1.How would you describe Lenin’s style of writing and argument? What’s the connection
between style and substance?
2. What is the role of Lenin’s “vanguard fighter” “guided by the most advanced theory” and
cloaked in secrecy?
3. How does Lenin’s pragmatism compare with “pure” or philosophical Marxism? Does the
state “wither away” as Marx prophecized?
4. Describe the humanism of Gramsci (“the dominant factor in history [is] not raw
economic facts, but man . . .”). How, according to Gramsci, does this contrast with Karl
Marx and economic determinism?
5. Skim the Stalin reading (pp. 211-215). Stalin quotes Lenin: “The fundamental question of
revolution is the question of power.” Discuss & contrast with other theorists we’ve
studied.
Answers need to be at least 5 sentences and they need to be from the book.
between style and substance?
2. What is the role of Lenin’s “vanguard fighter” “guided by the most advanced theory” and
cloaked in secrecy?
3. How does Lenin’s pragmatism compare with “pure” or philosophical Marxism? Does the
state “wither away” as Marx prophecized?
4. Describe the humanism of Gramsci (“the dominant factor in history [is] not raw
economic facts, but man . . .”). How, according to Gramsci, does this contrast with Karl
Marx and economic determinism?
5. Skim the Stalin reading (pp. 211-215). Stalin quotes Lenin: “The fundamental question of
revolution is the question of power.” Discuss & contrast with other theorists we’ve
studied.
Answers need to be at least 5 sentences and they need to be from the book.
