Stephanie Sukow

Prof. Rovira
ENG 564
31 August 2014
What Writing (And Other Texts) Reveal
Plato
1. Republic Book II
a. Education involves physically exercising the body and exposing the mind to
cultural studies.
1. The act of educating peoples minds can be completed by sharing
stories and studying literature.
2. Childrens stories are very effective in capturing truths, which reflect
the culture in which people reside.
b. Good story-writers are able to tell grand stories that readers must interpret
based on their experiences.
1. These grand stories should contain likeness to the original ideas or
cultural even that the story is based upon.
2. If the themes of these grand stories are misleading, or inaccurate, they
have the potential to negatively impact a persons understanding of his or
her culture.
c. Certain themes should be avoided by story-writers as the messages within these
stories will impact readers, which is the first principle of the written or spoken
word.
1. Stories should not be about the gods and heroes fighting one another.
i. The gods should not be displaying immoral behavior as it may
teach citizens immoral behavior.
ii. Heroes should show courage and should not fear death, as it
may create a negative fear within readers.
2. Instead, stories should reflect positively upon the community and
citizens who lead the community to goodness.
d. Stories should present truths and ideas that are considered good. In no way,
shape, or form should stories mislead readers, which is the second principle of the
written or spoken word.
1. Stories should promote universal themes such as courage and
intelligence.
2. No one wants to be deceived, and therefore, writers have a
responsibility to embed accurate truths and avoid spreading false truths in
the morals of their stories.
2. Republic Book III
a. Storytellers must continue to capture accurate stories, not only about the gods,
but also about the heroes who display courage and do not fear death.
1. Poets such as Homer must be careful to utilize similar themes within
their works that accurately contain these ideas.
2. Content that does not convey these ideas should be banned from
society.
b. Mortals must be shown in a strong light.
1. They cannot be shown lamenting about the difficulties of life.
2. They must not handle suffering and adversity in negative ways, as this
teaches readers to do the same.
c. Readers will interpret the actions of heroes truths, which promote goodness in
the community.
1. When the behavior of the characters display self-discipline and honesty,
this promotes goodness.
2. This material should be presented to society and that which does not
promote this, should be rejected.
i. Sexually explicit themes should certainly be rejected, as they
may tempt the actions of men.
ii. For example, if Achilles is the illegitimate child of a goddess
and Peleus, then this sends a conflicting message both about
morality and religion to the people who hear and read the story.
iii. Censorship rules should be created to accurately portray
positive truths about the deities, heroes, and the dead.
d. As writers craft their work, they should use good language, meter, tone, and
emphasize goodness of characters.
1. Cultivating positive qualities in people comes from good writing and
accurate reading.
2. Poets are craftsmen with their words. The images they create have
significant artistic power, and as such, they should never abuse the
language.
e. Cultural education through stories is critical and should be regulated. When
stories are regulated, they promote moral sensibility and beauty within the
community.
3. Republic Book VII
a. The allegory of the cave begins with people living in a dark cave, believing that
they see the world, but they are only seeing shadows reflected on a wall.
1. In addition to shadows, echoes also bounce off of the walls that
2. When one person breaks free of the chains that bind him to what he
believes is the truth, he begins a journey of self-discovery.
b. Once the journey begins, the person may turn back away from the light, or
truth, or he may face what is real.
1. When the person moves forward, the journey takes him to the edge of
the cave, where he is initially blinded by the light of the world outside of
the cave.
i. This place is also known as the real world in which the truth
resides.
ii. Time is required to make the adjustment between what one once
thought to be true and what is actually true.
2. Once he realizes the truth, he may choose to venture back into the cave
where he once resided to help others.
c. Within the allegory, the person chooses to reveal what he discovered to others.
1. Sharing the truth with others, who have not been exposed to the truth,
promotes goodness and helps the community to flourish.
2. This practice can help spread concepts of morality, as humans transcend
the darkness, or the sense of ignorance, into light, or the enlightened truth.
4. Republic Book X
a. Poetry is only a representation of reality, which can corrupt the minds of the
audience.
1. Representational poetry consists of stories that people must interpret.
2. Other art forms also make representations, that are merely manufactured
copies of the truth. They are not the truths themselves.
i. Poetry and other forms of art are created, but are merely copies
of the truth that should not be taken as accurate or unique.
ii. These mere images of the truth only reveal part of what real, do
not contribute new ideas, and therefore, are not useful parts of the
community.
b. Different types of artists including painters and joiners either manufacture
copies of real ideas and works, or they are the original creators like a god.
1. Those who manufacture copies are dangerous and produce inaccurate
messages in society.
2. Creators are few and far between but should be valued. Discovering this
value takes careful analysis by those within society.
c. The purpose and intent of creating a work of art, specifically a poem, can
indicate its value.
1. Poetry can be created either for private or public reasons.
2. Public reasons for creating poetry such as capturing educational stories,
like that from Homer, can benefit the minds of society.
i. Even though Homers poetry is not entirely historically accurate,
it still contains truths, which impacts society for good.
ii. Through the use of meter, rhythm, music, and other well-crafted
features of poetry, truthful messages can be presented to the
community.
d. In order to assess goodness of poetry or any other object as opposed to badness,
individuals must reflect upon what the message of the work represents.
1. The content must be questioned for conflict, dissent, and readers should
reflect upon how the message impacts the mind is crucial.
2. Unfortunately, all too often poets content falls short of the truth and
capture the worst parts of the mind instead of that which promotes
goodness.
e. Because poetry often leaves much to be desired when it comes to promoting
goodness, it should be banned from society.
1. Many allegations against poetry have been made and can be made.
Therefore, banning it is logical.
2. In reflection, however, completely irradiating this art form may be too
extreme.
3. Poetry that is carefully crafted can promote goodness and should still be
appreciated.
5. Phaedrus
a. As Socrates and Phaedrus dialogue about the features of good writing, they use
of the story of Theuth and Thamus to emphasize specific truths.
1. In the story, Theuth is called the father of writing, and because of this
title, people will inevitable trust what he writes.
2. Theuth has the power to influence people, which can be dangerous as
they will claim they have learned from him, even if they have not, simply
because he says they have.
b. As Socrates and Phaedrus reflect upon the story, they acknowledge the
importance of interpreting writing and understanding writing features.
1. Studying writing and interpreting leads to learning.
2. Good writing allows a man to acquire ideas that are just and noble.
c. When considering why and how a writer crafts his or her words, one must also
reflect upon the purpose.
1. A writer should be able to define and defend his truth to both a private
and public audience.
2. In order for the truth that is revealed to be effective, the argument must
be presented in a logical manner.
3. When the written word is spoken aloud with the intent to reveal
knowledge of truth, it should contain both a strong argument and wisdom.
i. Long hours of carefully crafting words will ensure successful
and effective messages.
ii. In addition to careful writing, the more experience a writer has
with the written and spoken word, the stronger and more effective
his messages will be.

Horace, Ars Poetica
1. A poem should be written with unity and consistency.
a. Images should be simple and connected in order to effectively send a logical
and coherent message.
b. The content of a poem should focus on single and accurate themes that is
presented in an organized fashion.
2. The manner in which words are arranged must be carefully and purposefully crafted.
a. Homer was gifted with creating a sense of meter in his writing and serves as a
great example for other poets on how to embed meter within his or her writing.
b. In addition to meter, words can be used to create a sense of tone that either
conveys comedy or eloquence.
3. Beautiful words must also be accompanied by strong emotions and well-written
characters.
a. The emotions that are evoked by the writing should create pleasure in the mind
of the reader.
b. Heroes and strong characters can also be crafted by words and impact the
overall effectiveness of the story.
4. Dramatic poetry, both tragedy and satyr, use the chorus, music, and actors to portray
real-life themes and ideas.
a. The way in which the play is written helps tell the story.
b. Both tragedy and satyr approach retelling themes in different manners, but they
capture strong emotions and ideas when written well.
5. Another factor to consider when crafting writing, is the technical aspect that involves
using strong technical writing.
6. When all of these factors come together effectively and the poet is well-intentioned,
then writing becomes art.
a. The intentions of the poet are truly important as he or she completes his or her
work.
b. The poet has the power to create and spread goodness, or he has the power to
spread negativity.