Students will be able to:

Identify and describe Machiavelli’s advice to leaders.
Identify and describe Thomas More’s Utopia.
Analyze Machiavellian political thought in the current political world.
Analyze and debate the components of a “perfect” society.
Analyze and debate the attributes and actions of effective leadership as well as moral leadership.
Analyze and consider the merits of realist vs. idealist leadership.
Locate and use reliable evidence to support personal opinion.

Day One

Students receive “Machiavelli” Primary Source Readings.

For Academic level students, a short textbook supplement primary source excerpt¹ that splices key segments from The Prince into a concise “easy to understand” format is used. This primary source excerpt is read aloud and a whole class discussion follows which focuses on what Machiavelli seems to be advising rulers to do.

For Honors level students, Internet printouts² of longer segments of The Prince are read by student teams. Team members then respond to a set list of questions³ which guide them through the reading. After teams discuss answers to the questions, the class meets as a whole group and the teacher probes student understanding of Machiavelli’s political beliefs.

Following whole group discussion, students will view a Machiavelli video, Great Books: The Prince.⁴ This video provides students with current leader links to Machiavellian advice. Following the video, student partners make a list of the advice that Machiavelli gave to princes (Renaissance rulers) to help them to get and/or maintain power. Students then come together as a whole group to create and discuss a class list of Machiavellian advice (refer to sample class list⁵).

Days Two and Three

For the next two class days, students will complete library research. The primary goal for this research time is for students to analyze, interpret, and apply Machiavelli’s advice by finding examples of current leaders who demonstrate pieces of advice from The Prince(students will want to refer back to the whole class list compiled during the last lesson). Students receive and review the library instructions (Machiavelli Seminar Preparation - Library Research Phase instructional guides⁶). Students are encouraged to use current news magazines and newspapers accessed through Readers’ Guide to Periodic Literature as well as current sources accessed through library subscription databases. On index cards, students must indicate the particular Machiavellian advice and the current leader linked to that advice. They also provide specific evidence that links that leader to the Machiavellian advice. In other words, students must be very specific in noting what the particular leader did or said that indicates that he/she was following Machiavelli’s advice. Of course, proper MLA citation is required for each card.

Day Four

By day four, students have completed library research on Machiavelli and move back to the regular classroom. This lesson begins by reminding students that they have just spent a significant amount of time studying about Machiavelli’s advice to leaders on how to obtain and maintain power. They should, by this time, understand that Machiavelli was a REALIST. He looked at the world as it was, not as he wished it might be. This lesson will take students away from the reality of how the world works and let them explore what the perfect world might be.

Just as Northern Renaissance Art was different from Italian Renaissance Art, some Northern political thinkers allowed CHRISTIAN HUMANISM to affect their thinking. One of these political thinkers was Thomas More. (At this time, I direct students to view the poster of Thomas More purchased at the Frick Gallery⁷).

In his book Utopia, More entertains readers by taking them on a trip to visit a “perfect” society, a society that seems to run well for all.

To get the students into a contemplative mood, the song “Imagine”⁸ may be played and students can list features of their own idea of a “perfect” society. Students should then share what they listed with a partner.

At this point, students will count off and work in teams of three. Students must choose a Team Recorder (who will write out team responses), a Team Materials Coordinator / Reporter (who will pick up and return primary sources materials and report on team discussion), and a Team Facilitator (who will guide discussion and monitor team time in order to have all lesson requirements completed during the allotted time). One copy of Utopia Team Worksheet I ⁹ should then be distributed to all teams.

Student teams will read selected excerpts from Utopia. Excerpts are taken from a public domain accessible Utopia text found on the Internet¹⁰ which contains several related segments pertaining to the following topics:

Primary Source Excerpt Topics:
Government
Social Structure
Jobs/Employment
Leisure Activities
Gender Relationships
The Elderly
Health Care
Money/Wealth
Slavery
Marriage
Law/Punishment
Attitudes toward War
Social Justice

Each team will decide on five primary source selections they would like to read; materials will be secured from a central location in the classroom. After reading and team discussion, team members must decide what the excerpts tell about that topic in the country of Utopia. Next, they must decide if the conditions in Utopia are similar to or different from conditions in the United States (regarding that particular aspect of the society). Finally, team members need to evaluate conditions, deciding if they prefer topic-related conditions in the country of Utopia or topic-related conditions in the United States. All team decisions will be written on the Utopia Team Worksheet I.

When team time is finished, a whole group discussion of team responses can conclude the period. It is also important to help students consider if More’s description of Utopia is literally what he wanted as a perfect society. Students should contemplate why he might have written in a humorous style which included some absurdities.

A good way to extend this lesson for homework is to ask students to find a current example of some problem in our society today that they would change if they were creating a “perfect” society. Students should describe (in writing) what the problem is and how they might change society to get rid of that particular problem. Students should bring this description to be used as part of the lesson during the next class.

Day Five

Students will sit with their teams established on Day Four. This lesson will focus on how students would like to improve modern U.S. society.

Student teams will begin the period by discussing their homework “news events.” Then team members will discuss and write the answers to the following questions:

Utopia Team Worksheet I will be returned to student teams. Additionally, teams will receive a copy of Utopia Team Worksheet II.¹¹ Today, teams will think about the five topics that they read about in Utopia primary source excerpts last class, but they will discuss and come to a consensus on what they would like to be different in their idea of the “perfect” society. In other words, what would their perfect society look like regarding the particular topic? Once they decide what it would be like, they must decide how they could go about changing things in today’s society in order to create their ideal. Finally, they must tell why their suggestions would improve upon the conditions that presently exist. In other words, why would their plan for change make this a better world?

When time is up, team members should take two minutes to decide on the two most important changes that they would make. Their team reporter will describe and provide the team’s rationale for these changes during the whole group discussion next class.

Students will then receive copies of The Cure¹² by Sonia Levitin. (This work of historical fiction is part of our curriculum linking ninth grade Social Studies and English. While I usually have students read it during our study of the Middle Ages, I decided to incorporate it into this lesson sequence since its initial setting is in the future, a future devoid of diversity and conflict. This is an excellent platform from which to launch a discussion analyzing the ideal society).

After receiving copies of The Cure, the class will read the first chapter aloud. Students should discuss what seems perfect about this world. Students should also discuss what they would not want from this future society in their ideal world. As homework, students should read and complete a response journal entry on Chapters 2–4 of The Cure prior to next class. This response journal entry should identify “perfect” aspects of the society, but also reflect on problems that result in the attempt to achieve such “perfection.”

Day Six

Seating for this class should be in a circular formation in order to facilitate whole group sharing.

As a pre-seminar activity, Utopia Activity Team Reporters should provide two examples of changes that their team decided that they would make to society and tell why they decided to make this change. The teacher should write these “solutions” on an overhead transparency. Students should copy these “solutions” onto their note sheets into two columns: Solutions I agree with OR Solutions I disagree with.

Student partners should be given time to share and discuss their lists (2 minutes). The teacher should prompt students, “What did you agree with and why? What did you definitely not agree with and why?”

Students should review the rules for participating in a Socratic Seminar.¹³ They will be assessed on their participation in the seminar based on their quality responses (refer to Socratic Seminar rules). Students will have the following seminar materials on their desks to refer to during discussion: Utopia note sheets, Machiavelli library research cards, and their response journal entries from chapters 2–4 of The Cure. Students may use these materials to provide evidence to support the opinions they offer during the seminar session.

The teacher will then conduct a Socratic Seminar using Machiavelli vs. More / Realist vs. Idealist Seminar Questions¹⁴ to guide the discussion. The seminar questioning will focus on student understanding of Machiavelli and More, addressing such questions as “What’s better, the realism of Machiavelli in dealing with the world the way it actually exists OR More’s idealism that suggests that one can think about ways to change the way the world works?

Part of the Socratic Seminar model requires all students to participate at least once during the seminar discussion. Students who do not do this are required to complete the Machiavelli vs. More Seminar Replacement Writing Assignment.¹⁵

back to topop