NAME:____________________

 

Worksheet 1:

"What is Enlightenment?"

FOCUS: Two translations of Kant's famous essay "What is Enlightenment?" interpret the purpose and content of the essay differently.

LOGIC: A comparison of key passages reveals different images about what a truly human human being should be, showing that today's scholars do not agree about what the values of the Enlightenment were.

PAIR (= issue)
WHAT DIFFERENCES IMPLY
(= implication)

PEL: "Enlightenment is man's release fromhis self-incurred tutelage."

Schmidt: "Enlightenment is mankind's exit from its self-incurred immaturity."

man vs. mankind =

release vs. exit =

PAIR 2

 

PAIR 3

 

IMPLICATION: (HINT: address which translation speaks more to you today, and why, or which one seems more plausible)

 

  

 NAME:____________________

 

Worksheet 2:

"La Nouvelle Hélöise"

 

FOCUS: Rousseau's famous novel tells the story of a pair of lovers who are fated to be separated because they do not fit together socially --a kind of "Romeo and Juliet" story based on the stereotypes of the day.

LOGIC: The problems that the couple encounter lead them to try solutions that ultimately drive them apart. By tracing these problems and the resulting actions, we can see how the old order (Julie's family) and the new (Saint-Preux) are in conflict.

 

Problem they had

Results
(give 3-5 examples)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPLICATION: (HINT: What is modern about their dilemma? What are the strengths and weaknesses of society that Rousseau wants to expose?)

[continue on reverse, if necessary]

 

 

 

NAME:____________________

 

Worksheet 3:

"The Sorrows of Young Werther"

FOCUS: Goethe's novel, one of the first truly international bestsellers, tells the story of a young man who falls in love inappropriately.

LOGIC: Contrasting how Werther sees parts of the world and his own state of mind with how others see that world (and his actions) demonstrates ho comparison of key passages reveals different images about what a truly human human being should be, showing that today's scholars do not agree about what the values of the Enlightenment were.

His Illusions (what he sees/feels)

Their Realities (what others are/do)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPLICATIONS: (HINT: address why Werther commits suicide; what has changed between his world and that of Rousseau?)