Plato's allegory with the cave
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I am working on what's called "altered book." With the existent book, we're making a conceptual/ experimental work that somehow reflects the original book. (we can make 3-D work, add sound, etc) For example, one student's book was about the hunger in Africa and he practically brought in a bread and a knife in class. And as you slide the bread, there was texts glued in it. And another student made a puzzle out of her mystery book.
Mine is plato's "republic" and I remembered story of "allegory with the caves" in the reading. (how prisoners in the cave only live seeing the shadows/reflections on the wall which they believed were "real" and when one of the prisoner comes out of the cave, they see the sunlight and all sorts of things etc etc)
So I thought of making a transparent box with glass and on the inside, I was thinking of gluing the texts (tearing off of the book) on all four sides of the rectangle. Once you're done, you put it on your head and on top of it, cover it with some sort of dark sheets so that at first, you can't see anything. But once you remove the sheet, all the texts will be seen because the box itself is made from glass and the light will be on the classroom.
Another idea I came up with, was to use a projector in the classroom. WHen I shows the pages of the texts, it will be shown on one side of the room (in the dark) and practically implying everyone in the classroom as 'prisoners'.
My professor liked my choice of book and told me to stick with it, but insisted on developing a much better ideas. I would like to come up with more/better ideas or even more developed ideas from my original ideas above. So this is what I am going to need your help on. If you come up with something complicated, I would appreciate it if you could include a sketch or some sorts so that it's easier for me to get it. Thank you.
I am writing some notes on Plato's republic, which you may already know.
-Plato believes that reason is what will lead people to truth. But truth maybe tragic and painful.
-Prisoner is encouraged to "see" with the light of reason.
-intellectual sight is the most importance organ of vision we have. Eyesight only obscures what is "true"
-Socrates is the prisoner who was freed from the cave.
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Plato's allegory with the cave is the focal topic.
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First of all, I want to compliment you on your interpretation of "The Allegory of the Cave"; you have noticed many important elements of the text that are often missed by students. With that said, I am going to guess that what your instructor is after is an "alteration" of the WHOLE text. You DID say your assignment involved a book (not an excerpt), and Plato's cave allegory is merely a part of the whole picture.
Because your assignment is to CREATE the finished product, I can't design it for you. Truthfully, based on what you have described, you are more than capable of doing that on your own! What I can provide, besides my basic suggestion, are the following details to consider while crafting your altered book.
An overview of the Sun, the Line, and the Cave
The analogy of the sun clarifies the idea of the Form of the Good, the philosopher-king's ultimate object of desire.
The line illustrates the four different grades of cognitive activity of which a human is capable.
The allegory of the cave models the effects of education on the human soul; it demonstrates how we move from one "grade" of cognitive activity to the next.
In the allegory of the cave, Plato asks us to imagine that since birth, a group of people has lived in a deep cave. He explains that they have never seen any daylight and that these people are bound so that they cannot look either beside or behind themselves, but only straight ahead. Behind them is a fire, and behind the fire is a half-wall. Another group of people, lying out of sight, manipulate a variety of statues that are on top of the ...
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