Please revise the assignment and follow the instructions in the uploaded file? Uploaded file: address the following issues – the instructions

The Attainment of True Knowledge

Education and the attainment of true knowledge involve turning a whole soul towards new perspectives of daily events. Although everyone can attain that form of education, only a segment of a population can understand the intelligible world of forms. Plato and Miguel de Unamuno agree on this concept about education, as evident in their writings. In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato demonstrates the different intelligent levels of members of a community of cave dwellers (prisoners) separated from the intelligent world of forms and an enlightened prisoner who returns to the cave as a philosopher-king after painfully undergoing enlightenment. The philosopher-king cannot share his knowledge with the cave prisoners, lest he invites ridicule for failing to recognize the shadows – the only object recognizable from the cave (Plato 4). Similarly, in Miguel de Unamuno’s “Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr,” Don Manuel cannot share his spiritual knowledge with the congregation and presents it as an illusion to prevent a possible backlash (de Unamuno 11). The philosophers agree that although the enlightened prisoners and Manuel have different perspectives and beliefs, they are tasked with enlightening their communities and use illusion rather than truth due to their different levels of education and possible animosity towards them.

Both Plato and de Unamuno demonstrate that an educated person is an owner of essential knowledge that they cannot share with the public unless they become enlightened. Manuel’s position in the village is similar to the philosopher-king in Plato’s cave as the owners of essential knowledge but remained aloof from other community members. Manuel gained spiritual awareness, used it for the community’s well-being, and earned respect, admiration, and adoration. He soothed people and gave them hope at their lowest level, including losing a loved one. According to de Unamuno, “The actions of Don Manuel, whom everyone adored, and my mother loved, chastely, of course, had erased the memory of her husband, whom she still fervently commended to God every day when she said the rosary” (1). The priest performed these activities since he gained knowledge hidden from the public due to its lack of enlightenment. Similarly, in Plato’s narrative, the philosopher-king gained new knowledge unknown to the cave dwellers due to their separation from the intelligent world of forms. Plato mentions that the enlightened prisoner “will find that the sun is the source for the seasons and the years, and governor of every visible thing” (Plato 6). His knowledge can enrich society by sharing it. Both philosophers show that enlightenment results from a high education with multiple consequences, mainly separation from the community.

Due to the possible separation from the community and animosity, the enlightened people share their information cautiously after identifying the people they can trust with the transformational ideologies. Even then, educated people must assimilate their trusted colleagues before sharing the information. The philosopher-king and Manuel share this position since they should perform their role cautiously due to their higher intelligence levels than the community. In Plato’s cave allegory, the philosopher-king faces ridicule after returning to the cave since looking at the direct sunlight prevents him from recognizing the shadows in the cave. In the narrative, Socrates asks that “ if the cave dwellers could somehow get their hands on him, wouldn't they kill him?” (Plato 4). Glucagon affirms his concern, showing the need for an illusion when interacting. Although the philosopher-king intends to transform his community, he must use clever ways to deliver the message. Manuel has effectively discovered the tactic for communicating to his village – illusion. The powerful spiritual leader convinced his congregation of heaven’s existence and comforted them whenever they faced uncertainties, although he did not believe in the afterlife. Manuel concealed the information from the public since he feared the chaos that would erupt when people discovered his secret (de Unamuno 7). The philosopher-king and Manuel have a unique knowledge they must preserve from their people. Their enlightenment and leadership roles put them in the same position in their communities.

Due to the need to share the new knowledge with the community while maintaining safety from the public, enlightened people communicate with the public by concealing the information. They use multiple methods that differ from one intellect to another, depending on the community. While the philosopher-king adapted to the new environment, Manuel used illusion to communicate the complex knowledge. The philosopher-king faces ridicule from the society for losing his identity regardless of the economic progress he made away from the cave. Seeing the outside world opened their viewpoint, and they cannot have the same perspectives of the cave as the prisoners. According to Plato, “individuals who have reached this level might be unwilling to spend their time on mundane affairs, for would it not be that their souls always feel a calling to the higher things” (8). However, their motivation is foreign to the cave dwellers since they lack enlightenment. An illiterate community requires refinement from the educated people, who use simple language to share their knowledge. Failure to do so prevents the information circulation to empower the community. Since the educated person is more knowledgeable, he understands the technique for appealing to the public. Plato suggests that the philosopher-king must adjust to the darkness in the cave to collaborate with the community. Therefore, the community members should consider the perspectives of the public when communicating with them to create a rapport and effectively interact with them.

On the other hand, Manuel relies on illusion more than the philosopher-king since spirituality requires an abstract understanding of the spiritual world, which the village believes he possesses. Illusion is a unique learning method that enables the instructor to convey a complex message using signs and symbols. Manuel is the divine link between the village and god and gives people hope for the afterlife and heaven. He relies on illusion because he conveys a message he does believe and fears the village’s discovery of his misinformation. The use of illusion is limited to the knowledge of the community, with more knowledgeable people deciphering the meanings to discredit the educated person. This concept is evident in Manuel’s reliance on illusion only on people who easily yield to his charm and believe in the spiritual world and the afterlife. Since Lazaro was as informed, he decided to be honest with him and narrated his secret (de Unamuno 10). Manuel gains control over Lazaro and trains him to continue with his teachings after his death. Lazaro upholds the teaching by selling the idea of a comfortable afterlife after the earthly life to give villagers hope for better days (de Unamuno 16). Manuel and the philosopher-king cannot share the truth with the public and use illusion due to their limited knowledge, which could trigger hatred and loss of hope.

Overall, Plato and Unanumo demonstrate that people who gain a higher level of knowledge cannot easily associate with uneducated colleagues due to their unique perspectives since education turns around their souls to reason and act differently. Although the philosopher-king from Plato’s cave gained a different form of enlightenment from Manuel from Unamuno’s Village, they also shared a leadership position requiring them to enlighten the society. After education turned their souls around, they could not remain silent, giving them a new purpose. However, their higher level of education forces them to use illusion to connect with their audience. Therefore, education is a tool for promoting change and requires enlightened people to identify the best means for enlightening the community.

Work Cited

de Unamuno, Miguel. "Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr." Course Handout.

Plato. "The Allegory of the Cave." Course Handout.

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address the following issues:

1) thesis needs revising: argument as worded doesn't work for de Unamuno, and perpetuating an illusion isn't enlightening

2) go through paper and convert all use of past tense when discussing texts to present tense

3) go through and revise topic sentences as indicated in line comments

4) go through and provide better lead-in clause for quotes indicated in the line notes. You need to provide specific context- see module 3.2

5) go through paper and replace paraphrases with direct quotes from the text. Never paraphrase a literary text. Pay respect and attention to the specific language used

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Sample Interpretive/Analytical Body Paragraph

TOPIC SENTENCE One major difference between Marx and Carnegie is their disagreement over the value of competition, which defines capitalism. INTRO TO QUOTE & DIRECT QUOTE For example, early in his essay, Carnegie argues that "The price which society pays for the law of competition […] is also great; but the advantages of this law are also greater still, for it is to this law that we owe our wonderful material development, which brings improved conditions in its train (487). ANALYSIS OF QUOTE While Carnegie is acknowledging that an economic system based on competition results in extreme poverty for some people, overall he believes "the law of competition" is what creates innovation and a higher overall standard of living. TRANSITION TO SECOND POINT & INTRO TO SECOND QUOTE This contrasts sharply with the views of Marx, who argues that capitalism's emphasis on competition ultimately dehumanizes its workers: "These laborers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market" (462). ANALYSIS OF SECOND QUOTE What Marx is saying here is that capitalism's creation of a wage labor system pits laborers in direct competition with each other, having to sell their labor to the highest bidder, making profits not for themselves, but the owner, and subjects the lives of these laborers to the instability of the market, which robs them of any stability or security. Therefore, what Carnegie sees as the creative force behind capitalism is what Marx sees as the great dehumanizing principle of capitalism, a contrast that emphasizes Marx's deeper understanding of capitalism's relationship to social structures.

Here are the basic parts of a good analytical paragraph:

1) Topic Sentence- this is the first sentence of the paragraph and indicates the main idea to be explored in the paragraph. This main idea is a supporting point for your thesis

2) Set-Up / Context for Quote- this should be 1-2 sentences that provide some context for the quote. Examples of context can be brief summary point, speaker or author, reference to what the quote contains, etc.

3) Quotation- this is language taken directly from the source, transcribed accurately, put in quotation marks and properly cited.

4) Analysis- this is where the quote is discussed in-depth. Think of a quote as evidence for the thesis. This means you need to examine the evidence and tell the reader how to read it. Good things to focus on in analysis are specific words or phrases, metaphors, imagery, the argument, assumptions, inferences, implied meanings, etc.

Here is an example of a body paragraph from a literary analysis paper that does a superior job of setting up and analyzing a quote:

         While Sidney preserves the notion of a transcendent ideal which the poet alone can manifest within the world, Shakespeare not only rejects this notion, but also finds it unnecessary. Addressing claims that poets are lowly imitators of nature, creating works that are meant to deceive and have no use-value, Sidney suggests, “Only the poet […] lifted up with the vigor of his own invention, doth grow in effect another nature, in making things either better than nature bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in nature [….] Her world is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden” (552). Not only is the poet capable of representing nature in a manner that teaches and delights, he outright surpasses what nature “bringeth forth” in quality and invents new forms, ones even nature cannot produce. Through artistic invention, the poet conceives a superior nature, but this contrast between the brazen and the golden only occurs when the idealized form is favored over the actual sensory phenomenon. The poet is credited with the role of “maker” for interpreting nature and framing it within his own specific compositional circumstances, and when his configurations are considered to outrank the original manifestation, he is said to be capable of depicting beauty beyond the bounds of the material and capturing some transcendental ideal. This credit is unsuitable for the poet. His role need not be metaphysically oriented for it to be valuable, as Plato’s entire conception of ideals results in the erasure of the particulars that grant the natural world its aesthetic pleasures. In favor of appreciating particular phenomena over universal ideals, Shakespeare evaluates each metaphor for beauty and finds they do not manifest in his mistress in the same manner: “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; / If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;” (2-3). Firstly, the speaker is pointing out that these metaphors do not actually represent the mistress, nor any other woman. Claiming that lips can naturally be as red as coral, or skin as white as snow, always puts the individual at a disadvantage to an arbitrary ideal. The speaker calls attention to the fabrication of these metaphors with the conjunction “if,” implying that the ideal could really be anything, but the following are just the widely accepted similes. In admitting these comparisons do not suit his lover, the speaker is refusing to adhere to Sidney’s suggestion that the poet, much like a painter, manipulates nature to “bestow that in colors […] which is fittest for the eye to see” (554). In this sonnet, it is not necessary for the subject to be deified or for the mistress’ particular beauty to be erased in order to present a “golden” nature, which is a genuine subversion of Plato. 

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