Candide Lesson Plan

Discussion: Immanuel Kant and the Enlightenment

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Students will broaden their knowledge about the themes and background of the text.

Common Core Standards:

N/A

Structure:

This activity has two parts. In the first part, students should organize themselves into groups of 2-3 people, and the teacher should have them read the following famous essay by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, who was greatly influenced by Voltaire in his attitude towards critical thinking:

What Is Enlightenment? http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/CCREAD/etscc/kant.html

Once the class has finished reading, the teacher should hand out a worksheet...