PREPARING FOR SEMINAR Mayo Reading - Reading for College

NAME: DATE: HOUR:

One type of instructional format you may encounter in college is the seminar, sometimes referred to as a Socratic or Paideia Seminar. These seminars are conversations or discussions conducted in an orderly manner by a moderator who may be a student or the instructor. These discussions focus on books or specific topics supported by reading material. The objective is to discuss the material in depth, to search for new ideas in the material, and to clarify thinking about the material and its themes.

You will be asked to respond to a variety of questions. You will ask questions and follow up on others’ responses and comments. You will also be evaluated on your ability to respond to the text and to the discussion.

SEMINAR PARTICIPATION RULES

1. Be prepared. This means reading the assigned material VERY CAREFULLY once and then rereading it while highlighting key points and annotating the margins. You will then need to read a third time to generate good questions over critical points in the text.

2. Sit in a circle so that participants can face one another while talking.

3. Be courteous. No put-downs or sarcasm.

4. Listen to one another. Don't interrupt. Allow the speaker to finish his/her thoughts.

5. Speak when no one else is talking.

6. Support statements with references from the text.

Since seminar participation depends upon careful reading and thinking about the text, some instructors provide a reading guide or require that you pass a quiz on the text as evidence of your preparation. You will be expected to examine the text in depth for different points of view, logic, and reasoning. You will also be expected to focus on timeless, universal questions involving material that is often very challenging to read. On some questions, the facilitator may ask for a "round robin" or a "hot seat" in which every person is required to respond. Examples of typical questions are given below.

If you are uncertain as to how the instructor expects you to prepare for a seminar, ask if he/she has any guidelines or examples you could review or whether there are other, more experienced seminar students whom you could consult.

Remember that preparing for a seminar will require considerable more time than the actual discussion itself, and that you may be evaluated on the quality of your preparation as reflected by your questions and answers.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP OF SEMINARSIf you are expected to lead the seminar, you will need to read very carefully and prepare good, thoughtful questions, but you will also have to encourage students to follow the rules above. Your goals as a group leader or facilitator are to:

* help participants to think more critically and clearly.* speak more articulately.* listen better.* read better.* assist participants in taking responsibility for their own learning.* include all group members.* re-focus the discussion on the main topics as needed.* clarify conflict so that all can see the differences.

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* be open to questions and issues raised.* be open to several different perspectives.* ask one or two skilled participants to evaluate your facilitation of the group and make suggestions for future improvement.

PREPARING QUESTIONSThe instructor may expect each participant to take a turn preparing additional questions and leading the seminar. You may be expected to create several questions for each of the types listed below.

1. Closed questions are questions that everyone would be able to answer.

2. Key questions address important information (facts) from the text.

3. Clarifying questions invite elaboration to refine an area that is vague or unclear.

4. Open questions are designed to survey opinions supported by facts or emotions.

5. Core questions ask what the central message or main point of the text is.

6. Confrontation or contradiction questions challenge logical validity or inconsistency in the text.

7. Hypothetical or divergent questions allow for creative and imaginativeanswers, but need to be kept focused.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD QUESTIONS

1. A good question demonstrates genuine curiosity and a desire to know.

2. A good question clarifies thinking for participants.

3. A good questions challenges existing thinking and encourages reflection.

4. A good question is part of an ongoing discussion. It has reason, focus, and clarity.

TYPICAL SEMINAR QUESTIONSWhat is the main theme? Who are the main characters? Support your answer.

What is meant by ?

Where in the text does it say ?

How would your rank the importance of with ?

Why does ‘s opinion compare to ‘s?

Is this issue/fact presented consistently in the text? Explain.

How do your support your position? Refer to the text for support.

Do you agree or disagree with ? Refer to the text for support of that position.

How does this author’s opinion differ from ?

Is this true or false? Explain.

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Literal

Inferential

Critical/Evaluative

CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTIVE LISTENERS

1. Active listeners are genuinely interested in a reply and are willing to let it change them in some way.

2. Active listeners strive to accurately understand the speaker's message before making any

responses or personal judgments.

3. Active listeners wait for complete answers.

4. Active listeners try to look at the question through the viewpoints of the other speakers.

5. Active listeners are aware of their own points of logical vulnerability (issues in which they have such a high level of emotional involvement that they are unable to be objective), and keep them in mind when they are listening to others present view with which they may not agree.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THOUGHTFUL ANSWERS

1. Thoughtful answers move the exploration on to a new stage.

2. Thoughtful answers can raise the exploration to a higher intellectual and emotional level.

3. Thoughtful answers show respect for the questions.

4. Thoughtful answers may appear hesitant or questioning.

5. Thoughtful answers depend upon the care with which the questions are constructed and whether the participants are actively listening.

SEMINAR FOLLOW-UPFrequently instructors will assign follow-up activities or assignments for a seminar. These may involve synthesizing your thoughts and reactions to the seminar, writing about your reactions to the seminar, or evaluating your own and the group's participation and learning.

Janice Vortman Smith

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From Civil Disobedienceby Henry David Thoreau

I heartily accept the motto, – “ That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe,- “That government is best which governs not at all” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at least be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing governments as their tool1; for in the outset the people would not have consented to this measure.

This American government—what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of it’s integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they will have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we all must allow. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the west. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that had been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. For the government is an expedient by which men would fain succeed in letting one another alone; and, as has been said, when it is most expedient, the governed are most let alone by it. Trade and commerce, if

they were not made of India-rubber, would never manage to bounce over the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and, if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put obstructions on the railroads.

But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.

After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest. But a government in which majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it. Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?—in which majorities decide only those questions to which rule of expediency is acceptable? Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience, then? I think that we should be men, first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is do at any time what I think right....

It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives no longer, not to give it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man’s shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplation too. See what a gross inconsistency is tolerated. I have heard some of my townsmen say, “I should like to have them order me out to help put down an insurrection of the slaves, or to march to Mexico—see if I would go”; and yet these very men have each, directly by their money, furnished a substitute. The soldier is

1 Mexican War ... tool. The Mexican War (1846-1848) ended with the United States taking half of Mexico, which became the Southwestern states. Northern abolitionists blamed the war on the desire of Southern planters and Northern merchants to enlarge slave territory.

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applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war; is applauded by those whose own act and authority he disregards and sets at naught; as if the state were penitent to that degree that it hired one to scourge it while it sinned, but not to that degree that it left off sinning for a moment. Thus, under the name of Order and Civil Government, we are all made at last to pay homage to and support our own meanness. After the first blush of sin comes it’s indifference; and from immoral it becomes, as it were, unmoral, and not quite unnecessary to that life which we have made....

If the injustice is a part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth—certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.

As for adopting the ways which the state has provided for remedying the evil, I know not of such ways. They take too much time, and a man’s life will be gone. I have other affairs to attend to. I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad. A man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary that he should do something wrong. It is not my business to be petitioning the Governor or the Legislature any more than theirs to petition me; and if they should not hear my petition, what should I do then? But in this case the state has provided no way: its very Constitution is the evil. This may seem to be harsh and stubborn and unconciliatory; but it is to treat with the utmost kindness and consideration the only sprit that can appreciate or deserves it. So is all change for the better, like birth and death, which convulse the body.

I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait till they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. I think that it is enough if

they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.

I meet this American government, or its representative, the state government, directly, and face to face, once a year—no more—in the person of its tax-gatherer; this is the mode in which a man situated as I am necessarily meets it; and it then says distinctly, Recognize me; and the simplest, the most effectual, and, in the present posture of affairs, the indispensablest mode of treating with it on this head, of expressing your little satisfaction with love for it is to deny it then. My civil neighbor, the tax-gatherer, is the very man I have to deal with, for it is, after all, with men and not with parchment that I quarrel—and he has voluntarily chosen to be an agent of the government. How shall he ever know well what he is and does as an officer of the government, or as a man, until he is obliged to consider whether he shall treat me, his neighbor, for whom he has respect, as a neighbor and well-disposed man, or as a maniac and disturber of the peace, and see if he can get over this obstruction to his neighborliness without a ruder and more impetuous thought or speech corresponding with his action. I know this well, if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name—if ten honest men only—ay, if one HONEST man, in this state of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever......

I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of a solid stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of the insinuation which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. I wondered that it should have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put me to, and had never thought to avail itself of my devices in some way. I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through before they could get to be as free as I was. I did not for a moment feel confined, and

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the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar. I felt as if I alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax. They plainly did not know how to treat me, but behaved like persons no are underbred. In every threat and in every compliment there was a blunder; for they thought that my chief desire was to stand the other side of that stone wall. I could not but smile to see how industriously they locked the door on my meditations which followed them out again without let or hindrance, and they were really all that dangerous. As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at some person against whom they have aspite, will abuse a dog. I saw that the State was half- witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect for it and pitied it.....

When I came out of prison—for someone interfered, and paid that tax2—I did not perceive that great changes had taken place on the common, such as he observed who went in a youth and emerged a tottering and gray-headed man; and yet a change had to my eyes come over the scene—the town, and state, and country—greater than any that mere time could effect. I saw yet more distinctly the State in which I lived. I saw to what extent the people among whom I thought could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right; that they were a distinct race from me by their prejudices and superstitions, as the Chinaman and Malays are; that in their sacrifices to humanity they ran no risks, not even to their property; that after all they were not so noble but they treated the thief as he had treated them, and hoped, by certain outward observance and a few prayers, and by walking in a particular straight though useless path from time to time, to save their souls. This may be to judge my neighbors harshly; for I believe that many of them are not aware that they have such an institution as the jail in their village.....

If others pay the tax which is determined of me, from a sympathy with the State, they do but what they have already done in their own case, or rather they abet injustice to a greater extent than the State requires. If they pay the tax from a mistaken interest in the individual taxed, to save his property, or prevent his going to jail, it is because they have not considered wisely how far they let their private feelings interfere with the public good....

The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submit to—for I will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better then I, and in many things even those who neither know nor can do so well—is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I conceded to it. The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy, to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual. Even the Chinese philosopher3 was wise enough to regard the individual as the basis of the empire. Is a democracy, such as we knowing it, the last improvement possible in government? it is not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of a man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize and individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myself with imaging a State at last which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellowmen. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect, an glorious State, which also I have imaged, but not yet anywhere seen.

Critical Reading – Seminar: Gandhi

from The Words of Gandhi – "Nonviolence" Such being the hold that the doctrine of the sword has on the majority of mankind, and

2 someone ... tax. According to legend, Ralph Waldo Emerson paid the tax, but according to Thoreau family reminiscences, it was paid by Thoreau’s Aunt Maria.3 Chinese philosopher. Confucius (?551-478 BCE) whose ethical teachings emphasize dutiful obedience by individuals to their parents, elders, and the state.

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as success of non-cooperation depends principally on absence of violence during its pendancy, and as my views in this matter affect the conduct of a large number of people, I am anxious to state them as clearly as possible.

I do believe that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence. Hence it was that I took part in the Boer War4, the so-called Zulu rebellion 5 and the late War. Hence also do I advocate training in arms for those who believe in the method of violence. I would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honor than that she should in a cowardly manner become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonor.

But I believe that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment. "Forgiveness adorns a soldier." But abstinence is forgiveness only when there is the power to punish; it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature. A mouse hardly forgives a cat when it allows itself to be torn to pieces by her. I, therefore, appreciate the sentiment of those who cry out for the condign punishment of General Dyer6 and his ilk. They would tear him to pieces if they could. But I do not believe India to be helpless. I do not believe myself to be a helpless creature. Only I want to use India's and my strength for a better purpose.

Let me not be misunderstood. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. An average Zulu is any day more than a match for an average Englishman in bodily capacity. But he flees from an English boy, because he fears the boy's revolver or those who will use it for him. He fears death and loses his nerve in spite of his burly figure. We in India may in a moment realize that one hundred thousand Englishmen need not frighten

three hundred million human beings. A definite forgiveness would therefore mean a definite recognition of our strength. With enlightened forgiveness must come a mighty wave of strength in us, which would make it impossible for a Dyer and a Frank Johnson to heap affront upon India's devoted head. It matters little to me that for the moment I do not drive my point home. We feel too downtrodden not to be angry and revengeful. But I must not refrain from saying that India can gain more by waiving the right of punishment. We have better work to do, a better mission to deliver to the world.

I am not a visionary. I claim to be a practical idealist. The religion of nonviolence is not meant merely for the rishis and saints. It is meant for the common people as well. Nonviolence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute and he knows that no law but that of physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law -- to the strength of the spirit.

I have therefore ventured to place before India the ancient law of self-sacrifice. For Satyagraha and its offshoots, non-cooperation and civil resistance are nothing but new names for the law of suffering. The rishis who discovered the law of nonviolence in the midst of violence were greater geniuses than Newton. They were themselves greater warriors than Wellington. Although knowledgeable in the use of arms, they realized their uselessness and taught a weary world that its salvation lay not through violence but through nonviolence.

Nonviolence in its dynamic condition means conscious suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will of the evildoer, but it means the pitting of one's whole soul against the will of the tyrant. Working under this law of our being, it is possible for a single individual to defy the whole might of an unjust empire to save his honor, his religion, his soul and lay the foundation for that empire's fall or its regeneration.

And so I am not pleading for India to practice nonviolence because she is weak. I want her to

4Boer War - War in South Africa, 1899-1902, in which Great Britain defeated the settlers of Dutch ancestry (Boers).5 Zulu rebellion - Clash in 1904 in the South African province of Natal between Zulu tribesmen and the white

government. Gandhi led an ambulance corps for the British.6Dyer, Brigadier General Reginald E. - British officer responsible for the massacre of Indian civilians in Amritsar, 1919.

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practice nonviolence being conscious of her strength and power. No training in arms is required for realization of her strength. We seem to need it because we seem to think that we are but a lump of flesh. I want India to recognize that she has a soul that cannot perish and that can rise triumphant above every physical weakness and defy the physical combination of a whole world. What is the meaning of Rama,7a mere human being, with his host of monkeys, pitting himself against the insolent strength of ten-headed Ravana8 surrounded in supposed safety by the raging waters on all sides of Lanka? Does it not mean the conquest of physical might by spiritual strength? However, being a practical man, I do not wait till India recognizes the practicability of the spiritual life in the political world. India considers herself to be powerless and paralyzed before the machine guns, the tanks and the airplanes of the English. And she takes up non-cooperation out of her weakness. It must still serve the same purpose, namely, bring her delivery from the crushing weight of British injustice if sufficient number of people practice it.

I isolate this non-cooperation from Sinn Feinism,9 for it is so conceived as to be incapable of being offered side by side with violence. But I invite even the school of violence to give this peaceful non-cooperation a trial. It will not fail through its inherent weakness. It may fail because of poverty of response. Then will be the time for real danger. The high-souled men, who are unable to suffer national humiliation any longer, will want to vent their wrath. They will take to violence. So far as I know, they must perish without delivering themselves or their country from the wrong. If India takes up the doctrine of the sword, she may gain momentary victory. Then India will cease to be the pride of my heart. I am wedded to India because I owe my all to her. I believe absolutely that she has a mission for the world. She is not to copy Europe blindly. India's acceptance of the doctrine of the sword will be the hour of my trial. I hope I shall not be found wanting. My religion has no geographical limits. If I have a living faith in it, it will transcend my love for India herself. My

life is dedicated to service of India through the religion of nonviolence which I believe to be the root of Hinduism.

Meanwhile I urge those who distrust me, not to distrust the even working of the struggle that has just commenced, by inciting to violence in the belief that I want violence. I detest secrecy as a sin. Let them give nonviolent non-cooperation a trial and they will find that I had no mental reservation whatsoever.

The force of nonviolence is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than the material forces of nature, like electricity.

7Rama - Any of the three avatars (incarnations) of the Hindu god Vishnu: Balarama, Parashurama, or Ramachandra.8 Ravana - In the Hindu epic Ramayana, the King of Sri Lanka who abducts Sita, the wife of Ramachandra and is later

defeated by him.9Sinn Feinism - Irish nationalist organization, founded in 1905, advocating complete political separation from Britain.

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Critical Reading - Seminar

Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the height of the period of vigorous racial protest in the late 1950's and early 1960's, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama. The charge: "parading without a permit." In the following excerpt, King defends his conduct. It was not only justified, he says, but obligatory. At one point in the long essay, King confronts the central issue of whether it is ever right willfully to break the law. He thinks it is. Here is why:

"Letter from Birmingham Jail" April 16, 1963

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false

sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I-it" relationship for an "I-thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound; it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up the state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance

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which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. was hauled off to jail in the aftermath of the Birmingham confrontation with Public Safety Commissioner "Bull" Connor and municipal authorities. Beatings, hosings, and the unleashing of vicious dogs could not deter thousands of demonstrating Negroes from risking serious injury, even death, in peaceful parades into the heart of downtown Birmingham. When King was criticized by a group of white clergymen who blamed him for precipitating the violence, he penned a subdued, but passionate, letter of reply to his colleagues, smuggling it out on toilet tissue, the margins of newspapers, indeed any scrap of paper available to him. Excerpts of the letter indicate more than just extreme despair and anxiety; they offer eloquent testimony to the flaming moral concern for oppressed humanity which was King's legacy to his fellow Americans.

Excerpt 2: "Letter From Birmingham Jail" April 1963

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say "wait."

But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted in you and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that "Funtown" is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored," when your first name becomes "nigger" and your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodyness" -- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.

In your statement you asserted that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. Isn't this like

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condemning the robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical delvings precipitated the misguided popular mind to make him drink the hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of the Crucifixion?

The question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice -- or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified for the same crime -- the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an

extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. So, after all, maybe the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. For more than two centuries, our foreparents labored in this country without wages; they made cotton "king," and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of brutal injustice and shameful humiliation -- and yet out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

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Seminar RubricMayo Reading

Name: Date: Hour:

Individual PreparationArticle HUG'd

• H• U• G

12 pts

4 - Thorough3 - Good2 - Adequate1 - Skimpy0 - Incomplete

Questions2 - Excellent1 - Adequate0 - No Credit

18 Pts.

Finished on time Literal/Inferential/Critical

Completed 14 per article Answers glossed in text

2 of each type per article Neat/Legible

Worth asking Topic = POV/Logic/Reasoning

Thoughtful/Thought provoking

Group ParticipationActive Listener

2 - Excellent1 - Adequate0 - No Credit

3 Pts.

Leans Forward

Maintains eye contact

Materials out and finished

Active Participant2 - Excellent1 - Adequate0 - No Credit

30 Pts.

asks Q's speaks when others don't

answers Q's makes notes during discuss

expand Q's & A's makes thoughtful responses

clarifies Q's & A's shows genuine curiosity

supports ideas from text uses prior knowledge

challenges existing thinking accepts others' viewpoints

makes analogies other:

Polite2 - Excellent1 - Adequate0 - No Credit

4 Pts.

no put downs

respectful

challenges idea, not person

does not interrupt

Leadership2 - Excellent1 - Adequate0 - No Credit

3 Pts.

keeps discussion moving and on task

involves all members of group

adequately prepared to lead

Total Points /70

WRITING SUMMARIES

Précis Abstract Synopsis

SIMILARITIES1. Require thorough reading of the original2. Require the locating of major ideas3. Reduce the volume from the original4. Follow the organizational pattern of the original5. Are useful study strategies

DIFFERENCES:With regard to: Précis Abstract Synopsis

use of words from the original

key words only -- rest in own words

entire phrases or sentences from original may be used

use own words throughout

length 1/3 of original one to two paragraphs one to two paragraphs

use of main ideas all main ideas important main ideas selected main ideas

where usually found textbooks, study guides at the beginning of professional articles and scientific reports

in review of literary works

objectivity very objective very objective personal style and selection presented subjectively

*A fourth type of summary is the PARAPHRASE, generally used in analysis of literature, especially poetry. In a paraphrase, you restate each of the author’s ideas in your own words. A paraphrase is often longer than the original.

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Writing a Précis, Abstract, and SynopsisMayo Reading

Name: Date: Hour:

The best test of how well you understand something you've read is whether you can write in your own words an accurate summary of the important ideas. Adding summary writing to your study routine can increase your ability to understand what you have read. Four popular forms of summary writing are the précis, abstract, synopsis, and paraphrase.

THE PRÉCISA précis (pronounced pray-see) is a kind of summary. The purpose of a précis is to provide a shortened version of a piece of writing. You may be asked to write a précis to show that you have read and understood chapters or passages. You may be asked to write a précis to present concisely the results of your research in a special project. You may write a précis for your own benefit, as a kind of note-taking.

A précis, then, is a short restatement of the main points of a piece of writing. A précis of one page may well summarize the points presented in twenty-five pages of carefully supported detail. Similarly a précis of a hundred words may restate what an author explains in three pages. Finally, a précis of a single sentence may summarize a paragraph or two.

Characteristics: A précis usually• omits details, illustrations, and subordinate ideas, presenting instead the major ideas,• reduces the original passage by at least two-thirds,• indicates careful reading of the original passage,• portrays the original author's concept accurately, without adding personal bias,• follows the guidelines of standard grammar, usage, and mechanics -- using strong, effective sentence

structure.

Step 1: Read the MaterialRead the passage quickly to grasp the general idea and purpose. Look up any unfamiliar words or references. Read the passage again, more slowly, to detect details as they relate to the main points. Jot down the main ideas in your own words. Finally, reread the original passage, comparing your skeleton outline with the text. Revise as necessary to maintain accuracy or to correct omissions.

Step 2: Prepare the PrécisWithout returning to the original, write the summary in your own words, following the skeleton outline developed in Step 1 above. Use the following guidelines as you write:

• Organize your précis the same way as the original passage.• Include only the bare essentials. If the original passage is well-organized, you should be able to

select a single main idea from each paragraph.• Be sure, however, to include all the main points from the original passage, perhaps even using the

passage's key words. The expression key words refers to terms or expressions unique to the subject. Take pains to avoid plagiarism.

• Stick to essential information -- names, dates, times, places, and similar facts are usually essential data; examples, detailed data, and adjectives usually are not.

Step 3: Check the ContentOnce you have completed your précis, ask yourself the following questions:

• Have I reduced the content by at least two-thirds?• In the process of reducing volume, have I presented the main ideas, all the essentials?• Have I omitted nonessential details and information?• Does the précis honestly reflect the original passage, or have my own biases crept in?

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• Have I avoided plagiarism?• Have I written simply and clearly, with unadorned vocabulary?• When the reader finishes the précis, will he or she understand the intent of the original work?

If you answer "no" to any of the above questions, revise the précis to solve the problems suggested.

Step 4: Check for AccuracyOnce you have completed the revisions in the content of the précis, check the final copy for misspellings, punctuation and grammar errors, usage problems, and mechanical inaccuracies.

Sample for ScienceIn a class on ecology, one student did research on insect control, seeking a means of controlling insect damage without upsetting nature's balance. She found useful information in the booklet, "Teaching Soil and Water Conservation," published by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Original PassageThe food habits of birds make them especially valuable to agriculture. Because birds have higher body

temperatures, more rapid digestion, and greater energy than most other animals, they require more food. Nestling birds make extremely rapid growth, requiring amounts of food. They usually consume as much or more than their own weight in soft-bodied insects every day.

Young robins have been observed to gain 8 times their original weight in the first 8 days of their life. Insect eating birds must fill their stomachs 5 to 6 times daily because they digest their food so fast and because of the large amount of indigestible materials in insects. One young robin, weighing 3 ounces, consumed 165 cutworms weighing 5 1/2 ounces in 1 day. If a 10-pound baby ate at the same rate, he would eat 18 1/3 pounds of food in a day.

Of course, birds cannot control insects completely, but they are of great value. By suing soil- and water-conserving practices, farmers and ranchers could probably double the population of helpful birds. Field and farmstead windbreaks, living fences, shrub buffers, grass waterways, and farm ponds are only a few of the many land-use practices useful in attracting and increasing beneficial forms of wildlife.

Précis

Because of their rapid metabolism, birds daily eat more than their own weight. Because insects are not fully digestible, insect-eating birds may eat nearly twice their weight in these pests. Residents can double the numbers of insect-eaters by providing coniferous trees, dense and thorny shrubs, and ponds to attract them to an area.

AnalysisThe précis is successful since it:--reduces the original passage from over 200 words to 55 words,--reduces eleven sentences to three,--eliminates supporting details,--changes scientific references (windbreaks becomes coniferous trees, living fences and shrub buffers become dense and thorny shrubs),--mirrors the content and emphasis of the original.

THE ABSTRACTThe abstract is a shortened form of a written selection using the important words of the selection itself and may be only a paragraph long. An abstract should have the same style and essential content as the original. Words and phrases are taken from the original and used as part of the abstract. There should be no attempt at originality. You simply select the important words and connect them into a shortened, readable version of the original selection.

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An abstract is often contained at the beginning of a professional journal article, and it serves two purposes. First it allows the reader to decide whether he should read the entire article. Second if the reader does not have time to read the entire article, the abstract will summarize the key

points of the article so the reader is at least informed of the current research information contained in the article.

OriginalThe human brain, once surrounded by myth and misconception, is no longer such a mystery. It is now

understood to be the supervisory center of the nervous system, and , as such, it controls all voluntary (eating and thinking and most involuntary behavior (blinking and breathing). The brain functions by receiving information from nerve cells which are located throughout the body. Recent research has provided a clear picture of exactly what happens when information first reaches the brain. It has been discovered that the cells in the cortex of the brain which receive the information are arranged in a regular pattern in columns. The columns are, in turn, arranged into a series of "hypercolumns." Each cell within each column has a specific responsibility to perceive and analyze certain kinds of incoming information. Within the columns, the analysis of this information follows a formal sequence. Eventually, the information is related to the higher centers of the brain where a complete picture is assembled. The brain then evaluates the information and either sends a return message to the muscles and glands or stores the information for later use. The return message travels through the body in the form of electrical and chemical signals via the billions of nerve cells (neurons). When the message reaches its destination, the muscles or glands respond with the appropriate reaction. With each additional experience, the brain is better able to analyze evaluate, and respond to the information it receives each day.

AbstractThe human brain controls all voluntary and most involuntary behavior. The brain functions by receiving information from nerve cells which are located throughout the body. The cells in the cortex of the brain which receive the information are arranged in columns; each cell within each column has a specific responsibility to perceive and analyze certain kinds of incoming information. After the information has been analyzed following a formal sequence, it is relayed to the higher centers of the brain where a complete picture is assembled. The brain then evaluates the information and either sends a return message to the muscles and glands or stores the information for later use.

THE SYNOPSISThe synopsis is a summary. The purpose of a summary is to provide a shortened version of a given piece of writing. Most frequently a synopsis is a multi-paragraph summary of a chapter, book, article, or drama. It makes no effort to address every idea. The reader understands that a synopsis is necessarily subjective because the writer must select the items to be included. Thus the synopsis reflects editorial bias.

Characteristics: A synopsis generally• selects main ideas, which, in the writer's opinion, best represent the original piece,• reflects the style of the current writer, as opposed to the author of the original,• gives sufficient details to clarify the main ideas,• is sufficient details to clarify the main ideas,• is sufficiently informative to aid further investigation,• has a reporter's objectivity.

Step 1: Read the MaterialQuickly read the original passage without taking notes. Look for repeated themes and the general treatment of ideas. If unfamiliar names are difficult for you, you may want to list them for later reference, noting correct spelling.

Once you've finished reading, jot down the three or four most important ideas. They will serve as the skeletal outline of your synopsis. Remember, you will not cover all the ideas in a synopsis.

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Step 2: Prepare the SynopsisBegin the synopsis by identifying in a single sentence the main idea of the original. Weave the title and author into an early (though not necessarily the first) sentence. Follow with a brief description of the main ideas.

Follow the organization of the original. Keep in mind that a synopsis will be short, maybe only a paragraph in length. Deal only with essentials.

Step 3: Improve the ContentYour synopsis will almost invariably be too long. Begin cutting. Omit needless details. Shorten sentences. Use strong nouns and verbs in order to omit modifiers. Keep cutting.

try this challenge: If you had to summarize the original in a single sentence, what would you say? If you could add one more sentence, what would you say? Follow this progression until you have stated all the important ideas.

Step 4: Check the DetailsOnce you have completed the revision, check for spelling, punctuation, grammar, mechanics, and usage.

Sample of Synopsis

The following synopsis summarizes a novel of nearly 550 pages.

The second book of a trilogy, The valley of the Horses fictionalizes the beginning of civilization in the Asian area north of the Beran Sea. Like Jean M. Auel's other two books, The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Mammoth Hunters, this one gets its foundation from archaeological research supporting the evolution of man. In this unusual historical novel, the reader follows Ayla, a child of the Others who has been reared by the Clan of the Cave Bear only to be ejected from the Clan when she violates customs she cannot understand or accept. In exile in the valley of horses, she survives five years alone until she meets Jondalar, a man of the Others.

Ayla faces a lonely struggle for survival after her death curse by the Clan. To solve basic survival problems, she must use logic: alone, how can she kill, butcher, and process an animal large enough to feed her through the sever winter; alone, how can she provide clothing, cooking utensils, sleeping skins, and shelter for protection; alone, how can she protect herself from the dangers around her? Her training as a medicine woman and her knowledge of hunting, coupled with the large brain characteristic of the Others, allow her to succeed. Also as a result of her background, she saves Jondalar's life after a lion mauls him and kills his traveling-companion brother. Jondalar is the first of the Others that Ayla has seen. After Ayla's medicinal powers help Jondalar regain his health, the two suffer from their inability to understand each other's customs. Jondalar finally teaches Ayla to speak, however, and they are able to establish a strong bond, sharing their creative ideas to find solutions for both the physical and mental problems they face as a team.

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Ultimate Speed Reader Record Sheet Pretest WPM: %:

Name: Teacher:

Start Date: End Date:

Computer Number: User Name: PROCESS: Log on; click on my computer. Click on the C Drive. Locate the folder called UltimSR and double

click. Locate the red USR icon. Right click and pull down to Create Shortcut. Drag the shortcut to the desk top. Close the C Drive. Double Click on the USR shortcut. Your first day, click on New Student, type your name, and click ok. Save your name. Record your computer number and User Name on this form. The second day, log on, click on USR, and click on Returning Student. Double click your name.

Date Type of Reading Passage Title WPMComp

%Newspaper Reading

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Reading Rate Graph

Name: Date: Hour:

Starting CWP: Goal: Ending CWP: CWP = Correct words per minute. For every comprehension error you make, subtract 25 words per minute.

Words Per Minute Graph1000975950925900875850825800775750725700675650625600575550525500475450425400375350325300275250225200175150125100

# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Comprehension:

%Comp

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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