Linking Gardner and Plato Through Poetry

After a pretty intense unit on ancient Greek philosophy with the 9th graders, presented via the novel, Sophie's World, I decided to try a review lesson that took a lighter approach.  I wrote this poem (if you can truly call it that) partly for humor and partly to give the kids a different way to remember some of the key concepts of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.  I had the students take turns reading stanzas aloud, and they got a kick out of it.  Plus, the poem format speaks to a number of Howard Gardner’s “intelligences” (musical and linguistic, for instance, and even visual-spatial).

Let me be clear that I was in no way teaching a lesson in verse structure here—my poetic skills are limited!

Parody of the Cave

(With Apologies to Socrates and Plato)
by Mrs. Miller

A ancient teacher told a story,

It was about a cave

With people chained and watching shadows

That a fire made.

They didn’t mind their shadow world

It was all they really knew,

But some were led into the light

And boy, their mind it blew!

Now, absorbing all that knowledge

Had them kind of dazzled,

And the thought of going back to shadows

Had them kind of frazzled.

But Teacher S. said, “Wait, Philos—

You must go back, and quickly,

To teach all that you know to them,

And create an Ideal City.”

“But the Cavies, they won’t understand,”

Said the Philos, “They’ll be shocked.”

And before you know it, Socrates,

They’ll make us drink Hemlock!”

Socrates said, “Must I remind you

They’re trapped in a shadow box,

It’s your duty to go down there,

Despite the paradox!”

So down they went, to educate—

That’s the moral of the story.

And the cave is a great visual,

A powerful allegory!   

--April 2011