Making comparisons: How would you describe the range of political thinking and practice expressed in these documents? What, if any, common elements do these writings share? Another approach to such a comparison is to take the ideas of one writer and ask how they might be viewed by several of the others. For example, how might Pericles, Aristides, and Han Fei have responded to Ashoka?
Comparing ancient and modern politics: What enduring issues of political life do these documents raise? What elements of political thinking and practice during the second-wave era differ most sharply from those of the modern world of the last century or two? What are the points of similarity?
Distinguishing “power” and “authority”: “Power” refers to the ability of rulers to coerce their subjects into some required behavior, while “authority” denotes the ability of those rulers to persuade their subjects to obey voluntarily by convincing them that it is proper, right, or natural to do so. What appeals to “power” and “authority” can you find in these documents? How does the balance between them differ among these documents?
Noticing point of view: From what position and with what motivation did these writers compose their documents? How did this affect what they had to say?