Tues, Feb 5 Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience responses due today
In class: Civil Disobedience discussion (class participation grade); anyone not turning in the responses will work in the library.
Homework for Thursday:Please read Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail
(class handout and copy yesterday)
Tomorrow: we are in the Allan Main Stage theatre for PSAT results.Please come to class first.
Thursday: library lab for writing on King's letter.
Friday, February 15   Thanatopsis essay due.  (handout and blog copy from Monday, Feb 4)

Civil Disobedience responses.

Study guide questions for Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience.

PART 1: Define the following words as they are used in the text.

1.            expedient- "government is best an expedient"; that is government is convienent.

2.            alacrity- "this government never of itself furthered an enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way"   willingness, eagerness

3.            conscience- "Can there not be a government  in which majorietes do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?"  By conscience, Thoreau means "judgment of moral sense."

4.            penitent- "if the state were penitent", that is contrite or remorseful for one's wrongdoings.

5.            scourge-" if the state were penitent to that degree that it hirst one to scorge itwhile it sinned , but not the the degree that it left off sinning for a moment."

6.            homage --"We are all made at last to pay homage to support our own meaness"; that is to show public respect.

7.            abolitionist- "ceasing to hold slaves.'

8.            parchment- stiff, flat, thin material made from the prepared skin of an animal and used as a durable writing surface

PART 2: Answer the following questions in sentence form.

1.            What was his position on the Mexican War?    Thoreau saw in the Mexican War an example of government abuse before people can act through it.

2.            Why did he feel this way? The government's position was "the work of comparatively a few individuals" and not "the character inherent in the American people."

3.            Who does Thoreau hold responsible for the accomplishments of America?    America's accomplishments belong to "those who exercise moral sense."

4.            List examples.  heroes, patriots, martyrs and reformers with a conscience.

5.            Thoreau states that, “no government would be best.”  However, as a citizen what does in call for at once?  Why? A citizen should "disregard the requisitions of the president...[and] refuse to pay a quota into the treasury"

6.            What role should “majority rule” play in government?  Majority rule should be "transgressed at once."

7.            If injustice is part of the necessary function of the machine of government, then what should one do before changing it? To change the government one should "anticipate and provide for reform...[and] cherish the minority."

8.            If the law requires you to uphold an injustice to another, then what should you do? If a law is unjust, "let it go, perchance it will wear smooth."

9.            Why was Thoreau jailed? Thoreau did not pay his pole tax.

10.          Why did he believe he was jailed? He believed the government powers could not "reach" him, that is his ideas or meditations; so they punished his body.

11.          How did Thoreau view his punishment? he saw the state as "half witted" and "lost all [his] remaining respect for it and pitied it.

12.          When does he believe that a free and enlightened state will exist? An enlightened state will exist when the legislatuors take in "seasonal experience and the effectual complaints of the people", using the "New Testament"..."to avil [themselves] of the right which it sheds on the science of legislation."

13.          List examples of injustices that have existed or exist today.