philosophy homework

Each of the texts we read are of a different literary genre (dialogue, poem, letter). The prompt simply asks you to compare the literary devices that the author used to convey the philosophical ideas that were presented. A literary device might be the use of simile (x is like y) that Lao Tzu used in Living as Water. For Plato the device is his dialogue style. King used several devices like metaphor and allusions. For a list of literary devices see this website:

http://literarydevices.net/

Next discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each of the literary styles (dialogue, poem, letter) for expressing philosophical views. Are some better than others at conveying philosophical ideas? Are there interpretive challenges? Interpretive challenges means any difficulty one might have with interpreting the text simply because of the particular style that's been used. (Remember how difficult it was to understand Lao Tzu because of how it was written? It was a very different level of effort from reading King's Letter.)