I. THE IMPROBABILITIES CONTINUE WITH ANOTHER CARD TO HILDE C/O SOPHIE: NOTE THE UN POSTMARK AND THE DATE. OF IMPORTANCE IS HILDE'S DAD'S BELIEF THAT SHE WILL UNDERSTAND SOPHIE'S INVOLVEMENT IN HER LIFE.

A. HAPPY BIRTHDAY

B. LOSS OF THE WALLET RECALLS THE MAJOR'S CABIN (P. 96)

C. WHY ARE NOT THE CARDS SENT DIRECTLY TO HILDE, AND WHO IS HILDE?

D. HOW DID KNOX FIND HILDE’S WALLET, AND WHAT DID THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SOPHIE? NOTICE THE REFERENCE TO JOKER AGAIN (LINK PAGE 68 TO 121).

II. PHILOSOPHY AND THE CLASSROOM...SOPHIE'S TEST:

A. KNOWING VS. BELIEVING--what did Plato say?

B. A PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE MUST BE BASED FUNDAMENTALLY ON?

C. IS A CONSCIENCE INNATE OR DERIVED SOCIALLY, OR A SYNTHESIS?

D. HOW DOES ONE DETERMINE A PRIORITY OF VALUES?

III. DOES SOPHIE USE THE IDEAS SHE LEARNED FROM KNOX?

A. ‘THE UNIVERSE CAN BE COMPARED TO A LARGE RABBIT PULLED OUT OF A TOP HAT.’

B. TOWER OF BABEL IMAGE--WHAT DO THE PHILOSOPHERS TRY TO DO?--WHO IS THE MAGICIAN?'

C. ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE CAVE?

D. CONSCIENCE--OBJECTIVE OR SUBJECTIVE?

E. OF WHAT KNOWLEDGE IS OF MOST WORTH?

IV. HOW DID THE TEACHER GRADE THE TEST? (P. 125). WHY? WHAT EMOTIONS DO YOU THINK BEST DESCRIBE THE TEACHER'S RESPONSE TO SOPHIE'S ANSWERS?


V. HELLENISM

A. ARISTOTLE TO THE MIDDLE AGES (500 BCE TO 400 AD).

B. ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND GREEK DOMINATED CULTURE.

C. RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE AS INFLUENCED BY ROME.

D. SYNCRETISM--THE FUSION OF CREEDS.

E. WHAT IS THE GOOD LIFE?

VI. THE CYNICS AND THE STOICS AND THE EPICUREANS

A. DIOGENES

B. BOETHIUS AND STOICISM--THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY-Click here for a primary source excerpt focusing on FORTUNE'S ROLE? What will begin to modify the primacy of Fortune?

C. ROLE OF REASON AND ACCEPTANCE OF SUFFERING; THE IMPORTANCE OF:

1. THE NATURAL LAW
2. THE ROLE OF FORTUNE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS
3. ACCEPTANCE OF DESTINY--THE COMPATIBILITY WITH CHRISTIANITY

D. THE EPICUREANS:

1. THE PLEASURE PAIN DICHOTOMY ANTICIPATION OF UTILITARIANISM
2. PLEASURE IN THIS SENSE MEANT THE PROPER ACTIONS NEEDED TO CURB UNPLEASANT RESULTS--
3. REASON AND MODERATION STRESSED

VII. NEO-PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY:

A. PLOTINUS--WHERE HAS SOPHIE FOUND HIS PHILOSOPHY IMPORTANT FOR HER QUEST? LIGHT IS AN IMPORTANT METAPHOR

B. DUALISTIC THINKING CONCERNS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY / SOUL (MATTER /MIND)

C. THE SOUL IS ILLUMINATED FROM THE LIGHT OF THE ONE (THE GOOD)

1-metaphor of the fire
2-sparks which illuminate the darkness
3-but what happens as distance from the fire increases?

D. PLOTINUS DIFFERS FROM PLATO IN THAT FOR HIM, ALL IS PART OF THE ONE, EVEN THE MOST CHAINED PRISONER IN THE CAVE. RECALL CHAPTER SEVEN.

VIII. MYSTICISM:

A. WHAT IS THE ‘I’ AND HOW DOES ONE COME TO UNDERSTAND THERE IS A GREATER ‘I”?

B. STUDY WORDSWORTH’S “TINTERN ABBEY", checking especially the ability to "see into the life of things."

C. WHAT IS A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE?. CHECK THE LINK TO COLERIDGE.

D. THE NOTION OF TRANSCENDENCE AND THE SACRED SPACE, THE “BLISS STATION” OF CAMPBELL.

E. THERE IS AN INTERESTING LINK TO ROMANTICISM AND DREAM PSYCHOLOGY.

IX. SOPHIE WAKING UP WITH A HEADACHE AFTER A WONDERFUL DREAM. TRY THIS ANALOGY: BODY: HEADACHE :: MIND:DREAM

• REMEMBER THAT DREAM IMAGERY WILL BE IMPORTANT IN THE NOVEL-WHAT SEEMINGLY INEXPLICABLE EVENT OCCURS REGARDING A DREAM SOPHIE HAS?
• THE BRITISH ROMANTIC POETS USE DREAMING AS A METAPHOR FOR THE CREATIVE PROCESS, AS DO THE GOTHIC ROMANTICS INCLUDING MARY SHELLEY. CLICK HERE.
  

X. THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH MORE QUESTIONS:

A. ALTHOUGH FASCINATED WITH THE MYSTICS, WHY IS SOPHIE DISILLUSIONED? (P. 137). THE ENGLISH ROMANTICS, ESPECIALLY WORDSWORTH AND KEATS UNDERSTOOD.

B. READ CAREFULLY THE LAST PARAGRAPHS OF THE CHAPTER (P. 137)

1. Note the references to what the Creator may not have finished
2. What does "blending the color' mean? (This will foreshadow...)
3. The Romantics from Shelly to Tolkien used fire imagery. How?