius projects...posting on the blog and the paper...you will move to the next two authors, Seneca and Cicero. You will find your Seneca text here and your Cicero text here. Begin reading the Seneca, which is actually in the form of letters to his friend Lucilius, then move on to the Cicero. After you have gotten started, I will have some guiding questions posted here. Just to let you know, this will culminate in a paper/poster project.

On another note, be sure to check my comments to your posts.