A Letter to Garcia

Today in class, I ranted.  I ranted on behalf of Elbert Hubbard, who wrote A Message to Garcia over 100 years ago.  (This essay is linked under Links That Don't Stink.)  I ranted about people who don't work hard, and I raved about people who do.  In short, I ranted about excellence.

Your follow up assignments are as follows:  

• Construct a five point action plan, describing five specific ways that you will ensure that you have a successful freshman year at John Carroll.

We will discuss the concept of excellence as defined by the ancient Greeks.  Therefore, you will define the following terms and concepts:

• agora
• arete
• polis
• the year 508 BC
• Socrates
• the death of Socrates
• the Socratic method
• what the ancient Greeks meant if they called you an idiot

Post all this to your blog.  The action plan is due before midnight Saturday night; the definitions are to be posted before the next class.