The Social Contract Lesson Plan

For this section, students should read the "Prefatory Letter", and the entirety of Book I of On the Social Contract.

Common Core Objectives

1. 1

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2. 2

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Note that it is perfectly fine to expand any day’s work into two days depending on the characteristics of the class, particularly if the class will engage in all of the suggested classroom exercises and activities and discuss all of the thought questions.

Content Summary for Teachers

Book I, Prefatory Note and Chapter I

In the prefatory note and the first chapter of The Social Contract, Rousseau declares his intentions for the book as a whole. He says that he wishes to discern how legitimate political authority can exist.

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