Short summary of Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

Match the bolded words in the excerpts to their contextual meanings. unoriginal well-groomed numerous he was a gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored and imperially slim. (from "richard cory" by edwin arlington robinson) this debt we pay to human guile; with torn and bleeding hearts we smile, and mouth with myriad subtleties. (from "we wear the mask" by paul lawrence dunbar) . .if it must, these things are important not because a high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because they are useful. when they become so derivative as to become unintelligible, the same thing may be said for all of us, that we do not admire what we cannot understand. . (from "poetry" by marianne moore)