Sometimes, the regularity of my teaching surprises and almost depresses me: am I so predictable? Four years ago today, I wrote about beginning Lord of the Flies with my honors kids.
And what did I do today? I began Lord of the Flies. We always begin with Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” for a couple of reasons:
- Bragging rights: How many teachers have their eighth-grade students reading Plato?
- Pedagogical purpose: We need to cover what an allegory is, and what better way than to look at one of the most famous.
It’s a challenge for the kids, though:
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: –Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette1 players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.
I see.
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
I have them draw the image presented in the text, then go around sharing with other groups what their group determined:
Few get an accurate image like this:
Of course, they’re only given a few minutes for the whole task…