Read the excerpt from Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War and post your answers to the questions below in 3-4 detailed sentences that directly reference the text.

Come to class prepared for a discussion of the text’s ideas.

Questions:

What is the historical context of the Thucydides text?
What are the primary actors in the Melian Dialogue arguing about?
Could the Melians or the Athenians have chosen to act differently? What might have happened if they did?

English homework

Buying Things to Solve Personal Problems
Someone once said, “In American society, the solution to every problem is to buy something.” If we have a headache, we buy a medicine. If we feel insecure about our personal attractiveness (and much advertising is designed to make us insecure), we buy toothpaste, or deodorant, or a fancy car. If we don’t have time to spend with our kids, we buy them toys. If we feel bad, we buy a new sweater or a new gadget to change the mood and make us feel better.

In a well-organized essay, answer the following question:

Do you think that buying something is a good way to solve emotional and personal problems? What are some alternative ways to solve these problems? Support your ideas with examples from your own experiences.