1. PBA Practice–Frame of Reference and Grounds for Comparison. Complete this in your binder (at least one full page).
Texts: Siddhartha and The Alchemist
What is the frame of reference? (This is the context within which you place the two things you plan to compare and contrast; it is the umbrella under which you have grouped them.)
What are the grounds for comparison? (Remember, the grounds for comparison would be the similarities/differences you see in the author’s treatment of your frame of reference. In detailing your grounds for comparison you are in fact illustrating how your frame of reference was a deliberate, thoughtful choice.
Be thorough and thoughtful in your grounds for comparison! I see this as the very beginning of the PBA process so don’t half-ass it.
2. (Due May 3) Existentialism is a Humanism–This reading sets us up for the last three texts of the year. Let it be known that this essay is conceptually/philosophically difficult. Do not wait until the night before to read it. Break it into bits and pieces. Jean Paul Sartre is often the first name to come to mind when one considers Existentialism. His brand of atheistic existentialism so dominates the existential landscape that one forgets that the “first existentialist” Kierkegaard was indeed a theist. Nevertheless, Sartre’s essay most clearly defines the existential mindset. It becomes a fundamental piece of the year’s final unit. Additionally, his essay establishes some of the tenets of existentialism that are universally applicable. In a nutshell Sartre defends his philosophy against the four primary critiques of existentialism.
