Agenda:
Writing Experiment
Read and discuss “Govinda”
“Song of Myself”
Model of a Siddhartha Quiz
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
HW: Bring IR books tomorrow!
Siddhartha Quiz tomorrow
WCPs will present Thursday and Friday
Objectives
I 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.

Imagery

Imagery = 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 shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along 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
Practice
A bug
 Your cellphone
 Your favorite food

“My soul is…”
My soul is an ocean
My 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/Wisdom

When an individual’s soul becomes part
of the world’s soul.
Om: Siddhartha’s Nirvana
Understanding 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 Groups

On 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?

Democracy

Political 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 Purpose
He 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 Purpose
He 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?
