I've been teaching Chreia/Maxim to four 8th grade students at our mini-cottage school (both our families were late to classical education and/or full cores). We took a LONG time to get comfortable with this level so we just finished Lesson 4, but they now have a stronger understanding of what each paragraph is supposed to do/cover. Here are some points that helped us:
The biggest problem was understanding the Cause, Converse and Analogy paragraphs. The examples in the TM often don't fit and it would throw me off which would then throw off the kids. After watching the DVD myself and more intently reading the sidebars in the TM, I had each student write some of the following in the cover of their books (I've modified/expanded it for further clarity here):
The Cause Paragraph is a POSITIVE story of your own invention:
Recognition = the truth of the saying in shortened form
Reversal = how the subject will be REWARDED by heeding the truth of the saying [this fits the idea of reversal because it shows how heeding the saying will bring the agents up,or higher, from where they currently are]
Suffering = what hard things have to be done, or what things need to be avoided, in order to heed this truth [this is a general reference]
Agents = person/persons who are heeding the saying
Action = the specific thing(s) they are doing/avoiding in order to heed the saying [i.e., ]how they heed the saying]
Time/Place = general setting of the story but not necessarily included in the paragraph (to me, it can sound clunky)
Manner = how the Action was done (-ly words work well here)
Cause = WHY the Agents did the above named Action
The Converse Paragraph is a NEGATIVE story of your own invention:
Recognition = the truth of the saying in shortened form
Reversal = how the subject will be PUNISHED by heeding the truth of the saying [this is a general reference to the punishments]
Suffering = the SPECIFIC punishments and/or results of those punishments
Agents = person/persons who are NOT heeding the saying
Action = the specific actions/omissions through which they do not follow the saying
Time/Place = general setting of the story but not necessarily included in the paragraph (to me, it can sound clunky)
Manner = how the Action was done (-ly words work well here)
Cause = WHY the Agents did the above named Action
The Analogy Paragraph is a comparison between the outcome of heeding the truth of the saying and the outcome of another action; they are "dissimilar" in the sense that they would not ordinarily be compared despite the similarities between them. The comparison can be POSITIVE, NEGATIVE or BOTH.
For example:
Positive - we can compare the outcome of properly used authority with that of a properly used vehicle
Negative - we can compare the outcome of improperly used authority with that of an improperly used vehicle
Both - we can compare the outcome of properly used authority with that of a properly used vehicle and then contrast that with the outcome of the improper use of each.
Please note that these are based on my personal understanding of the text/DVD/examples -- Ryan, Tanya, et al please correct where needed!
The biggest problem was understanding the Cause, Converse and Analogy paragraphs. The examples in the TM often don't fit and it would throw me off which would then throw off the kids. After watching the DVD myself and more intently reading the sidebars in the TM, I had each student write some of the following in the cover of their books (I've modified/expanded it for further clarity here):
The Cause Paragraph is a POSITIVE story of your own invention:
Recognition = the truth of the saying in shortened form
Reversal = how the subject will be REWARDED by heeding the truth of the saying [this fits the idea of reversal because it shows how heeding the saying will bring the agents up,or higher, from where they currently are]
Suffering = what hard things have to be done, or what things need to be avoided, in order to heed this truth [this is a general reference]
Agents = person/persons who are heeding the saying
Action = the specific thing(s) they are doing/avoiding in order to heed the saying [i.e., ]how they heed the saying]
Time/Place = general setting of the story but not necessarily included in the paragraph (to me, it can sound clunky)
Manner = how the Action was done (-ly words work well here)
Cause = WHY the Agents did the above named Action
The Converse Paragraph is a NEGATIVE story of your own invention:
Recognition = the truth of the saying in shortened form
Reversal = how the subject will be PUNISHED by heeding the truth of the saying [this is a general reference to the punishments]
Suffering = the SPECIFIC punishments and/or results of those punishments
Agents = person/persons who are NOT heeding the saying
Action = the specific actions/omissions through which they do not follow the saying
Time/Place = general setting of the story but not necessarily included in the paragraph (to me, it can sound clunky)
Manner = how the Action was done (-ly words work well here)
Cause = WHY the Agents did the above named Action
The Analogy Paragraph is a comparison between the outcome of heeding the truth of the saying and the outcome of another action; they are "dissimilar" in the sense that they would not ordinarily be compared despite the similarities between them. The comparison can be POSITIVE, NEGATIVE or BOTH.
For example:
Positive - we can compare the outcome of properly used authority with that of a properly used vehicle
Negative - we can compare the outcome of improperly used authority with that of an improperly used vehicle
Both - we can compare the outcome of properly used authority with that of a properly used vehicle and then contrast that with the outcome of the improper use of each.
Please note that these are based on my personal understanding of the text/DVD/examples -- Ryan, Tanya, et al please correct where needed!
Comment