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Teaching The Republic

Utopia at its finest.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 50

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No matter how hard you might try to sell this text as a story complete with characters, a plot, and the whole shebang, your students will probably not be fooled. When it comes down to it, Plato's Republic is a work of philosophy. Thankfully, we're here to help you and your students get through Socrates' genius but abstract thinking in one piece. 

In this guide you'll find

  • an activity that prompts students to construct their own ideal guardian, good looks and all.
  • tips and strategies for making connections between Plato's old-world musings and students' modern-day lives.
  • reading quizzes to make sure students are all on the same page.

And who knows—you might have some future philosophy majors on your hands after reading this text with your students.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students.
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop’s teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching The Republic?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Changing Socrates's mind is notoriously difficult (so many questions seem to arise), but your kids are going to do their darndest anyway. In this activity, they'll write poems or songs (lyrics) that would be acceptable to Socrates in Book 3. Yes, we know Socrates really doesn't like poetry, but your class is going to try to convince him that poetry isn't really that bad. Because—duh—poetry is awesome.

This should take about an hour, and you can bust this one out just as soon as you've read through Book 3.

Materials Needed: Copies of The Republic; pens and paper

Step 1: Start by getting a handle on Socrates's beef with poetry and music. Ask your students the following questions:

  • Why does Socrates dislike poetry/song so much?
  • How does his feeling about poetry connect to his ideas about truth and justice?
  • What sort of subjects might Socrates find acceptable?

Need a little brush-up? Check out our detailed summary of Book 3.

Step 2: Now it's time for your kids to get poetic and write poems/song lyrics that would be acceptable to Socrates. He has some pretty high standards, but one thing's for certain: the content should be filled with truth and justice. The goal here is to write about a half page—any longer and it seems impossible to stay in Socrates's good graces.

Step 3: Have your students swap poems with a buddy for some editing and revisions. The buddy should look for the following:

  • Does the poem conform to truth and justice as Socrates sees it?
  • Is the subject acceptable to Socrates's ideals?

Step 4: Once they have the feedback they need to gussy up those poems and turn in their very best.

Instructions for Your Students

Objective: If you found yourself rolling your eyes about Socrates always being down on poetry and song, you're definitely not alone—dude just won't let it go. Today's your chance to try to shut him up once and for all by writing a poem that even he can't argue with. So put on your poetry pants and let's get going.

Step 1: First you need to get a handle on Socrates's beef with poetry and song. Consider the following questions and chime in on the group conversation:

  • Why does Socrates hate poetry/song so much?
  • How does his feeling about poetry connect to his ideas about truth and justice?
  • What sort of subjects might Socrates find acceptable?

Step 2: Considering your answers to the above questions, write a poems/song lyrics that would be acceptable to Socrates. He has some pretty high standards, but one thing's for certain: the content should be filled with truth and justice. The goal here is to write about a half page—any longer and it seems impossible to stay in Socrates's good graces.

Step 3: Now that you've hammered out your poem, swap poems with a buddy for some editing and revisions. Your should look for the following in your partner's poem:

  • Does the poem conform to truth and justice as Socrates would see it?
  • Is the subject acceptable to Socrates' ideals?

Step 4: Take your partner's feedback and gussy up your poem before turning in your very best work.