User:CainanMartens

=Freshman Seminar=

Always Wanted To Schedule

 * Topic

Read/Understand Sir Thomas More's book, Utopia
 * Research Component

I will research More's philosophy as displayed in the dialogue of his book. I will also research Thomas More himself and the life that he lived. I know currently that he is known to be very contradictory which makes his philosophy hard to understand. I want to know what caused him to be contradictory. I expect this to be displayed in his life style, and the environment that he was born into.
 * week 1

Research the author; Thomas More. Who is he? Where did he come from? What's his background?
 * week 2

Research the time era Thomas More grew up in. In this case the renaissance era. What were some ideas and happenings of this time?
 * week 3

Start reading Thomas More's Utopia. Read book 1 of Utopia. (finish if possible) Book 1: 52 pages. Start a journal and think critically about the views being displayed by More in his book.
 * week 4

Start book 2. Book 2: 78 pages.(Catch up and finish book 1 if i didn't in week 3.) Continue the journal, relate to the text, and work toward a conclusion.
 * week 5

Read book 2, finish book 2? Draw a first conclusion on the thoughts of Thomas More and his Utopia. (This would be a rough draft of ideas.)
 * week 6

Draw up the final conclusion on the story and it's ideas. Answer: How does it apply to modern government/society?
 * week 7

Draw final conclusion on More himself. Answer: What caused his ideas to contradict one another? Why did he choose to do this?
 * week 8

Organize conclusions in an "A to B" fashion and create note cards for presentation.

Final Presentation

 * Topic (10%)

To read and understand Sir Thomas More's Utopia, and to relate it to current events.


 * Research (20%)

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 * 1) Internet site:
 * 2) Book:
 * 3) Scholarly Journal:
 * 4) Other (interview, TV show,etc):


 * Your accomplishment (20%)

As it is with philosophy, it is hard to say whether or not i have moved forward or backward. I was able to read the book Utopia, and found its views to be very interesting, and worth consideration. The only achievement i know i have with no doubt in my mind, is I have pressed forward to viewing better forms of society. Before, I could see problems in systems, but would have no idea how to go about forming any of my own better versions of these systems. After reading this book, I am no longer afraid to speak of new ideals and try and form a better kind of society from my discoveries. I do not expect to write any amazing pieces of revolutionary work, but it does help me to better understand the big picture.

As i was reading the book Utopia, I became interested in many other medias that spoke about government and society. I was able to see the documentary, recommended to me by my teacher Mr. Arntson, The Power of Nightmares, which speaks of a very interesting view of a utopia. I looked back on my older readings of Plato's Republic, and began to see lines of correlation to Sir Thomas More's Utopia, and some changes as well. I looked into the life of Che Guevara, the argentinian revolutionary that played a key role in the independence fight for Cuba in the 1960s, and his view of society.

I am glad that I have done this as my "I've Always Wanted to Project" as it has opened my eyes to some broader and bigger ideas that i will now use to answer other questions that I face. At this moment i do face a question in fact, in both Plato's Republic, and Sir Thomas More's Utopia, are the citizens within these great pure societies working to stay in their land? Or fighting to get our of their land? Do people run to, or away from these societies?


 * Project Review (50%)
 * 1)What went well: I was able to read the book i set out to read, and to some extent understand the ideas presented within it. I am using these ideas to make my own new ideas, and to answer questions that may come up.  I have always been an over thinker, and I do much better when I have a direction to go in with my thoughts.  What went best in my project is that I now have some kind of direction.


 * 2)What went poorly: At times, reading all these ideas began to confuse me.  The subject at some points reached such a level that it was impossible to talk about all of the ideas to any one person.  The spectrum of my thought became so broad that i was unable to organize what i have done.  As to the answer of how to fix this?  I have no clue.  I believe it is just something natural that happens when anyone approaches such large ideas in philosophy.


 * 3)Future strategies: It is great to me that I am reading, and expanding on my idea, but i would very much like to start creating my own.  These ideas are all great, but it makes me curious where I could take these thoughts, and what i can create with them.  As Ghandi was able to use civil disobedience, i will use what i have learned.