The Bhagavad Gita

write up a response to it using the following instruction sheet/grading rubric to formulate your response: Reading Questions for The Bhagavad Gita 1.To what extent does the Bhagavad Gita support the impending war, and in what ways might it be understood as a condemnation? 2.How individualistic is the advice that Krishna gives to Arjuna? How little should Arjuna care for others? Is this simply a philosophy of selfishness? If so, in what ways? 3.Define the conception of justice that the Bhagavad Gita outlines, and discuss it in relation to other cultures’ understanding of justice. 4.Compare Krishna’s guidance of Arjuna to another god’s guidance of a human in a different work you have read (e.g.,Thetis and Achilles, Siduri and Gilgamesh, etc.). What are some of the most important similarities and differences between the cultures in their understanding of the relationship between gods and men? 5.Examine Arjuna’s argument in chapter 1. What are his most important points, and how does he come to his radically different conclusion of not fighting when he had ridden out to battle with the full intention of engaging the enemy? How is this change of mind presented, and what are the implications of this powerful reversal? 6.Conduct a rhetorical analysis of part of Krishna’s reply to Arjuna, paying particular attention to the logical development of his statements and detailing which points he emphasizes and which he wishes to ignore. Does Krishna make a compelling argument? Is he a good rhetor? If not, what are the implications of the presentation of an unconvincing god? Reading Questions for Confucius's Analects 1.Identify the three most important attributes of human nature according to Confucius, as understood from this selection of Analects. 2.What is the place of death in Confucius’s philosophy? How does it relate to moral action? Compare this conception of death to a different author’s presentation (for instance, compare to Gilgamesh's grieving for Enkidu). 3.What are the three essential tenets of Confucius’s philosophy? While several times in Analects people seem to reduce the philosophy to one simple statement, these often seem contradictory. How might these contradictions be resolved in a coherent philosophical framework, and is this what Confucius meant? 4.Analyze the structure of Analects as a form of philosophical writing and didactic literature. How do the brief stories and descriptions convey Confucius’s teachings? Are they a help or a hindrance to philosophical expression? Be sure to discuss the descriptions in Book X. 5.Compare Confucius’s philosophy to another philosopher in this anthology (or one you've read outside of our class). Discuss the form of their works as well as the most important elements in the respective philosophies. Also discuss how these different elements inform the philosophers’ respective cultures.