Agenda:Writing ExperimentRead and discuss “Govinda”“Song of Myself”Model of a Siddhartha Quiz

Wednesday, November 19, 2014HW: Bring IR books tomorrow!Siddhartha Quiz tomorrowWCPs will present Thursday and Friday

ObjectivesI will write in a way that

incorporates imagery.I will read aloud in a small group.I will read a free verse poem and

connect it to Siddhartha in three specific ways.

ImageryImagery = language that appeals

to the senses.

Why would writers try to use it?Reading becomes a bodily experience. We can connect words to sensations, scents, sounds, or images. We “experience” as we read.

An Example

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly

dance.From Wordsworth’s “Daffodils”

How do you write/create imagery?Write around the first word that

comes to mind.Try to rename the first word that

comes to mind.For Example:Grass BORING!!!

Emerald carpet Now we’re imagining things!

When do I use it?Sometimes straightforward and

clear language is necessary/required.

But sometimes there’s a place for it because it can help your reader better understand because they understand on a deeper level, through “experience”.◦Poetry◦Creative short stories◦Personal essays

PracticeA bugYour cellphoneYour favorite food

“My soul is…”My soul is an oceanMy soul is an endless body of saltiness and sweetness that breaks waves on the shore of Doylestown.

Describe the way your soul looks, tastes, smells, feels, and sounds.

Start each sentence with ‘my soul is…’ and write as many of these sentences as possible.

Remember to write around the first word that enters your head.

Siddhartha’s Nirvana

Enlightenment/WisdomWhen an individual’s soul

becomes part of the world’s soul.

Om: Siddhartha’s NirvanaUnderstanding that creation, the

world, is an indivisible whole.Knowledge of the eternal

perfection (completeness) of the world. Everything is in order.

To understand that one must simply love and enjoy the world in all its aspects, good and bad.

Eternal peace with the world

Read “Govinda” in Small GroupsOn the page, write three lessons

Govinda learns from Siddhartha. Well.. Siddhartha tries to teach him…

Govinda

“You seek too much and as a result of your seeking you cannot find”

He is constantly striving instead of just being.

Govinda

Siddhartha says you cannot teach wisdom.

What does wisdom mean to you?Do you know anyone who is wise?

Govinda

“In every truth the opposite is equally true” (143).Anything that is thought or expressed in words is one-sided, only half of the truth. The world is not one-sided.

“Never is a man wholly a saint or a sinner”What is your opinion on this?

Govinda

“Love is the most important thing in the world.” (147)

Do you agree?Why didn’t Buddha teach love?

Govinda

Does Govinda reach enlightenment?Why or why not?What caused/allowed Govinda to finally “see”?

“Song of Myself”1. Read this free verse poem with

a partner.2. Find three specific ways that

this poem relates to Siddhartha.3. Line 9 “…perfect health

begin,” Begin what?4. Describe the tone of the poem.

A Fan

Ralph Waldo Emerson once described Whitman’s poetry as “a remarkable mixture of the Bhagavad Gita and the New York Herald”.

Next…Walt Whitman was alive when?He lived in America, so what part

of America’s history did he witness?

What if I told you…?He meant the “I” to represent the

voice of democratic America?Also, he did not publish his name

with his first several editions of Leaves of Grass.

5. How does this change the meaning of the poem?

DemocracyPolitical and philosophical system

that insists on placing an equal value on every single human being.

Everyone in a democracy has a self worth celebrating!

Tone?Some readers find his celebration

of himself egotistical, but he insisted that he was singing an inclusive, democratic song, and he was inviting everyone in the nation to join in.

His PurposeHe believed that America had to

overcome discriminatory and antidemocratic ways of thinking and acting: it was crucial for Americans to learn to share beliefs (“What I assume you shall assume”) instead of be divided by them.

And it is important not to value people by what they own.

His PurposeHe wanted to find a way that

would preserve the Union and eventually end slavery.

Whitman sensed that America was becoming a colder, more capitalistic country, where competition rather than camaraderie was encouraged between men.

Love?