McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXXIX · Part 13: Washington, Wordsworth and Mont Blanc
135. Immortality of the Soul (Joseph Addison)
Goal: Your student can explain Cato's reasoning about the soul and the setting of the scene.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
Cato's soliloquy from Addison's tragedy Cato: Cato, alone with Plato's book on the soul and a drawn sword, reasons that the soul must live forever. The heading is halfway down the page.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Look over the notes and definitions printed at the end of the lesson before you start, so names and hard words don't trip up the reading.
Read the stage direction first: Cato, alone, sitting in a thoughtful posture, Plato's book on the immortality of the soul in his hand, a drawn sword on the table by him.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
Addison was introduced in Lesson LXXXI, and Thackeray praised him in the last lesson.
Read aloud
Your student reads the soliloquy slowly, as Cato thinking aloud.
Listen for these lines:
It must be so. Plato, thou reasonest well!
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
Talk about it
SayWhat 'pleasing hope' does Cato feel within himself? What does he think it proves?
SayWhat does he say about the soul compared with the stars and the world?
SayWhy might Addison have set the scene with a book and a sword?
SayCompare this with Hamlet's soliloquy (Lesson XCIV). How are the two thinkers different?
Narration
Your student explains Cato's argument in plain words.
Memorize or copy
Learn the opening line:
It must be so. Plato, thou reasonest well!
Tip
The drawn sword hints that Cato is thinking of ending his life. If your student asks, a short, honest answer is enough; the speech itself is about the soul's hope.