How Do I Love Thee? CEP 818

Created by: Jean-Claude Aura Date: October 2010 Page 1

Embodied Thinking

My topic is spatial description. Although it calls mainly for visual input, with careful

consideration, one way find the other sensory inputs equally, if not more important, than sight

alone. While sight will allow for an accurate description of the room, it won’t be enough to

induce in the reader the sensations that come along with each piece of furniture. It would be

like describing what a certain food looks like, when what equally matters is what it tastes like.

One could describe a delicious plate of shrimps on a bed of lettuce and exquisite dressing, but

what guarantee does one have that the shrimps taste good? In other words, a description of

the plate of shrimps would be incomplete if one can’t ‘taste’’ it in his mind. That’s what menus

try to do. Every time I read the menu in a restaurant, I carefully go through the list of

ingredients; if they don’t make me drool, I forget about it. The same sensation has to be

created in the reader so they can remember the room as much as possible, just like I would

remember what this plate of shrimps tastes like even years after eating it. I would reminisce

about the sensation I got from reading the carefully worded list of ingredients.

Doesn’t the description of the dish add to its visual exquisiteness?

With that said, students have to think about how to describe the room other than through their

eyes. An important sensory input would be kinesthetic. What better than describe what the

furniture feels like when sitting on it? Or what atmosphere the wind blowing through the

window and light shining through the room create? Rather than only describe what the

furniture looks like or where it is, students will spice up their description by adding what the

furniture feels like when sitting on it. Instead of simply describing where the window is, they

may imagine the pleasant sensation that the light coming through the window gives the room.

Grilled combo shrimps marinated in a mixture of

lemon juice, green onions, garlic, and herbs and laid

on a bed of fresh baby lettuce from Scarborough.

How Do I Love Thee? CEP 818

Created by: Jean-Claude Aura Date: October 2010 Page 2

If the window is open, they might want to describe how the wind adds to this pleasant

atmosphere.

The pictures above represent the room to describe.

After feeling the texture of the furniture, students can imagine what it feels like to lie down or

sit on it. The whole idea here is to have students involve more than their eyes when describing

the room. Thus, the description will be filled with visual as well as kinesthetic sensations.

Together, they can help the reader feel the description with his body. That’s what embodied

thinking is meant to do.

Students can feel the texture of the furniture.

Describing what a sofa looks like is not enough to convey its

comfort. Saying that one may fall asleep on it within seconds

gives the description a whole new dimension.