Seminar Prep: TNTSJ

Fall, 2016
DUE: Thursday, 9/15 PRINTED so you have a hardcopy for reference in seminar
*You must arrive to Thursdays seminar with the following completed in order to
participate in the seminar:
a. The required readings
b. This individual seminar prep (You will receive 20 process points for a
completed seminar prep)
Required Readings

TNTSJ by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Civil Disobedience excerpts by Henry David Thoreau

Individual Seminar Prep Requirements: Complete parts 1, 2, and 3.

Part 1: Themes/Binaries
Choose one theme/binary from the list below and:
a. Write a summary explaining the significance of this theme and how it reveals
Thoreaus philosophy.
b. Cite one quote from the play including the page number that captures the
essence of this theme and react to the quote (explain what it means).
List of Themes/Binaries:

Conformity v. Nonconformity
Transcendentalism (including the concept of Huckleberrying; finding knowledge
through self-reliance and experience)
Civil Disobedience
Education v. Schooling
Being v. Living

Part 2: Civil Disobedience (the essay)

1. What line or passage do we need to understand to realize the significance of this
essay and/or Thoreaus overall perspective? Quote the line(s) and explain the
meaning.
2. Choose ONE of the following questions to answer and use evidence from the text
to support your response:

What does he mean when he writes, "The mass of men serve the state
thus, not as men mainly, but as machines"(page 2, paragraph 5)

What is Thoreau's critique of voting? Why would he say that we become

slaves ourselves when we wait to make something change by casting our
vote and accepting majority rule?

On page 2, paragraph 6, Thoreau criticizes our government as being

hypocritical. How does he do this and why would he believe that to be
so? Do you agree?

Overall, What does Thoreau want us to do as individuals? What does he

want from the government?

Part 3: From Then to Now

Choose ONE of the following questions to answer:
A. What do you think is the most important idea that we can take away from
Thoreaus life? Why?
B. On page vi of the plays introduction, the playwrights write, The explosive spirit of
Thoreau leaps across the years, addressing with power and clarity the perils of his
own time and, prophetically, of ours as well. What perils of our times does he
address? In other words, how are Thoreaus ideas relevant today? Why might we
need him today? Explain.
C. Why might materialism and industrial progress prohibit self-reliance,
individuality, and thinking for oneself? To what extent does technology increase
self-reliance? To what extent does it limit it?