using The Matrix as the artifact and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” as the lens

 using The Matrix as the artifact and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” as the lens

We will be using The Matrix as the artifact and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” as the lens. These are the only texts to be used in this assignment, and they are the only texts beyond the hook in the introduction that will be on your works cited page.

Revision Policy: This essay will be constructed in pieces and revised in pieces as the unit progresses. The complete rough draft will be submitted and commented upon and all revisions must be completed by the final exam. There will be no revisions accepted after the final exam.

Summary of Assignment: This assignment asks you to do a close reading of The Matrix through the lens of “The Allegory of the Cave.” Your job will be to decide on one of the following positions: Does  The Matrix, agree with and expand upon Plato’s ideas on a topic? Does The Matrix, contradict Plato’s ideas on a topic? Or does The Matrix, agree and disagree with Plato’s ideas on a topic? Once you have chosen your position, the job within the paper is to explain how Plato’s ideas are illustrated and expanded, contradicted, or complicated by The Matrix.[unique_solution]

The thesis of this assignment will state the position The Matrix takes on one idea from Plato’s “The Cave” (agreement, disagreement, or both). The 3-4 body paragraphs will perform a close reading of how The Matrix plays with the ideas from “The Cave” that support and prove the thesis. The points will begin with a discussion of the point from Plato and then move into a close reading of the text to show and explain how the film agrees and expands or disagrees and offers an alternative.

Remember that The Matrix is a long text, and you are not going to be able to focus on every part. In the same way, “The Cave” is a complex text and you will not be able to incorporate everything that Plato discusses in his text. This means that a good paper will focus on a couple of main sections of The Matrix using one main idea from “The Cave.”

Step 1: Focus

Choose the focus for the paper. Since the goal of the assignment is to look at The Matrix through the lens of “The Cave,” the first step is to choose the idea from “The Cave” that is present in The Matrix. There are many options: knowledge, use/goals of knowledge, the role of a teacher, the processes of acquiring knowledge, what to do with knowledge etc. Find a passage or passages in which this topic is present in The Matrix.

• For example, you could look at the scene of The Matrix where Neo is offered the choice between the blue pill and the red pill. He is offered the choice between knowledge and ignorance. In Plato’s terms, he is offered the choice between staying in the cave and leaving the cave. Does The Matrix offer an agreement and expansion of Plato’s discussion of enlightenment or a disagreement with it? Does the film offer more ways to understand the ideas of gaining knowledge and why we gain it? Does it disagree with Plato’s ideas on why we need enlightenment? Or does the film do a little of both?
• Plato argues that cave dwellers do not want knowledge and will violently fight against enlightenment or knowledge. How does The Matrix work with this idea? Does the film agree with Plato? Disagree? Both? Does the audience get a better way to understand why the cave dwellers refuse knowledge? Does the film disagree with the idea that knowledge and truth is the real good?
• Plato’s ideas are premised on the fact that the cave is unreal and somehow the cave dwellers are disadvantaged because they are stuck in the cave. Does The Matrix agree and expand upon that idea or does it disagree and offer a counter argument in its place?
• One of the big sections of “The Cave” discusses the acclimation process. As the freed man enters the upper world, he must take time to adjust to the real world and then similarly as he descends back into the cave. Does The Matrix agree with Plato’s ideas about acclimation to enlightenment, disagree, or both? How does the film expand upon Plato’s ideas or, conversely, how does it offer an alternative discussion?
• Another of Plato’s biggest arguments is that the enlightened man has a responsibility to go back to the cave and enlighten others. How does The Matrix deal with this issue? Does it agree and expand upon it? Does it offer an alternative? Does it agree in some places and disagree in others?

These are some of the areas of focus available for this assignment, but don’t feel limited to these topics. Any overlap between the two texts is fair game for a starting point for this assignment, just remember to keep it focused. Feel free to come up with your own points of convergence between the two texts, and don’t hesitate to use any of the writing on our Discussion Boards. All of the writing and discussing is entirely fair game to use as a starting point for your writing.

Step 2: Argument

Decide what The Matrix’s position is on Plato’s conclusions on the topic. Does The Matrix agree and expand upon Plato’s ideas and conclusions? Does it disagree with Plato’s ideas and conclusions? Does it agree and disagree both? Does it complicate the issue?

Once you have decided upon a position, you’re ready to think about the thesis of the paper. The thesis needs to be clear before any writing of the paper begins, because the thesis is the basis of the entire paper. No work on the paper can be done before the thesis has been created.

The thesis must have the following elements:

1. 1. The position that The Matrix takes (agreement, disagreement, both)
2. 2. The topic from “The Cave”
3. 3. The way the film expands upon the agreement, why it disagrees, or how it complicates Plato’s ideas in The Matrix.

For example: (1)The Matrix agrees with Plato’s idea a (2)person becoming enlightened will have a hard time acclimating to the light of the truth and then a similar process going back to the unenlightened world, but (3)the film expands upon the idea of transition by highlighting the physical changes required for enlightenment and the education required for walking in the world of the unenlightened.

Step 3: The Essay

Audience: You should write the essay as though your reader is academic and educated and may not be familiar with Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” but will have watched The Matrix.  This means that you will need to thoroughly explain and discuss Plato’s ideas, but you can focus on specific scenes of the movie without worrying about explaining the characters or backstory irrelevant to your topic.

Organization of Assignment: The paper should be organized into three sections—the introduction, the body (consisting of 3-4 points), and the conclusion. You are required to use the outline for the general structure of the essay.

Introduction: The introduction should include the names of both readings’ authors and should end with a clear thesis statement that indicates what the essay will assert/prove about how the lens plays out in the artifact.  The introduction will start with a hook and introduce the general topic that the paper will discuss. The thesis as the last sentence or two in the paragraph will state the big idea that “The Cave” introduces and state how that idea informs your reading of The Matrix. The thesis must set up the main argument of the essay, and then it must be used as the unifying point for the essay. The thesis must be referenced in topic sentences throughout the paper.

3-4 Body Points

• Each body point will have a clear topic sentence stating the point that proves the thesis.
• After the topic sentence, there will be a brief summary of Plato (including a quote) that establishes the idea that The Matrix is responding to.
• Next will come a brief discussion of The Matrix’s response to Plato’s idea.
• Then a clear description of ONE central focusing scene from The Matrix that illustrates how The Matrix supports and expands upon Plato’s idea or contradicts it.
• Finally, there needs to be a section that explains and analyzes the scene in order to prove the point stated in the topic sentence. This discussion of the scene is super important for the success of this essay. Without a clear and lengthy explanation section, your own ideas get sidelined rather than being the most important part of the paper.
• This process will be done three times to create three main body points of the essay.

Conclusion: The final paragraph should wrap up the essay and make a final statement about the paper’s topic. This is the last place to convince the audience, so take advantage of the space. Make sure to answer the big questions about why this issue is something important enough to take the time and effort to read the paper.

Use of Evidence in the Essay: Each body section should use ONE properly formatted and cited quote from “The Cave.”  Each body section should reference ONE scene from The Matrix—NO MORE THAN ONE SCENE PER POINT.

Use of MLA in the Essay: Essays should be formatted according to MLA style rules.  In addition, all quotations and paraphrases should be properly cited according to MLA rules, and all texts should be cited on a Works Cited page, properly formatted in MLA style.

Grammar / Correctness:  Any final draft writing should be formal and clear, and the essay should contain few errors.  The goal to strive for is fewer than one error per page.  Remember that using ‘I’ infrequently is acceptable. Using ‘you’ is not acceptable. Remember that ‘you’ either sounds accusatorial or assumes a personal relationship with the reader that a writer does not have. Be careful with possession vs. contraction. If grammar has been a problem this semester, make an appointment with the writing center and get extra help editing your own paper.

Evaluation of Essay:

Competent essays will do the following:

• Present information and ideas from texts with accurate quotation, paraphrase, and summary and, when appropriate, enough explication/interpretation/evaluation to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis.
• This includes:
  • Demonstrating a clear understanding of central ideas in both texts.
  • Using relevant information from texts to support arguments.
  • Using appropriate numbers of quotation, paraphrase, and summary.
• Use important conventions particular to expository essay writing,
• This Includes:
  • The use of a clear thesis,
  • Effective paragraphing, and an organizational pattern, including effective transitions, that develops an idea over the course of an essay rather than simply listing supporting ideas.
  • Using a writing style that is appropriate for a specific audience.
  • Developing a clear thesis statement.
  • Creating paragraphs with central points and clear, relevant details.
  • Using transitions to bridge paragraph points.

• Use language that generally conveys a meaning to readers and contains few errors and an ability to ethically and accurately use MLA format to cite and document sources. This includes:
• Making few grammatical/spelling errors.
• Writing in a way that conveys clear meaning.
• Writing in a formal, academic voice.
• Introducing quotes correctly, per MLA rules.
• Citing quotes and paraphrases correctly, per MLA rules.
• Including a Works Cited page listing all assignment texts, properly formatted per MLA rules.

Plagiarism: Manchester Community College is committed to academic integrity. An academically honest student submits for evaluation only such work, including tests, papers, reports, presentations or ideas that have been written, performed or created solely by that student. On those occasions when the stated rules of a course permit collaborative efforts, the contributions of other individuals and sources should be appropriately acknowledged. It is, at all times, the responsibility of the student to maintain conduct consistent with the concept and definition of academic integrity, including not only the avoidance of plagiarism, but also other actions further outlined under College Policies in the Student Handbook.

Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s idea, writing or work, and passing it off as one’s own. If you fail to give credit to the source of the material, whether directly quoted or put in your own words, this lack of credit constitutes plagiarism. Whether you take, buy or receive material from the Internet, from a book, from another student or from any other source, and you fail to give credit, you are stealing ideas; you are engaged in plagiarizing. Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic standards and has serious academic consequences for the student.

In this course we will be practicing incorporating source material into writing. Since we are learning documentation and integration, I understand that mistakes will happen. For unintentional plagiarism, the assignment will be handed back for revision. The grade will be marked as 0 until the citation and incorporation errors have been revised. For intentional plagiarism the consequence is failure of the paper and, depending on the severity of the plagiarism, failure of the course, and the incident will be referred to the Office of the Dean of Students with the recommendation that you receive additional disciplinary action (e.g., expulsion, academic probation, etc.) as appropriate. Information on the student code of conduct, including academic integrity and plagiarism, can be found in the Student Handbook, College Policies, under the heading “Student Discipline,” 5.2.1 Policy of Student Conduct, Section 3 (2) – Academic Integrity and Section 4 – Sanctions.