Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
This book is widely available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. Used copies are available for less on Half.com. It is also available at most public libraries.
Some call this a mystery novel. The novel introduces the reader to the European philosophical tradition, which has guided the actions of Europeans throughout history.
Assignment Due: 1st day of class – counts as an essay/assignment grade.
Quiz on Sophie’s World: This is an open-notes quiz during the first week of class. (You can use only your own handwritten notes…see last page of this handout.)
Read the novel Sophie’s World and complete the assignment. Read all of these questions first to have a clearer purpose for reading. Keep this paper and take notes as you read. Trying to read the entire book first and then doing this assignment will not work well for you. You can use your journal or any written notes when you take the quiz on Sophie’s World. Also, discussions about the book with your peers will help you to clarify your thinking.
Advice about reading: Give yourself ample time to read and complete this assignment. If there is a particular concept or idea that is “over your head,” make a note of it and write down a particular question and page number. We will discuss all specific questions that you have before we take the test. However, “I didn’t understand chapter 7” is not a specific enough question for an AP level class. Instead, ask questions like “did anyone understand the Enlightenment concept of Deism?”
I. The OPEN NOTES Quiz – how to take NOTES for it
Since you will be writing enough over the summer, your open notes quiz will be almost entirely matching, true-false, and fill-in-the-blank. If you read the book and take some notes on the following, you should do well. The test is not designed to trick you: it is designed to give everyone full credit for having spent time reading the book and taking notes.
The best set of notes you could to make (to use on the open-notes quiz) would include a basic understanding of the following:
A. The major philosophers discussed in Sophie’s World
Democritus
John Locke
Freud
Plato
Berkeley
Marx
Aristotle
Hume
Darwin
Augustine
Kant
Sartre
Descartes
Hegel
Spinoza
Kierkegaard
B. The major time periods of philosophy discussed in Sophie’s World:
• The Ancient Greeks (first 12 chapters)
• The Rise of Christianity (the ‘Two Cultures’ chapter)
• The Middle Ages (chapter named after this)
• The Renaissance (chapter named after this)
• The Baroque (chapter named after this)
• The Enlightenment (chapter named after this)
• Romanticism (chapter named after this)
• Existentialism (look up in index)
II. Your SUMMER ASSIGNMENT -- must be done individually; can be double-spaced typed or hand-written. All of this should be stapled and turned in on the first day of class.
It will be your first major essay grade. Please label each part.
PART ONE – 20%
Choose one philosophy or philosopher you disagree with and explain your reasoning in no fewer than three paragraphs. (Note: Choose something still debatable. In other words, it is futile to disagree with something that has been absolutely disproved by modern science like the very early Greek philosophers.)
PART TWO: 20%
Choose one philosophy or philosopher you agree with and explain your reasoning in no fewer than three paragraphs.
PART THREE: 20%
Answer the following question in essay form:
“Of all the big questions philosophers attempt to answer, which are most controversial or difficult and why? “
Pick at least three “big questions” and write an essay that discusses a range of ideas from throughout the book. You should cite page numbers in the book at least 6 times in your essay. More important than quantity, your essay needs to answer the question and demonstrate that you have read the book.
Below are some examples of “big questions” discussed in
Sophie's World … remember, this list is incomplete...you can identify ANY questions that have more than one interpretation in the book:
“
Who are you? Is there life after death? Where does the world come from? Could anything have always existed? How was the world created? Does Fate exist? Why is there suffering in the world? What forces govern the course of history? How ought we to live? What is the relationship between the body and mind? Where do we get our ideas from? Can we really rely on what our senses tell us? Is there really such thing as “human nature”? Is man significant or just another animal on Earth? Does life have a meaning (If so, what is it)?”
PART FOUR: 20%
Pick ONE of the following and write about it:
A. Write a 2-3 paragraph reaction to your experience with this book. What did you like, not like, feel frustrated with, in awe of, etc.? Be specific. Make references to specific sections of the book or specific passages. (Your score on this one is based on how well developed and reasoned your paragraphs are and not on your opinions). Feel free to ask QUESTIONS in your essay.
B. How does the author use the story to illustrate the philosophy that is being discussed? Discuss three times that the novel about Sophie connects to the study of philosophy. In other words, how does Gaarder illustrates his “lectures” on philosophy with the novel of Sophie and Alberto? (An example to get you started is this: after Alberto explains to Sophie that Aristotle was the first “great organizer” in that he attempted to classify things in the natural world, Sophie classifies and organizes her closet.)
C. How many “realities” are present in this book? Sophie and Alberto are fictional. So are Hilde and Albert Knag, even though they are made to seem real. Show the layers of reality in an illustration (if it is easier to do it this way) and label who “lives” there. Explain in writing, in a coherent way, the various levels of reality. Where are you in these realities? Where is Gaarder?
PART FIVE – 10%
European Map Quiz: Complete the map quiz available at the following website:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/European_Geography.htm.
Choose Level 3 Intermediate in the countries column. Play the game. Continue playing until your score is above 92% and your average error is less than 45 miles. When you have achieved these scores, print out your score sheet by clicking on the link above the game map and then click “print scores”.
PART SIX – 10%
Part six is the easiest part: Simply bring your own copy (or library copy) to school on the day this assignment is due, and you automatically receive 10 points on the assignment grade!
(This assignment is based on the work of Brandon Holcomb.)