English 101
Seminar Paper: “Allegory of the Cave,” by Plato, pages 303-310 in 50 Essays
10 pts each
Due Date: Tuesday, December 8
Format: Word-processed and double-spaced, on paper.
Length: 1 ½ - 2 word-processed, double-spaced pages.
Before you write the seminar paper: Watch the two You Tube videos linked in our Unit 5 Module in
“Supplemental Materials for Allegory of the Cave.”
Quotation Requirements: In your seminar paper, include some quotations introduced by a brief signal
phrase and a comma, and some quotations introduced by a full idea-containing sentence of your own and
a colon. Avoid using quotations longer than four of your typed lines of text; this short seminar paper is too
short for such long quotations. If you truly, truly can’t possibly quote less and still make your point, use
the correct format for long quotations. You will find it in Trimble’s “Quotation” chapter, and there is a link
online in our Unit 4 module.
The Questions
1. Confusions: Introduce a passage or phrase that you didn’t understand very well, and speculate
about what it might mean.
2. Answer question 1 on page 310 in 50 Essays.
3. Answer question 2 on page 310 in 50 Essays.
4.
a. Fill in this sentence template: Although Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” seems to be about
____X____, it is really about __Y____.
b. Now write a short paragraph explaining why you think the essay might really be about Y.
5.
a. Create an analogy of your own, using this template: ___(abstract idea)___ is like
______(specific situation or action or thing)___ because _(some reasons that X is like Y) ___.
b. Now write a short paragraph explaining your analogy in more detail.
Grading: Each seminar paper is worth 10 points, as follows:
 It shows that you have read the entire text, and it shows an accurate comprehension of the text
(2.5 pts).
 It answers the questions fully and deeply, presenting examples and discussing them, showing
involvement in and curiosity about the reading (3 pts).
 It includes the required references to the text, and the mechanics of quotation, paraphrase, or
summary are correct (2.5 pts).
 The writing is proofread and there are no major grammatical errors (2 pts).