How an author sharpens a key term across a text
Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
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What Madison Means by a Republic (founding-era essay)
Background: [1] In The Federalist No. 10 (1787), credited to James Madison, a faction is a group of citizens united against others' rights. [2] Madison has argued that its causes cannot be removed, so he asks which government best controls its effects.
From The Federalist No. 10 (1787): [3] From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction.… [4] …A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking.… [5] …The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended. [6] The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens,… [7] …On the other hand, the effect may be inverted.… [8] …Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens;… [9] …Hence, it clearly appears, that the same advantage which a republic has over a democracy, in controlling the effects of faction, is enjoyed by a large over a small republic,--is enjoyed by the Union over the States composing it.
Word notes: [10] Here democracy and republic are forms of government, not parties. [11] To admit of no cure is to allow none. [12] The scheme of representation is a system of chosen representatives. [13] Delegation is handing power to others; the latter is the second of two things named. [14] A sphere is an area; inverted means turned the other way. [15] The cuts leave out how small democracies have fared and why large republics choose better representatives.
Ari sees that sentences 3 and 4 both say 'by which I mean'. Why does Madison define pure democracy just before republic?
- To make clear that democracy and republic are forms of government, not parties.
- To set up a contrast: a republic differs by using representatives instead of rule in person.
- To show that a republic is a democracy, as many people use the two words today.
- To show that the two forms are much the same, so that a choice between them would matter very little.
Luz tests the final meaning of republic, the form best able to control faction. Which government fits it?
- A small town whose citizens elect a few representatives to run its affairs.
- Any nation that holds elections, whether voters choose leaders or decide the laws.
- A large nation whose many citizens elect a small number of representatives to govern.
- A large nation whose citizens meet together and vote on the laws in person.
Tala reads sentence 6, where representation will refine the public views. Which sense of refine does Madison mean?
- To narrow the views to the local wishes of each district's own voters.
- To make the views smaller and sharper, as a writer refines a draft by cutting.
- To improve and purify the views as they pass through a chosen body of citizens.
- To hand the views over to others, since note 13 says delegation is handing power.
Jun stars the short sentence 7, 'On the other hand, the effect may be inverted.' Why does Madison add it?
- To take back his support for a republic, since representatives may not serve the people well.
- To show that pure democracy is safer than a republic run by chosen representatives.
- To say the public views will be turned upside down and so become more widely shared.
- To limit his claim: representation alone may fail, which sets up the case for size.
Pia looks for a case of the extended sphere in sentence 8. Which case shows that part of a republic at work?
- Any large nation, whether its citizens govern in person or through representatives.
- A nation with so many different interests that no single one can gather a majority.
- A small republic whose citizens share the same few interests and act as one.
- A nation whose elected representatives are wiser than the voters who chose them.
What Emerson Means by the Scholar (address)
Background: [1] Ralph Waldo Emerson gave "The American Scholar" as an address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 31, 1837, and it was later printed with his other addresses and lectures. [2] The address opens by hoping that American thinkers will stop depending on the learning of other lands, and the excerpt below is copied exactly from an 1855 printing, with a mark at each cut.
From "The American Scholar" (1837): [3] In this hope, I accept the topic which not only usage, but the nature of our association, seem to prescribe to this day,--the AMERICAN SCHOLAR.… [4] …In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. [5] In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. [6] In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking.… [7] …Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm.… [8] …Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst.… [9] …They are for nothing but to inspire.… [10] …Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential.… [11] …Without it, thought can never ripen into truth.… [12] …The office of the scholar is to cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amidst appearances.
Word notes: [13] In these notes, the distribution of functions is the way a society hands out its jobs among its members, the delegated intellect is the member sent to do the thinking for all the others, degenerate means fallen from its proper state, subordinate means lower in rank, and amidst appearances means among the ways that things merely seem to be. [14] The cuts leave out an old fable about how people came to be divided into many separate trades, Emerson's account of what nature and the books of the past teach the scholar, and a long passage on the scholar's private life, and in 1837 Emerson, like most writers of his time, used man and men to mean people in general.
Zee tests the ladder's top rung against three readers. Which person best fits Emerson's scholar as finally refined?
- A reader who knows the great books well and can quote them exactly.
- A thinker who stays apart from the world so that thinking goes on without distraction.
- A reader who uses books to spark new ideas, tests them in action and helps others see facts.
- Any person whose job in society is to do the thinking for the rest.
Kira reaches sentence 12, which names the office of the scholar. Which sense of office does Emerson mean?
- A post of public power, such as an elected office in the government.
- A room where the scholar works, such as a study at a college.
- A duty: the work the scholar is there to do for others.
- A lower rank, since note 13 says subordinate means lower in rank.
Ren sees that action enters the ladder only after books. Why does Emerson add action in sentences 10 and 11?
- To show that the scholar's office is to guide others, as sentence 12 says.
- To add that thinking must be lived, since without action thought cannot ripen into truth.
- To replace books with action as the scholar's main business from now on.
- To praise people who work with their hands above the people who spend their lives in study.
Esme reads sentence 9: books 'are for nothing but to inspire.' Which use of a book fits Emerson's scholar?
- Reading a history, then forming a new question and testing it against what one sees.
- Reading whatever book comes to hand, since sentence 8 praises books so highly.
- Memorizing a respected book so that its views can be repeated without any change.
- Collecting many books, since a large library shows how learned a scholar is.
Noah reads sentence 7, 'instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm.' In what sense does Emerson use bookworm?
- A scholar in the right state, who has become Man Thinking by reading.
- A member sent by society to do its thinking, as note 13 explains.
- Anyone who loves reading and spends a great deal of free time happily with books.
- One who values books for their own sake instead of thinking for oneself.